The blood orange margarita at Rocco's Tacos in Palm Beach Gardens. (Taylor Jones / Palm Beach Post)

This week’s bar: Rocco’s Tacos and Tequila Bar

The scene: It’s bigger, its walls are brighter, and it boasts a fire pit and outdoors bar. It’s Rocco’s Tacos, now in north county. The recently opened Palm Beach Gardens restaurant is owner Rocco Mangel’s fourth South Florida location, and has already found a crowd hungry for Mexican food in a lively atmosphere.

The signature cocktail: As a tequila bar, Rocco’s naturally specializes in margaritas. The Blood Orange Margarita ($12.50) is a particularly tart rendering that would stand up to the eatery’s perfectly spiced chips.

Other drinks: The Tequila Mojito ($9.50), in which tequila is substituted for the traditional rum, is surprisingly sweet. Those without a sweet tooth might want to try the Ranch Water ($11) – tequila, soda water and fresh lime juice. A Skinny Señorita ($9.50) – El Mayor Blanco, fresh squeezed lime and a splash of Cointreau – is also available.

Bar bites: The aforementioned chips, plus guacamole made table side, are a must when you visit Rocco’s. The mini crudo tacos (three for $13) are super-yum, and the Queso Fundido con Chorizo ($10) is Mexican comfort food: cheddar cheese, chorizo and peppers melted in a tiny skillet and served with corn tortillas.

Deals: Get $1 off drinks during happy hour, from 4 to 7 p.m. seven days a week. On Taco & Tequila Tuesdays, enjoy all-you-can-eat tacos for $14.99 all day and $5 margaritas and $15 pitchers after 7 p.m.

Info: PGA Commons, 5090 PGA Blvd., Palm Beach Gardens, (561) 623-0127

Blood Orange Margarita

2 ounces Milagro Barrel Select Reserve Blanco tequila

1/2 ounce Salerno Blood Orange Liqueur

1 ounce fresh lime juice

1 ounce grapefruit juice

Splash of blood orange puree

Mix all ingredients together and serve either frozen or on the rocks, with salt or sugar on the rim.

The White Sangria at The Breakers' Italian Restaurant is called a 'no-guilt cocktail' by Nick Velardo, the hotel's director of food and beverage. (Brandon Kruse / Palm Beach Post)

This week’s bar: The Italian Restaurant at The Breakers

The scene: The Circle Dining Room and the Seafood Bar get all the press, so if you’re unfamiliar with the Italian Restaurant at The Breakers, you’re not alone. "It doesn’t get a lot of attention, and it really should," says Nick Velardo, the Breakers’ director of food and beverage.

Located on the southern end of the historic resort, the Italian Restaurant is part of The Breakers’ Family Entertainment Center, a secure, fully supervised space that’s home to a playroom for toddlers, a big-screen movie room, an arcade, a small basketball court and an arts-and-crafts area.

But the real artistry takes place in the kitchen, where chefs produce brick-oven pizzas, pasta dishes and parmigianas of every stripe. The atmosphere in the main dining room, and in a smaller bar area, is warm and inviting, and guests also can dine outside in a lushly landscaped area.

The signature cocktail: The White Sangria, made with The Breakers’ private-label wine and vodka rather than brandy. "It’s like a no-guilt cocktail," Velardo says. "You almost feel like you’re drinking a really fruity wine."

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Figs' sangria is a cool concoction of cranberry and citrus with Petite Syrah. (Gary Coronado / Palm Beach Post)

The bar: Figs by Todd English

The vibe: Ducking through the shiny racks and displays of the bright Macy’s store at The Gardens Mall and finding a sophisticatedly low-lit, low-key, neutrally colored restaurant is like opening a wardrobe and finding a culinary Narnia. It packs a lot of class into a small space, with a cozy bar in the center, as well as the Farm Table, a large space meant for communal dining and drinking.

The drink: Figs usually boasts a strong wine list, but for season, it’s featuring Figs Sangria ($7), a cool concoction of cranberry and citrus flavor with Petite Syrah. It’s just the perfect drink to sip slowly and consider your next shoe purchase.

Other noteworthy libations: That aforementioned wine list offers an impressive number of wines by the glass, starting at $6, as well as three choices of the sparkling bubbly stuff. (In case you’re toasting that last shoe purchase.)

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The caipirinha is Brazil's national cocktail, and in Cabana's care, it walks the line between sweet and sour. (Richard Graulich / Palm beach Post)

This week’s bar: Cabana Nuevo Latino

The scene: Helping anchor the 500 block of Clematis Street after many years on the east end of the downtown West Palm Beach strip, Cabana is a tastefully decorated, 150-seat restaurant with a larger, bona-fide bar area. "We couldn’t really cultivate a bar crowd" in the old location, says manager Mario Amaya.

Now, Cabana lures the happy-hour crowd with a menu of classic Latin cocktails, most notably its mojitos, made with the jugs of fruit-infused rum (think berries in one jug, and pineapple, mango and watermelon in others) that sit on the blue-lit bar top. "You can always have the classic mojito, but we had to take it to another level," Amaya says.

The signature cocktail: The Caipirinha ($8.50), the Brazilian national cocktail, made with cachaça (Brazil’s fermented sugarcane-based liquor), simple syrup and lime. Cabana’s delicious version deftly walks the line between sweet and sour.

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The S'morestini even includes a flaming marshmallow. (Damon Higgins / Palm Beach Post)

The bar: 51 Supper Club and Lounge, Palm Beach Gardens

The vibe: Is this 2012, or some fabled, cocktail-colored piece of the elegant past of someplace like Manhattan or Chicago? The servers are either clad in suits or tastefully sexy outfits, the decor is accented by drapery, beautiful chandeliers, plush seating and a piano. The effect is exclusive but welcoming – no membership card or secret word needed.

The drink: The 51 S’morestini ($11) – is it dessert? Is it a cocktail? Is it sent from some magical land where drinking and camping is advisable, and all the seats around the campfire are velvet-covered? Whatever it is, it’s chocolaty, graham cracker-y and too good to risk spilling in the woods.

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The provocatively named Whip Me from the English Tap & Beer Garden. (Alyssa Orr / Palm Beach Post)

The bar: English Tap & Beer Garden

The vibe: Nestled between tony shops and fancier destinations like Morton’s is a comfy, British pub-inspired enclave of chill and good cheer. You’ll notice immediately the eclectic array of patrons raising a pint at the comfortably lit outside bar – well-heeled Boca matrons, the after-work crowd, 20-something football hooligan-looking dudes and all others hungry and thirsty for reasonably priced, tasty morsels. They’ve come to the right place!

Directions, invite a friend, leave your own review

The drink: The provocatively named Whip Me ($7), a naughty, frothy but very grown-up mixture of orange juice and whipped-cream vodka. Simple. Simply delicious.

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The Yard House's Juniper Fusion (Brandon Kruse / Palm Beach Post)

This week’s bar: Yard House

The signature cocktail: The Juniper Fusion ($8.95), a berry, berry good-tasting and good-looking drink, in which muddled strawberries and cucumbers swim in gin.

Other noteworthy drinks: "With 130 beers on draft," says manager Matt Thomas, "nobody really thinks this is a place to go to get a skinny margarita." It is now. The California-based chain recently introduced a Fresh & Skinny lineup of cocktails clocking in at fewer than 180 calories each. We liked the low-cal Citrus Crush mojito, made with sprigs of mint, and next time we belly up to Yard House’s stainless-steel bar, the Ruby X – think tequila and fresh grapefruit – will surely hit the spot.

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The Melonaid, made by DIG in Delray Beach, won our poll. (Thomas Cordy / Palm Beach Post)

The voters in our Taking Your Pulse poll this week have decided that a refreshing dose of fruit is the key to a good cocktail.

Melonaid, a cocktail concocted by Delray Beach’s DIG restaurant, was our winner with an overwhelming 42.9 percent of the vote.

The Charlie Sheen Very Dirty Martini, made by Dirty Martini of Palm Beach Gardens, finished second at 11.9 percent, while the Blue Cosmo of Boynton Beach’s Prime Catch and the Cherry Mojito of Boca Raton’s Ovenella finished in a tie for third at 4.8 percent.

Among the write-in votes this week were a Mango Margarita at The Breakers in Palm Beach, the White Blossom at The Office in Delray Beach, Dada’s Strawberry Mojito — also a Delray product — and Cabo Flats’ Pineapple Express Margarita, out of Palm Beach Gardens.

Click here for the final results.

Check out all of the Cocktail Culture beverages and recipes

We’ve been reviewing local cocktails for TGIF for a while, so we here at Taking Your Pulse have decided to do a bit of a crossover.

Have you tried some of the suggested cocktails? (And that could be even at home, following the recipe.) If you have, what’s your favorite?

(And if you have a favorite that we haven’t included here — and it could be your own favorite local cocktail — let us know about it by clicking “other” and writing it in. It might end up being featured by our reviewers eventually.)

We’ll let you know about our winner on Monday.

(Libby Volgyes/The Palm Beach Post)

The bar: Café Centro

The vibe: Elegantly neighborhood-y, the bar at Northwood’s Café Centro combines the best of the historic village — an older building with exposed brick and wood that seems transported from New York, or Chicago, or some exotic European hamlet that randomly you stumble onto. And you’re thrilled you did.

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