Cottonwood Cafe
Saturday, March 3, 2007
Overall Rating: Sick Meals (85 out of 100)
222 Berkeley Street
Boston, MA 02116
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Phone: 617-247-2225
Searching for sick southwestern cuisine? How about a pitcher of Boston's sickest margaritas? Look no further than Cottonwood Cafe, located steps from Copley Square on the corner of Berkeley Street and Stuart Street.
Our History at Cottonwood Cafe
Our sixth visit to the Cottonwood Cafe was on a Friday at 7:30pm.
Appetizers
For starters, we opted for chips with four dips. Homemade, tri-color tortilla chips are served with house-made red and green salsas, guacamole, and chile con queso. The dips were sick and the crispy chips were oven-fresh. We enjoyed the fresh, creamy guacamole, chock-full of tomato and onion chunks.
Other appetizers include grilled mesa shrimp, artichoke and spinach dip, snakebites, cowboy potstickers, and crab & brie quesadilla. Prices range from $6 to $11.95. Also available are several soups, salads, and stews such as six chile chili, black bean soup, and Santa Fe caesar salad.
Rating: 8.5
Main Dishes
Cottonwood offers signature dishes such as seafood paella and enchiladas as well as open grilled specialties such as angus ranch strip and twice stuffed chicken. We decided to go with enchiladas verdes and barbacoa - shrimp and chicken breast grilled and served in house-made bourbon-barbeque sauce.
To create their famous enchiladas verdes, Cottonwood bakes grilled chicken, jack cheese, scallions, and pico de gallo in soft corn tortillas. A perfect balance of spicy and creamy, the dish is served with tomatillo green sauce, achiote rice, ranch beans, guacamole, mixed greens, and sour cream.
The barbacoa is both sweet and spicy, giving you healthy portions of marinated, grilled shrimp and chicken breast smothered with bourbon-barbeque sauce. Baked banana, ensalada mixta, and achiote rice cool your palate in between bourbon-barbeque bites.
Entree prices range from $16.95 to $24.95.
Rating: 8.5
Drinks
A sick margarita lineup includes frozen or straight up drinks by the glass or pitcher. The "Cottonwood Classic", Cottonwood's most popular margarita, integrates Sauza Conmemorativo and Citronge. The ultra-smooth "Tradicional" is made with Sauza Tres Generaciones and Cointreau. Indulge in Cottonwood's "Platinum" margarita and choose from Milagro Anejo, El Tesoro Reposado, or Patron Silver with Cointreau served straight up.
Margarita pitchers range from $25 to $40 and glasses range from $6.25 to $9.95. Beer, wine, and other mixed drinks are also available.
Rating: 9.6
Service
Cottonwood's table service is friendly but frequently unspectacular. Our waitress did not inform us of the evening's specials. She forgot to give us knives. We received lackluster answers in response to our entree questions.
Rating: 7.6
Ambiance
Blue and purple lights dance off earth tone-colored walls to create a distinct Southwestern theme. A long, bustling bar serves as an ideal venue for drinks.
Rating: 8.4
Et Cetera
Trivia: Patio dining is available during the spring, summer, and fall.
Menu: Check out the dinner menu and drink menu
Reservations: Cottonwood Cafe is on OpenTable
Parking: Cottonwood offers two hours of free validated parking in the Back Bay Parking Garage on weekdays starting at 5pm and any time on weekends.
Dress: You may dress casually at Cottonwood.
Hours: Dinner is served Monday through Thursday from 5:30pm to 10pm; Friday and Saturday from 5:30pm to 11pm; and Sunday from 5pm to 10pm.
Labels: Back-Bay, Cottonwood-Cafe, Sick-Meals, Southwestern
