Dallas Moms Blog was treated to a Happy Hour at La Zaranda Dallas during our biannual contributor meeting in July. Since Moms don’t make it out very often, we thought we’d share this review with you! All opinions below are our own!
This past July, Dallas Moms Blog welcomed 9 new faces to our team! It’s almost hard to believe that what started as a small team of 2 in 2011 has now grown to 30 volunteer team members and staff. But no matter how large our team becomes or how many visits our site sees, we pride ourselves in sticking to the original foundation of our organization — building a community of moms!
When moms become a permanent contributor, what they probably don’t realize they’re signing up for are genuine relationships. We actually truly like each other! While we always tend to start out as strangers, similar goals, relationships and locations bring us together to become more than just colleagues; we’re friends. Even though it’s not uncommon to find our contributors running into each other at Costco or end up having children that will attend the same schools, many of us don’t get to see each other very often due to crazy life schedules (or traffic across town). So at least twice a year our team gets together for a mandatory biannual meeting — code words for “Let’s catch up!”
With such a large group of new moms joining our team, this was the perfect time of year to get everyone together to make introductions, go over a little business and spend the rest of the time visiting and enjoying our time away from children. For this meeting, our host was La Zaranda Modern Kitchen & Tequila; a very neutral location for the 25 moms in attendance and coincidentally a spot none of us had tried . . .until now!
Maybe it was the food, maybe it was the signature margaritas, or maybe it was the conversation . . .Whatever it was, we had such a great time at La Zaranda that we wanted to tell you about this great Dallas restaurant and “Happy Hour” destination in case you wanted to recreate your own memorable evening for your own Moms Night Out or Date Night!
The Scoop on La Zaranda Modern Kitchen
Dallas has its fair share of Mexican restaurants, but La Zaranda has done a fabulous job of separating themselves from the others. La Zaranda’s Chef Marquez has created a menu based on Zarandeado-style cooking.
From Baja to Oaxaca, the flavors may vary, but the results always are the same: delicious, tasty, tender, and juicy grilled fish, meats, and vegetables. We make everything as if we were sharing the food at home with our friends — using recipes, flavors, and colors from all over Mexico and our kitchen. That is true of our different sauces, too, from smoky molcajete and chile de arbol, to spicy habanero-and-avocado sauce, to our handmade corn tortillas that are made fresh every day.
Appetizers include ceviches and signature items such as the Panela Cheese Zarandeado — a Panela cheese marinated with chipotle sauce and spices, served as a “spread” style with corn tortillas.
You won’t find “tortilla soup” on the menu, but you might enjoy the Tialpeno Seafood Soup — a special tomato and seafood broth with rice & veggies, served with a selection of tilapia, shrimp, and calamari.
For dinner, our contributors tried an assortment of meals, but the favorites were Arrachera Steak Tacos, Cabo Enchiladas (crab enchiladas sauteed with spinach and corn, topped with a creamy lobster sauce), and Chicken “Enfrijoladas” (shredded chicken breast covered in black bean sauce, panela cheese, and chorizo).
And words can’t describe the Fried Caramelized Bananas a la mode — which is why we recommend you check out their iseemenu for the full visual effect!
The La Zaranda Tequila
Another fact that puts La Zaranda in a different category is their cocktail selections; made from scratch, including margaritas that feature freshly squeezed key lime juice and La Zaranda’s homemade simple syrup.
If you’re looking for a recommendation, our contributors loved the Pink Cadillac Margarita (seen here). But watch out…it’s a strong one!
The food was delicious and the drinks were amazing. . . Thank you to our contributors for making our team so much fun and to La Zaranda for setting the scene.
If you’re looking to recreate the same casual and fun atmosphere for your next moms’ night out (or night out with the hubby!) head over to La Zaranda Modern Kitchen & Tequila! Located at 5000 Belt Line Road, make sure to take advantage of their early-start Happy Hour that lasts the whole work week & even on Saturdays! As if you needed an excuse to have a Saturday Happy Hour!
One final tip:: La Zaranda knows parking in Addison Walk can be a pain, so they’ve taken care of parking for you on their busier nights. Complimentary Valet is provided Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Enjoy!
Disclosure: Dallas Moms Blog was treated to a Happy Hour at La Zaranda Dallas during our biannual contributor meeting in July. Since Moms don’t make it out very often, we thought we’d share this review with you! All opinions are our own!
