Here's Where You Can Find The Biggest Tequila Menu In America

Is bigger always better? It usually is according to the Guinness Book of World Records, which encourages those seeking the award to push boundaries beyond comprehension. (Type in the word "largest" in the search bar on their website and you'll get a staggering 15,573 record results.) Unsurprisingly, many of the records have to do with food and beverage, including most layers in a deli sandwich, the fastest time to drink two liters of soda, and many, many other records that push food to the extreme. 

Tequila and mezcal enthusiasts searching for spots with record-setting credentials, set your sights on M Cantina in Dearborn, Michigan, which boasts the largest variety of commercially available agave spirits at a restaurant in the world.

Led by chef and owner Junior Merino, the contemporary Mexican restaurant serving up halal Nuevo Latino street food boasts an astonishing 1,825 bottles of 100% agave spirits, including tequila and mezcal, as well as rarer spirits like raicilla and sotol. Dubbed "The Liquid Chef," Merino, a Mexican native and an official Ambassador of Gastronomy & Tourism & Promoter of All Mexican Beverages, has spent his lifetime sourcing agave spirits, especially more obscure, lesser-known brands. Merino's vast collection surpassed the previous world record holder, Meximodo in Metuchen, New Jersey, by nearly 800 bottles; Meximodo's list includes 1,033 selections.

At M Cantina, you'll find the usual suspects including Patrón, Herradura, Casa Dragones, as well as celebrity-backed tequila brands like Kendall Jenner's 818 Tequila Blanco. But Junior Merino's extensive list has also featured more unique finds. 

Some are noteworthy for their unmistakable packaging like the Casino Azul Añejo Jaguar, a 40% ABV complex tequila of vanilla notes that comes in a striking handcrafted gold jaguar bottle. Not commonly seen on restaurant shelves, a bottle retails for $235. The distinctive Crotalo Extra Añejo Snakehead, which arrives in a kitschy bottle topped with — you guessed it — a snakehead cork, is aged for seven years in French Oak and Port wine barrels, and retails for $142.99 a bottle.

Pricier finds have graced the menu at M Cantina as well. Notably the $600-per-bottle Fortaleza Winter Blend 2021 Reposado (46.3% ABV), which is produced by aging the agave for six months in American oak barrels followed by 10 months in French oak barrels that previously aged Marsala wine. With a new edition released each year in limited quantities and in high demand this tequila is truly a collector's item (hence the steep price point). 

Clase Azul's five-year limited edition series, Nuestros Recuerdos has also made appearances on the M Cantina shelves. Celebrating Día de los Muertos, each of the whimsical (and individually numbered) ceramic decanters the luxury brand is known depicts aspects of the Mexican holiday like the aroma of the smoke from incense left on altars, as well as the memories of passed loved ones. These can be found online for $1,899 per bottle — the more affordable way to partake in these spirits is to make the pilgrimage to Dearborn.