Just The Specials: ‘Wicked’ Margaritas At Chili’s

Welcome to the table…

Just The Specials is where I try limited releases, holiday offerings, and special meal items from across the food world and then report back on what I have found. Now, before we dive into the drinks that are the focus of today’s culinary offering, please permit me a brief aside.

When the turn of phrase “Inside you are two wolves…” is spoken, the intent is to illustrate that we all have two forces inside of us, one good and one evil, and the bit of ourselves that comes through or that we show to the world is the force within us we foster and focus on.

Over the years, this turn of phrase has been put into effect in all manner of ways, but for me, as someone who really has issues with the concepts of “good” and “evil” in the first place, I find the turn of phrase more a representation of the two aspects of a person’s personality. This could be because I am habitually online, and there are memes galore that show two characters and say, “inside me there are two wolves,” and it’s something like SpongeBob or Patrick.

In the spirit of all of that, I have for quite a few years now said that inside me are two wolves, and it’s these two…

I’m fascinated by the dynamic of these characters in the various forms I have seen them in, one a bubbly, chaotic, popular person who just wants a real connection and takes joy in collecting beautiful things, and the other a troubled and talented person who has been abused and ostracized due to factors well beyond her control. Both grow in power and influence, and, at least in the case of the musical and new movies Wicked and Wicked: For Good, they do this to some phenomenal songs and rad choreography.

What delights me even more about this particular time, when the second movie is on the verge of hitting theaters, is that we seem to be getting a tornado of merch and meal tie-ins related to the films. The attention is the same level we normally see for Halloween or winter holidays, and it frankly amuses me to no end.

That brings me to today’s offerings, the Wicked-themed margaritas from Chili’s. These very pink and very green mixed drinks were $6 each and were part of Chili’s “Marg of the Month” promotion. I was not even aware that Chili’s does a Marg of the Month promotion, as I do not think I have eaten at a Chili’s in over a year or more, and the last time we were there was the first time in almost five years.

I did not even go for this promotion, and I can assure you that if someone told me there were Wicked-themed mixed drinks, I would have gone for no other reason than I am a fan-boy of the IP. I’m not sure what Chili’s marketing is up to, but they are not marketing to me, so I felt very lucky we just happened to randomly stop in when we did.

The Witches Brew Marg is said to be “made with Lunazul Blanco Tequila, Blue Curacao, Monin Granny Smith Apple, and house-made sour.”

I’m a big fan of sour apple. My normal morning drink is a cold Ghost Warhead Sour Green Apple energy drink, so I’m well-versed in the flavor of sour apple. This margarita did not really taste of sour apple in any way.

Now, don’t let that convey that I did not like it. It was a perfectly fine margarita, and the price point was great in the current landscape. They did not have the little swizzle stick or a nice glass for it to go into, as was shown on the table topper, but it was a totally fine margarita and worked really well with the chips and salsa that they do.

The second offering, the Good Witch Marg, was said to be “made with Lunazul Blanco Tequila, Triple Sec, Monin Dragonfruit, house-made sour, and topped with soda water, and a wand swizzle.”

Now this thing was double delightful! I’m not really a fan of dragonfruit. It confuses me because, as far as I can tell, it does not taste like anything. I got into this big “try all the fruits” phase during lockdown, and of everything I tried, I could not wrap my head around dragonfruit because it just sorta tastes like dense, slightly wet air. Nevertheless, whatever combination of elixirs and mixers they put together to make the Good Witch Marg was a smashing success.

They also had the table-standee-accurate glass, and swizzle, so the presentation ended up being on point.

It’s been a long while since we have been to a Chili’s, but in the last few days, after the experience we had, we are actually talking about going back for more.

Until next time, I was also really amused by the Triple Dipper “As Seen on Internet” callout in the menu insert. While really odd, it made us laugh, and now we have started saying things are “As Seen on Internet,” that kinda wacky marketing works for me. It’s weird and fun.