Fiesta Villa margaritas

Recently I was on an airplane, bored out of my skull, and after stashing away my work computer and flipping through SkyMall a couple of times, I ended up falling on my old time-filler stand-by: making lists.

I'm a sucker for a good list. I love making lists, checking things off of lists, envisioning the perfect world that will emerge once the list is completed..."Hi, my name is Beth and I'm a recovering type-A with perfectionist tendencies."

So in the skies somewhere around central Minnesota, I composed a list of my favorite Bismarck restaurant items. Food and drink that just makes me happy, makes me sigh with pleasure, makes me think that even in little ol' Bismarck there are foodie gems to be found. For the most part, I prefer dinner at home, but I'll reapply my mascara for at outing including one of these morsels. And this Friday night took me to one of the list-toppers: margaritas at Fiesta Villa.

On gorgeous summer evenings, the humble folks of Bismarck flock to Fiesta Villa's patio. The restaurant is a (sort of) Mexican joint in an old train station. The trains still rumble by, which can be either annoying or charming, depending on your mood, but always loud. On weekends, it's pretty reliable that live music will be there to accompany your sipping, and although the salsa isn't the best in town (go down the street to Los Amigos for that), I'm not one to turn down free chips and salsa.

Overall, the drinks are good, but it's the atmosphere and friends you meet up with there that make the F.V. patio worthwhile. I have to admit, I got pretty knockered after two pomegranate margs, so be warned...