When Cinco de Mayo falls on a Tuesday, celebration logistics can get as messy and overextended as the celebrants themselves.
Let’s try and tighten things up, with this chronological list of local ways to party.
Friday, May 1
Extended happy hours from noon to 6 kick off what sister restaurants Geronimo and Camacho Garage are calling “The Five Days of Cinco,” with Geronimo also getting a DJ at 10 p.m. Things escalate from there over the rest of the five days, including with live mariachi music, a taco buffet, rotating drink specials, a mixology workshop/party and appearances by Wilbur and Coco the Donkeys, depending on the timing and location.
Saturday, May 2
Elm City Social’s “margarita brunch” sessions from 11 to 4 today and tomorrow offer a “playful, over-the-top,” limited-time special menu of margs, which are available up through Cinco.
Also at 11 today and tomorrow, 80 Proof and its nested sister, Barracuda, host their own Cinco weekend brunches, featuring $5 margaritas and, on Sunday, live mariachi music.
From 11 to 8 (and 11 to 7 Sunday), the New England Taco Festival returns to the Guilford Fairgrounds, promising “a Cinco de Mayo celebration like no other.” Convening “over 20 taco vendors” selling “over 100 different tacos” alongside at least one full bar, the festival also offers, after the price of admission, “free lucha libre wrestling, free mechanical bull rides, free jackass rides, free mariachi bands [and] free taco-eating contests.”
Also starting at 11 a.m. (not 7 p.m., as the event page also states), Wallingford coffee and cocktail bar Yellow King Brews is serving four days of “signature margarita flights” along with Cinco shot and food specials (and, today only, hosting a concurrent Kentucky Derby party.)
Other than a starting time and location (5 p.m. at Prime BGR), a Cinco bar crawl in downtown New Haven is light on specifics but does promise margarita, tequila and food specials along with an after-party somewhere.
A 5 p.m. crawl in downtown Bridgeport does better letting you know what your time and money gets you: “complimentary drinks, discounts on food and drinks, giveaways, raffles and contests” across seven locations, including a Mexican/Jamaican fusion place, a cavernous sports bar and a karaoke joint.
Sunday, May 3
The timing isn’t exactly clear, but a staffer at Blue Tortuga told me the Latin bar is throwing a cowboy theme party with a DJ, followed on Monday and Tuesday with food and drink specials and, on Cinco itself, dos DJs.
Tuesday, May 5 - Cinco de Mayo
Te Amo Tequila promises “the best fiesta in town,” with happy hour food and drink specials from noon to 7—and, I assume, the usual Taco Tuesdays mix-and-match.
At Riva in West Haven, a “Cinco de Riva” patio party you can join as early as noon promises “drink specials all day,” “Corona and Modelo giveaways,” a DJ starting at 3 and a Patrón margarita bike from 4 to 7.
A Cinco de Mayo “glow dinner experience” and blacklight after-party start at 5 and 7, respectively, at Milford’s Bistró, which is normally a Mediterranean tapas place. The dinner package includes dinner, of course, along with a “glow art/splatter experience,” complimentary adult beverage, photo booth access and a DJ. The after-party, which isn’t ticketed, goes full blacklight and adds taco specials.
At 8, a Cinco edition of the long-running Tuesday open mic at Stella Blues offers live music, of course, plus $4 tequila shots, $10 Corona boilermakers and discounted margaritas.
Saturday, May 9
From 3 to 6 (or as early as noon, if you go with an only slightly pricier “VIP” option), things head back to Riva, where the timing of a margarita festival/competition can’t be a coincidence. A tasting ticket “includes TEN 3.5oz margarita samples—the largest [sample] pours allowed by law—each served over ice by New Haven’s top bars and restaurants.” The right to vote for your favorite comes also with a DJ, food trucks and “party vibes.”
Written by Dan Mims. Photographed by Cabeca de Marmore/Shutterstock. Readers are encouraged to verify times, locations, prices and other details before attending events.
