The Pinky Gonzales Is a “Well-Balanced Banger” for Tequila Lovers

Originally made with tequila, lime, Curaçao and orgeat, the Pinky Gonzales is essentially a Mai Tai made with tequila or a Margarita made with orgeat. No matter how you spin it, the 1960s Trader Vic drink is perfectly suited to Chicago’s Culebra, one of Punch’s Best New Bars of 2026. The Puerto Rican bar fully caters to both the city’s Latinx community and its cocktail nerds.

Trader Vic, aka Vic Bergeron, opened Señor Pico in San Francisco’s Ghirardelli Square in 1964 as an attempt to bring a milder, Americanized version of Mexican food to the United States. The drink program focused on tequila and rum, which are also the spirits centered at Culebra. Trader Vic’s menu descriptions were typically vague—Tonga Punch was “a famous happy mixture that is always a favorite;” the Rum Boogie is “a real blues chaser”—and the Pinky Gonzalez follows suit: “too much of this and too much of that,” its description read.

At Culebra, the staff are classically trained in American mixology while also centering Latino culture in everything they do. Lead bartender Elias Soto started as a busser at Three Dots and a Dash in 2019 and eventually trained as a bartender. That’s where he first encountered the Pinky Gonzales, served at Three Dots with a float of mezcal. It became a favorite “back pocket” recipe when guests requested a tropical tequila drink. “It isn’t too sweet and isn’t too fruity,” he says. Culebra owner Diego Garcia-Gonzalez (no relation to Pinky) adds that it’s a “well-balanced banger for your tequila lovers.”