By Frank Sabatini Jr. | Restaurant Review

Cantina Mayahuel
2934 Adams Ave. (Normal Heights)
619-283-6292
Prices: Appetizers and salads, $2.75 to $10; tacos, tortas and entrees, $4.50 to $15

The best way to fully soak in Cantina Mayahuel is to bring along a designated driver. Better yet if you live in walking distance to the place.

Tequila abounds in this offbeat Mexican restaurant, where owner Larry Auman has amassed more than 200 varieties of blancos, reposados, anejos and “extra anejos.” The latter can climb to $45 a shot for coveted Herradura Suprema, touted for its lush vanilla flavor acquired from extended barrel aging. You’ll also find a serious collection of mezcals, which unlike tequila, is made always with 100 percent agave.

Before opening the eatery in 2006, Auman worked for 20 years as a bartender around the country and traveled extensively throughout Mexico. Cooking was something he was always good at doing, hence his knack for enhancing traditional recipes from interior regions of Mexico with crafty marinades, tropical salsas, and ancho mayonnaise that crawls into a few different tacos and tortas.

A small, open kitchen is situated behind the cantina’s dark-wood bar. At the other end, tequila bottles of every shape and size dominate the back wall. Alongside the dimly lit interior is a patio with another bar. Décor throughout the restaurant is minimal and arty, although Auman is known for decking out the place in happy skulls and party beads for Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) every late October.

Fortaleza is the house brand of tequila used in Cantina’s margaritas. Hailing from the Mexican town of Tequila, it’s made with 100 percent blue agave and dates back several generations. Despite its elegant, buttery mouth feel, it packs a punch.

Those in our group who ordered margaritas suspected that generous pours were dispensed. The fresh-squeezed lime juice and organic agave nectar used in the drink recipe were footnotes to the flavor profile. Ditto for the fresh blood orange juice mixed into another margarita. As a result, we became loose and hungry.

The menu is small and focused, starting with so-so tortilla chips, Serrano chilies and salsa cruda priced altogether at $2.75. If you opt for guacamole, the cost is $8.50. Better bangs for the buck appear in a hefty Caesar salad as well as tacos (served in pairs) and the tortas using sizable French rolls that our waitress said come from Bread & Cie.

In previous visits some years back, the tortas were made with authentic telera rolls from a Mexican bakery. Admittedly, I miss them, although the innards of these sandwiches remain colorful and succulent.

In the chicken, shrimp and ono versions, for example, they burst with mango-papaya salsa and fresh cabbage while oozing ancho mayo, crema and tads of hot sauce. Adding depth to the scheme is the fact that the proteins are grilled with pineapple juice and chipotle sauce. The same embellishments are generally applied to the tacos.

Carnitas tortas are served in plain form, but with a side of thin dipping sauce combining tomatoes, habanero and orange and lime juices. It’s the exotic, organic rendition of au jus. As a plate meal, the moist pork is mixed with diced onions and cilantro and served alongside savory black beans and buttery rice.

Pinto beans are also available. And they rock. We ordered them ala carte and reveled in their dense sauce spiked with bacon, sausage and queso fresco. If you prefer to amplify them, ask for the “special habanero sauce” and keep a cold drink handy.

Myriad chilies and spices go into Auman’s mole sauce, which casts its spell on chicken specials available Tuesdays and Fridays. Here, the complex recipe embodies bonus ingredients like avocado leaves, nuts, figs and flax seeds without skipping over chocolate imported from Oaxaca, Mexico.

Other entrée specials include tiger prawns cooked in chilies, lime and garlic on Wednesdays; a sinus-opening version of chili Colorado on Thursdays; and Yucatan-style seafood stew on Saturdays.

Really, no matter what you order in this restaurant that has morphed into a hardcore tequila bar, expect memorably powerful flavors and a bit of a head buzz to boot.