Chris Sedgwick / Chef, PURE Taqueria, Atlanta, Georgia
PURE Taqueria is one place worth visiting if you’re looking for a margarita in Atlanta. With six locations in and around Atlanta, PURE’s margaritas are consistently fresh and inspired.
Chef and founder Chris Sedgwick is particularly enamored with prickly pear margaritas and, when he opened the first PURE location in 2005, he went so far as to start his own puree company so he’d have a steady supply of the bright pink fruit.
“Unfortunately, PURE’s product had an oxidation problem – and while it tasted great, a grayish-brown margarita was not the goal,” says Leslie Avers, a marketing spokesperson for the Sedgwick Restaurant Group.
Now, with The Perfect Purée Prickly Pear Puree, it enables PURE to serve its Prickly Pear Margarita with the clean taste and vibrant color customers enjoy.
“A big part of the PURE magic lies in their creative cocktail list. Margaritas are a big hit and the Prickly Pear Margarita is just one of their unique twists on a classic,” says Avers.
Chris and his wife, Michele, long-time Alpharetta residents and successful Atlanta restaurateurs, were looking for a new way to express their style and their love of food when they opened PURE. Their take on an authentic Mexican taqueria is hip, loud, sophisticated and fun, with live music and rooftop bars at two locations.
The Sedgwicks opened the original PURE Taqueria in Alpharetta on the site of an abandoned 1920’s-era Pure Fuel Oil station. The small stone building on the corner (now used for storage) was part of the original gas station, but the main restaurant was built from scratch, with Chris and Michele designing, decorating and doing much of the construction themselves.
PURE’s spare, modern atmosphere complements a menu that emphasizes fresh food quickly prepared without a lot of heavy sauces, cheese and flour tortillas. Fish tacos, fresh salsas and plenty of citrus and avocado are mainstays.