Santa Catarina

Organic agave nectar and fresh lime, never a mix — and $8 at happy hour every day from 4 to 6

There are a lot of margaritas around the lake. The one we keep coming back to is at Santa Catarina, the interior Mexican restaurant in a strip center on RR 620 South in Lakeway. It's made with organic agave nectar and fresh lime juice instead of a sugary mix, and every day from 4 to 6 it's $8.

Why it's this week's craving. A happy hour that runs every single day, weekends included, is rarer than it should be. Santa Catarina's pairs $8 agave margaritas with $7 guacamole and quesadillas, which is enough to make a late afternoon out of it. And because the food here is the real draw, happy hour has a way of turning into dinner. Sitting right on 620, it's also an easy stop on the way home from work, no lake-traffic detour required, which is half of what makes a happy hour a habit.

The story. Cousins Jesus Hernandez and Francisco Cortez grew up on farms outside Mexico City and spent years in the kitchens at Fonda San Miguel and Manuel's before opening Santa Catarina in Lakeway in early 2011. It caught on fast — the Austin Chronicle's lake-area dining roundup called it the pick of the year that summer. Lakeway was the first; the family has since added locations in Cedar Park and in Cherrywood in East Austin, but the 620 spot is the original. The kitchen makes its own corn tortillas and queso fresco, and the bar runs on the same idea: organic agave nectar and fresh juice.

Good to know. Not in a pork mood? The espinacas salad — spinach with almonds, strawberries, avocado and feta — is a bright counterweight to a margarita or two, and there's queso for the table. Happy hour is daily, 4 to 6 p.m. Sunday opens an hour earlier, at 10 a.m., for a late-morning start. Weekends get busy at dinner, so happy hour is the easy way in. Note that the Lakeway location has its own phone number, separate from Cedar Park and Cherrywood — call the one below for the 620 restaurant.