Salsa y Salsas Elite Event at La Rumba

I had a great time at this event. The guac was awesome. You could actually tell the difference between all of them. The best part of it was meeting a lot of my fellow Unilocalers! Not only did I get to meet great people but also had some goodies to munch on while I mingled. Thanks for putting this together… I am now motivated to Unilocal more often.
Oh the timing was also nice… it was right before the craziness of the holidays/​Christmas week so thanks for choosing to have it on a great day too!

I’m not gonna lie, I’m proud of the fact that Erin and I secured the title for Best Guacamole in the First Annual Denver Christmas Guac-​Off. And I’ll share our secret with you. Besides the roasted jalepenos, you know what the secret ingredient was?
Love.
Love for guac. Love for Mexican food. Love for the fellow Unilocalers that I was feeding. Love for my community managers that make these events more than just a night; they make them an experience. Love for tequila and all the subtleties it contains. Love for the venues and restaurants that care enough to share with us what they have to offer.
And the best part? I didn’t even have to list that as one of the four ingredients we brought!
Thanks, Unilocal (ers), and Merry GuacMas!

Major thanks to Laura L and La Rumba for introducing me to salsa dancing — after just a quick lesson, I’m pretty sure I’m hooked!
La Rumba was the perfect venue for this party — everything went together perfectly! I loved the guac competition and I’m a sucker for salsa, so I was a happy camper even before the free beer and tequila. And even though I don’t do cigars, I picked one up to pass along to a friend who loved it.
Can’t wait for the next party!

Once again, thx to LauraL for having me take photos of the kool peeps of Unilocal Elite. This is truly a bunch of very kool and kool and kool people…
From my vantage point, people really seemed to enjoy everything from the food to the hand-​rolled Unilocal cigars to the lessons on the dance floor requiring you to move your hips a bit. Or was that shake yo money maka?
La Rumba is as always a great place to hang out, soak up the Latin vibes and see beautiful people… One hell of a way to close out the year!

What a great party!!! Sherri and I had a great time mixing up some avocados. I had a great time wearing an apron with the statue of David on it that offended people. The tequila was amazing (but still can’t figure out why people drink (taste) blanco — it’s for mixing, and the good stuff was free — who doesn’t love free?) The food from Mezcal was ok. The tamales were great and the chorizo quesadilla’s were too but the other things were just ok. Cigar maker? Good call. Salsa lessons? Sweet. All in all it was a great time and it was great to finally get to hang out and spend more time with M & M (Congrats on the best guac) and drink tequila with my brother.

My favorite thing about this event was that my favorite party guest (salt) was invited, and everything was all the better for it. Guac + salt, salsa + salt, chips + salt, beer + salt, tequila… now this station was saltless and therefore my least favorite but just by a hair. I reallllly liked the Del Norte beers and I’m so glad I found out about this delicious local brewery that isn’t wheat, fruit or IPA-​focused. The guac-​off was awesome, I was impressed with the creativity because I sure didn’t come up with anything nearly as interesting in my head. The Mezcal and Tambien snacks were yummy. Haven’t tried the cigar yet but it’s not every day I leave a party with a hand-​rolled cigar, a beer coozie, an energy drink and a nail file… so thanks Laura!

After the Salsa y Salsa event, I think we need to have more food-​based competitions on Unilocal.The guacamoles were great! Free food, free tequila, free cigars, and one awkward Unilocaler learning to cut a rug with his wife made for a great evening.

I had a really fabulous time on Saturday night! I may not have been very good at the salsa dancing, but I’d like to attribute that to the tequila tastings… and the delicious beers.
Thanks to the staff at La Rhumba for being sweet and accommodating. The instructors were great, lots of fun! Thanks to Laura for organizing, restaurants for providing snacks and the very talented Guac Off competitors!

I had a blast at Salsa y Salsas. It was a great time. The guac was awesome, I had a hard time deciding which was the best! The other munchies were great, we are fans of Mezcal and had actually been there the night before. I am not the biggest fan of tequila but what I did taste was surprisingly tasty! The beer was great, I am glad to have found another great brewery from Colorado.
The salsa dancing was great to watch! Very entertaining. I was also very happy to meet new Unilocalers. This was only my second event and I must say it was a much better experience than the first. I did have a great time at the event at Jet, but I defiantly met more people at this one.
Thanks, again Laura, for putting on another great party!

1, 2, 3… steps for the salsa dance.
1, 2, 3… kinds of delicious guacamole to try.
1, 2, 3… types of aged tequila to get drunk off of.
1, 2, 3… puffs of a delicious hand-​rolled cigar.*
1, 2, 3, 4, 5 stars! I can’t add but I really enjoyed the music, the Unilocalers and the great ambiance. La Rumba remains one of my favorite venues and never ceases to delight my senses. The food was delicious and the events — curious and amusing as usual. Laura, thank you for putting on such a fun party — I’m already missing the diversity of Berlin’s nightlife, but to have a little bit of that right here in Denver is something I can never be thankful enough for!
Yes, I reckon Unilocal Denver is helping make this city on par with some of the world’s greatest spots.
*I really didn’t puff more than three. The Godfather would be thoroughly pissed, I know.

Free beer, tasty fresh and unique guacamole– yeah 2 hot tamales, free cigars, and some cool music!
I’ve never been to La Rumba and it’s a cool venue!
The food (empanadas, quesadilla and non fried taquito thingy) being cold was weird. And i wonder if next time we can have a sign of which generous restaurant provided what. The tamales were yummies!
The salsa class was interesting, but i found the instructors be not that good. (Especially the remark at the end that only 2 couples of the 20 or so out there, were getting it– say what? 40 people giving it a go and that’s the kind of support they get, sigh) Watching someones feet covered with long pants is pretty hard and i’m definitely a visual learner, so i became a side line watcher pretty darn quick. Kudos to those that figured it out and looked good!
Yeah Laura — you rocked it!

Another great Unilocal event, on a very nice place. Great food from Tambien, cool tequila tasting. Corzo is really good. Del Norte Brewing Company, good beer. I really enjoyed see so many people dancing salsa. Good times and nice see all other Unilocalers there. Great job Laura!

It’s 4pm and my hangover is just now manageable enough that typing isn’t too loud to tolerate.
That’s the sign of a good party the night before.
If only I didn’t feel like I need to shave my tongue, I might enjoy this fine cigar I came home with.
Seriously great party. Good food, good people, generous tequila samples… The bender that followed was legendary.
My thanks to Laura and her crew, as well as the good people of La Rumba, and all of you. That was an ultra-​fun kick-​off to an ultra-​fun night.

I was invited to the Elite event by my good friend David T. (Thank you for a wonderful evening Dave) This was my first Unilocal event and what a better way to start!
Truly enjoyable people, great tastings of guacamole and tequila! Even had a lesson in salsa dancing, though I’ll need to keep practicing. It had been years since I had been at La Rumba and I have to say I am glad that I was able to re-​visit — great staff and atmosphere. I also want to give props to the gal at the door — - very funny and inviting!

A party with free booze in a bar on the Saturday before Christmas? How does Laura do it? I’m not gonna question – I’m just gonna enjoy it. Tequila, guacamole, and salsa dancing are three things that normally wouldn’t inspire me to leave the house. I didn’t partake in any of those three things, but I still had a great time. Just add Unilocal people and I’ll go nearly anywhere. My +1 noted on the way out, «Yelp is so good to us!» Thanks for another fun evening out.

Unilocal Elite, want some fries with that shake? It was good to see my Unilocal brethren out there shakin it (dance lessons, salsa and mambo), mixin it (guac contest… I’d buy all 3 of those. Awesome job!), sippin it (no wheels were needed for this tequila, so smooth… tight race between Corzo Anejo and Herradura Anejo, need to try them both several more times to give a conclusive opinion. Arriba! Abajo! Al centro! Al dentro!!!) and suckin it (the fine brew supplied by Del Norte Brewery).
Great Job Laura! As always, nice to see Miss Tiffany, though I didn’t see either of you shakin your booties doin the mambo. Can’t wait to see what’s up next. Maybe a polka party! In heaven there is no beer… that’s why we drink it here… oom pa pa, oom pa pa

A new era of Unilocal Elite parties has begun!
The closest party to this one was the Iron Unilocaler, but last party had nothing to do with it, just the similarity of having Unilocalers competing in guacamole making. This event was very well organized, La Rumba was very nice and accommodating; food was really good, from quesadillas to red chili tamales, cigar rolling demonstration, tequila tastings, bottled beers, everything was superb! I’m even considering re-​trying Mezcal and Tambien sometime soon!
Thank you Laura and Unilocal for a great party!

Another great Unilocal event! Luckily my three left feet did not break any of my partner’s toes. Enjoyed the Del Norte brews, but missed the Bock Beer. Learned about tequila, tasted too many :-)
Hats off to the Guac crew! The competition was fierce, but tasty! (Mexican?) Hats off to La Rumba, Tambien & Mezcal, and Laura for a fun event.

Best Themed guac… I’m just sayin’
Awesome time!
Did someone say «free tequila»?
and salsa lessons…
Thank you Unilocal or the great event — La Rumba is back on the radar!

Very nice event. Good to see/​meet other Elite Unilocalers. Great that Tiffany C. was there to help Laura out. Food from Tambien was great as were the competing guacamole makers — all entries were totally delish. The La Rumba staff was very accommodating and the tequila tasting — just give me a bottle of the Heradura Anejo and a straw and I’ll be a happy guy. Loved watching so many people get their salsa vibe on on the dance floor. Fun times.