Acapulco Bold
Flaming Margaritas and Tacos by the Kilo

Tacos are small things, to be sure. But finding the right one at the right time offers a certain immeasurable beauty and a pleasure that's difficult to quantify.

Well, until someone comes along with the right measuring equipment…

Introducing Mercadito Chicago, soft-opening Monday, a new den for crazy margarita parties and tacos so good they should be illegal—perhaps explaining why they're sold by the kilogram.

Though it's an NYC transplant, you'll breeze into a place that looks more like a band of Aztecan graffiti artists commandeered an Acapulco marina. Their sun god peers down from a mural, ready to cast good fortune over your evening. (We know you're cultivating a bumper crop of senoritas.)

Start at the bar by exploring the hundred or so tequilas via a Chocomole margarita with Mexican chocolate and ancho chile, or the Big Nose Goes to Mexico, a tequila, dark rum and guava concoction that your bartender will skillfully set ablaze. (Your eyebrows, be damned.)

As your party settles into one of the big banquettes, you'll have plenty of space for mole-drenched hangar steaks or the guajillo-marinated whole red snapper. Or try make-your-own-taco-night with a couple kilos of barbacoa-style chicken, carnitas or skirt steak, punctuated by something fiery like a habanero salsa.

For your post-tequila tequila needs, a super-tiny velvet-roped basement speakeasy is slated to open in October.

Because small is the new grande.