Saint Añejo M Street’s Premiere Tex Mex Restaurant in Nashville and a Tequila Tasting Lesson

Where do you go for Mexican food in Nashville? That’s a complicated question, because it has to be qualified.

If you’re looking for good Mexican food, leaning tex mex style, a casual, cool vibe, late night hours, sports bar, fab patio, a tequila menu of over 120 labels of all 100% blue agave, then Saint Añejo is the place for you.

If you’re looking for brunch, here’s your place and read about it here.

M Street’s premier Mexican Restaurant, Saint Anejo, is located in the trendy gulch area right next store to the recently opened Moto Cucina Entoeca, it’s Italian sister. Specializing in premium tequilas, tex mex food, including sharing plates, the large patio area will welcome small, large and late night parties.

Last week Saint Añejo invited a small media group to an exclusive event starting in the tequila library, for a tequila lesson and tasting, followed by dinner in dining room.

All the tequilas served at Saint Añejo are 100% blue agave, consciously sourced.

This lounge area is part of the tequila library and is available for private parties.

The Tequila Library Mezzanine overlooks the main dining area.

General Manager, Gabe Hinterman, welcomed us with a tequila pouring and a lesson. Now I think I might know how to enjoy sipping quality tequila and what to ask for.

During our private tasting, we learned about the differences between blanco tequila, reposado, añejo and  mezcal, also known as mescal. I only knew a little bit and I featured an añejo/reposado blend on a post here a few years ago.

Blanco Tequila is a white spirit, un-aged, bottled immediately after distillation, clear and often taking over the palate.

Reposado (rested) is next in the line is aged a minimum of two month, but less than a year in oak barrels of any size. They carry 37 varieties.

Añejo (aged or vintage) is aged a minimum of one year, but less than three years in small oak barrels. This is true sipping tequila, a bit sweet, caramely, and syrupy, in a good way.

Extra Añejo is aged three years or more and is the top of line, the smoothest.

Mezcal is is from maguey plant a form of agave, grown mainly in Oaxaca, Mexico. It’s consumed straight and has a smoky flavor, sometimes also woodsy, salty and may have notes of cinnamon and chocolate.

Saint Añejo carries 38 different blanco tequilas, 37 reposado, 34 anejo and 9 extra añejo. They also have 18 tequilas that fall under the mezcal category and 3 different infused tequilas. The Mezcal is divided between Joven, Reposado and Añejo, each aged progressively.

We tasted two different tequilas.

The first was a blanco, Herradura Silver. It’s aged 45 days, is  bold with a  lot of spice and citrus and takes over your palate.

The second was an extra añejo, el Mayor. This is a 100% Weber blue agave,  smooth, and easy on the palate with a flavor profile of vanilla and caramel.  We all preferred this one for it’s syrupy, easy to drink character.

Saint Añejo has more tequila varieties than I’ve ever seen in one place. The concept is not designed to slam cheap tequila shots, but to teach people how to truly enjoy premium tequila. You could make an evening of tasting with a group of friends, but take a cab home.

Typically people are drinking tequila that is 49% grain alcohol, 51 % agave. That’s where the bad tequila hangover, losing your car, and running naked through the streets behavior comes from.

Saint Añejo is dedicated to carrying a minimum of 120 sipping tequilas, all 100% blue Weber agave, a strain that is the more pure form of agave. Not a tequila drinker? Beers, Sangria and array of latin-inspired craft cocktails are available.

After this tequila treat, we headed to the dining room where this table awaited us.

Soon it was filled with chips, margaritas and sangria

The queso has crumbled chorizo, and might be my favorite queso ever! I also loved the chips.

Poppers! Bacon wrapped jalapenos con queso with house ranch dressing.

Shrimp and mango quesadilla with banana, chile, cilantro crema. This would have been good enough to have as a meal. The nice thing about Saint Añejo is how easy it is to making sharing possible.

Tacos de Casa are served in a cast iron skillet with choice of corn or flour tortillas. This means you can order a variety and share. The tortillas are small enough to make several tacos, such a fun way to eat.

The short ribs was my favorite, made with fried, bread onion slivers and described at Texas-ancho BBQ. Mr. ST loved the Grilled shrimp with Chopotle-Lime Mayo. We also had Cilantro lime steak and Tequila lime chicken, which I took home, and it was a tasty lunch the next day.

You could order a larger dinner such as a smoked half chicken with corn bread, baby back ribs, a burger or burrito. There are five salads including a kale salad, and all have the option of adding a protein. The sides look just as yummy such as Mexican street corn and lime salt fries.

Dessert was a sky high fabulous Tres Leches coconut milk, coffee whipped cream.

We were given mini churros in a nice box with a caramel sauce for dipping to take home. These were crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, and true Mexican comfort food.

Saint Añejo is that place to pop in for a full dinner, a snack, a drink, a sip, conversation, and a fabulous place to sit outside, meet for drinks, meet for an evening. The shareable platters make San Anejo great for a large group.

The Happiest Hours: Wednesday nights is 2 for 1. Select 2 for 1 cocktails and beer and half price tacos EVERY WEDNESDAY, 4:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

Saint Anejo rounds out the many choices the M Street Group offers. I’ve written about several M Street Restaurants. Each is different, each executes food really well, and each has a smart decor, reflecting its individual personality, food and style.

I’ve experienced and written about the following M Street restaurants.

For Italian, go to Moto.

For a great Sports Bar and outdoor patio or amazing brunch go to Tavern.

For a high end Sushi experience, go to Virago.

For steak, go to Kayne Prime.