OTT: 1 Tequila, 2 Tequila…4!

T-BYRD’S TACOS26 E. Kiowa St.
www.tbyrdstacos.com
(719) 375-3376
Hours: Mon-Thur, 11am-11pm; Fri-Sat, 11am-Midnight; Sun, 10am-11pm
Drink Prices: $6-$12
Food Prices: $3.50-$7.95
What you need to know: Tequila cocktails and tapas tacos, good for the bones

The rustic hip location on Kiowa, right in the center of downtown, will have been open a year this June. With an industrial-urban themed decor, accentuated with a spattering of Day of the Dead memorabilia, interlaced with corrugated metal artistry, the family-owned space boasts an impressive selection of tequila driven cocktails, and tapas style tacos. This Cali-Mex taco bar and drinking spot, named T-Byrd’s, is where tequila flows like water, and the hipsters and punk-rockers, alike, flock like the salmon of Capistrano.

A little too advanced in years to pull off the hipster or punk rocker? Not even sure what a hipster is? (In truth, no one actually knows.) Think you’re too old to drink tequila? Not to worry. Your physician may soon be prescribing tequila for the health of your bones, or even to ward off osteoporosis—a not uncommon disease that affects approximately 200 million people worldwide.

Scientists at the Center for Research and Advanced Studies (CINVESTAV) in Mexico (where else?) have discovered that fructans in blue agave can generate bone growth. Dr. Mercedes López, the study’s lead, stated that “the consumption of fructans contained in the agave, in collaboration with adequate intestinal micriobiota, promotes the formation of new bone, even with the presence of osteoporosis.” Looks like it’s off to T-Byrd’s we go, where tequila fueled cocktails are one of their specialities.

From the piquant heat of the “Fire & Ice” ($7) with its offering of a tequila that’s been infused with Serrano, cucumber and jalapeño, to the subtle and refreshingly sweet strawberry interpretation ($6) that proffers the house-made tequila infusion of cucumber, lime and strawberry, to the tequila riff on the Moscow-mule, the Donkey Show ($8), made with Ivy Wild’s superb ginger beer, T-Byrd’s has your bones’ health in mind. And with each margarita, fresh lime juice is employed—a welcome act of service that saves the concoctions from any artificial or off-putting flavors.

Attentive hospitality appears to be second nature at this watering hole. When the tequila in the signature margarita ($6) didn’t announce itself as loudly as some might wish, the bartender didn’t hesitate to splash in some extra hooch that bolstered, if somewhat imbalanced, the concoction—a generosity that did not later appear on the bill.

But bone bolstering booze is not all you must seek out at T-Byrd’s. Don’t forego the tacos. But, first, start with the pork belly wontons ($7.95; only $5 on Wednesdays) that have been deep fried to a chewy yet crisp tenderness, and filled to oozing with cheese and shredded pork belly.

Then on to the succulent and tender, yet mild, barbacoa taco ($3.95). Even more appealing is the Colorado trout taco ($4.25), with its engaging juxtaposition of textures found in the tangy slaw and meaty fillet. Bonus points were awarded for the balance of the pickled peppers’ acidity with the unctuousness of the fish and the feta-like Cotija cheese.

In the end you gotta figure, at these prices, and with the doctor’s orders, we should be dining at T-Byrd’s on a regular basis.

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