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Alamo Mexican Restaurant
Categories: Restaurants Mexican Restaurants Tex-Mex Mexican, Tex-Mex [Edit]
5508 Kenilworth AveRiverdale, MD 20737
(301) 927-8787
- Hours:
Mon-Thu, Sun 11 am - 10 pm
Fri-Sat 11 am - 11 pm
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
15 reviews for Alamo Mexican Restaurant
15 reviews in English
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Review from Brent F.
College Park, MD
1/2/2012 6 Check-ins Here
We often don't get what we order, but we keep going back, because EVERYTHING they bring out is GREAT! We're tempted to just walk in and tell them to surprise us, instead of ordering. Lots of awesome food, wait staff that acts like family, very easy on the wallet.
The best Mexican food we've ever eaten...consistently. -
Review from Vince V.
Silver Spring, MD
5/12/2012
The Yelp reviews below are generally spot on ... Tex-Mex-like but leans heavily to the Mex side ... enough to have made my Mexican suegra and her daughter plenty nostalgic for home. The live music was a welcome plus, adding a lot to the homey feel. Good, solid quality cooking, very large portions, and generally attentive, good-humored service for our chatty and large group.
For those looking for a great alternative to those old takoma-silver-spring favorites (Samantha's and El Golfo), Alamo is a wonderful change of pace, easily justifying the extra drive. We'll definitely be back. -
Review from Ken S.
Hyattsville, MD
4/4/2012
I love the Alamo. I have been going there frequently for a few years and have never had a disappointing meal. The salsa is one of the best, the staff is super friendly, and I always leave happy! For the money, you cannot beat the food. The burritos are flavorful, and the fajitas are awesome. Try it, you'll love it!
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Review from Monique M.
Washington, DC
3/12/2011
Potomac camarones were too salty, but the platanos were divine!
What I like most about Alamo is the quaint authentic decor, and muy muy friendly service.
There is a cantina attached, and a generally good vibe in the air. The patrons seem to be a mix of unacculturated Mexicans, and aged artists from the nearby arts district.
Menu is standard tacos, fajitas, carne asadas and seafood. Nothing spectacular, especially for the price, but for that area, a comfortable safe bet for a square meal. -
Review from J D.
Oakland, CA
9/2/2006
Anchoring a small strip mall in Riverdale bearing its name, The Alamo Restaurant looks like just another place to grab a meal from the road. I had seen it written up here and there and never really thought about until we moved a bit closer.
Walking in, it looked much more like the Mexican restaurants I am familiar with from the Dallas---Fort Worth area than any I've seen in DC. Cast-iron decor, low lighting, dark paneling, red booths, etc. Think San Antonio, just off the Riverwalk, South Austin, or other Little Mexicos. It reminded me of home and the Mexican restaurants I grew up exploring with my uncle (who managed a downtown Dallas Tex-Mex place), my family, and friends.
We were promptly seated and gave the menu a quick glance as the chips and salsa arrived. A quick taste and I soon knew that we were in for a good meal. Out come these perfectly crisp, thick chips with a deep corn flavor, you know the type: fresh, opaque, deep golden yellow. We were served individual mini-bowls of incredibly well balanced salsa. This was fabulous -- a touch of cumin, minuscule red peppers, a medium heat that built and just sat there for the rest of the meal, tiny pieces of cilantro. I care deeply about salsa and want it to taste spicy, not too sweet, with touches of garlic and fresh tomatoes. This was a solid 8.5 on a ten-point scale.
Alamo Restaurant has an extensive menu, but it was easy to narrow it down to a few options we wanted to try. T and I decided to split one of the bountiful combination plates and add a seafood enchilada on the side because we were both curious about it.
T ordered an iced tea and I indulged and ordered a horchata, a sweet cinnamon rice milk. It was a cool, refreshing treat on a hot day. Now I was a very happy diner enjoying my seven hundred and fifty-third scoop of salsa and chasing it with my cool mega-sized horchata, but little did I know what pleasure was to come from the meal being prepared for us.
Here's a walk through of the combination plate:
CHALUPAS COMPUESTAS: medium sized tostadas topped with beans, cheese, lettuce, and tomato. T, not a major fan of refried beans (gasp!), thought the beans were the best he has tasted. Refried beans often end up falling into one of the following categories: pasty with lumps, runny with bits, and, well, somewhere in between. The best refried beans in my estimation are neither wet nor gritty. They taste more of beans and less of the overpowering chili powder, garlic, etc. that many places load them down with. These were notable in a meal of notables.
FLAUTAS --- The flauta was a delicious, wet, but not dripping, generous portion of meat packed firmly into a deep fried tortilla. After biting into the flauta, much became clear about the kitchen at the Alamo. 1. These folks know meat and understand texture. 2. The kitchen uses broths to flavor their meats and the flavors are both deep and enjoyable.
TACO --- The taco was your basic hard taco. Ground beef topped with shredded cheese, tomatoes, and lettuce. Again, the meat had a wonderful, moist, flavor. Hints of chili powder and the juices of the meat made this an A+ taco. It got a bit wet, so I cradled it with one of the freshly grilled corn tortillas that came with the meal. Yum!
RICE --- T was especially impressed by the rice. A generous pile of fluffy (no crusty pieces) rice with a tinge of tomato flavor.
NACHOS --- The combo came with two nachos, each with generous portions of the soft yellow cheese so popular in Tex-Mex cooking. On top of the cheese were two slices of pickled jalapenos, and beneath the cheese, a spoonful of the delicious refried beans.
SEAFOOD ENCHILADA - The seafood enchilada was a find. Flavorful shredded crab filled a soft, wet tortilla, covered in cheese, and served steaming hot. I'll get a plate of these next time.
SHREDDED TURKEY MOLE - The shredded turkey was the only item that was a bit newer for us. We've both had our share of mole by this point in life, but I did not grow up with it and T had it later in life as well. This mole was worthy of creating some future nostalgia though. A deep intense mole sauce soaked the shredded turkey. This was best eaten with a tortilla so we could sop up the savory and sweet juices.
The combo platter also came with a cheese enchilada, but we were less interested with all that was on the plate. It passed the test, but was not much to blog about.
I am still finding it hard to believe we found such a place. It felt so incredibly like home to me and I can't wait to find others who have left Texas and are looking for the real deal. -
Review from Will B.
Washington, DC
12/15/2009
First, I believe it is impossible to find queso blanco in the metro D.C. area. Everyone, and I do mean, everyone, is all about the chili con queso. That being said, queso blanco is not available here. Our quest shoulders on.
Alamo is a white table cloth eatery with well above average Tex-Mex. I usually like to judge a "Mexican" restaurant on the 3 S's: Service, Salsa, and Steak (I'm a big mark for a good fajita).
Alamo passed all three with flying colors.
First, the service was outstanding. It helps when you're generally the only people in the house. But, that being said, the service did not slack.
The food, for the money, was spot on. Granted, you could tell everything wasn't pulled right off the vine (I appreciate a fresh salsa) but it was well prepared and the portions were very large (my fajitas for one could have well been fajitas for two). I also appreciated that they threw in some roasted tomatoes along with some pan drippings into the standard mix of peppers and onions (probably not for everyone) and didn't include celery (quite a few downtown joints do this).
I would definitely consider coming back again. -
Review from Ken K.
Columbia, MD
4/15/2010
Ups: OK salsa
Downs: just about everything else
After reading some of the reviews I was anticipating a decent Mexican meal. What i got was a glorified taco bell. The chili con queso had a skin on it. The chimichanga was akin to a hot pocket full of ground beef flavored by the tears of children who will have to pass this food through their digestive system. As for service? I wrote this review without seeing my waitress once. I should mention I'm part blind and have hooks for hands. -
Review from vena v.
San Francisco, CA
6/18/2009
I am impressed. Alamo is WONDERFUL. I ate an enormous meal, the El Charro, for $16! It consisted of: 1 taquito with guacamole, 2 nachos covered in delicious, velvety refried beans and cheese, one amazing cheese enchilada, one excellent tamale, one ground beef taco, a huge portion of shredded turkey in a dark mole sauce - and a mug of hot chicken broth, in case I hadn't eaten enough protein. What a great place. Seems more authentically Mexican than Tex-Mex (i.e. I didn't think that I would have a heart attack from the Tex-Mex required lard that I love).
The portions are so huge that I wished I were a teenager again. Anyplace with quality this high and prices this reasonable should be in business for a long time. Gets 5 stars for the excellent value. -
Review from Kim C.
Cheverly, MD
6/1/2010
We really liked this place! Cool atmosphere, live music, tons of families with kids. When they bring you chips & salsa, they bring a salsa bowl for each person! I love that! And when they came out with ours and saw how little my son was, they took his salsa bowl back and came back out with a different, less spicy, sauce. Too cute.
Bring your spanish-speaking friends, or use Google translator or something. Most of the menu is really difficult to understand. But the food was really great.
We didn't order a kids meal because we shared with him. However, they still brought him an ice cream sundae at the end :) -
Review from JR S.
Cypress, CA
5/5/2010
Looking for change of pace from Chevy's, my coworker and I struck out for lunch at the Alamo. We arrived around 11:30 am and were the first customers. Uh-oh! Maybe this wasn't a good choice even with Yelp's recommendations. But we pushed on to our well-worn booth. Typical East coast Tex-Mex decorations but the stained glass (acrylics) windows are a nice touch.
We got our chips and salsa promptly when asked for our drinks. (We each got our own salsa bowl btw!) The chips were not warm, but the salsa was just right for me: (spicy +) and (chunky-), not too watery.
I went for the toquitas with rice and my friend got tamales. Lunch was delivered promptly as the place started to fill up. I also asked for refried beans with my order. Unfortunately, it arrive with beans and cheese too so I had too many beans! Well, that was corrected quickly. The rice was favorable and light. The toquitas were slight dry as were my friend's tamales. Leftovers from yesterday? The jalapenos weren't too spicy and left just the right flavor and burn after eating them.
All in all, it wasn't bad, but I couldn't write home to Texas about it. Definitely a return trip is in order! -
Review from Jeff R.
Cheverly, MD
1/10/2011
When we first moved to the area, we asked if there was anywhere we could get some good Mexican food. The Alamo was recommended by my wife's sister so we decided to give it a try, and let me say we were not disappointed! The food was fast, delicious and fresh. All in all, it was a pretty authentic experience in my opinion. I mean, we had to have our menu translated by the only English speaking waitress in the whole place! If I remember correctly, a lot of the menu actually was in English, we just wanted to order from the parts that were in Spanish in hopes of getting something more authentic. Our struggle to translate certain words eventually paid off when our huge dinner began showing up. We got some dinner for two deal that included tamales, taquitos, enchiladas, rice, beans, some hot broth thing, and more...pretty much the whole shebang. It was all very delicious, and waaaay too much food for two normal people*. Throw in a couple of Spanish guitars performing in the background all night, and you've got a great Mexican food experience. Even if you want to argue the quality or authenticity of the food, the ambiance and experience as a whole was awesome. Well worth the trip, and the price.
Definitely go if you live in the area. It may not be worth a drive across DC, but for sure a place to put on your "to try" list if you're local. We'll definitely be heading back there real soon.
*We ate it all anyway, and then wiped the plates clean. -
Review from Greg M.
Tucson, AZ
1/9/2011
Some of the best nachos I've tasted from any resturant yet!. A plate is served with 6 handmade nachos per order. Each nacho starts with a brownish colored tortilla chip. Then a spoonfull of fresh made refried beans are placed on top. The beans are not runny but more of the solidified type of refried beans. Then comes the deep yellow longhorn cheddar cheese on top of that. Finished up with a slice or two of fresh jalapeno. After being hand assembled upon a plate, the plate is put into a broiler just long enough to melt the cheese and brown the edges of the tortilla chips. Ummm good!
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Review from Southern G.
Fredericksburg, VA
12/19/2006
I've eaten here a few times. This place has some good Tex-Mex food (I grew up in Texas and I was missing the ground beef enchiladas, had some here the other day that were pretty close to Texas-style enchiladas...the ground beef ones aren't on the menus, but you can ask for them). The menu also offers some of the typical Salvadorian food, which given the high number of Salvadorians in the area is possibly their specialty.
This is definitely not Mexican food but the restaurant is quite inviting for a nice intimate or group event. This restaurant might be appealing to a wide array of people. The servers are always very pleasant.
There's also a cantina attached to the establishment and the Bar Tender/ Asst. Manager, Estela, makes some great drinks and always serves you with a smile. The regulars enjoy a good drink with a festive environment and warm conversation. The regulars are locals, Guatemalans, Mexicans, Hondurans, Salvadorians, among others.
For those of you who are curious explorers and amateur anthropologists, there's a Night-Club available too...they play all the hits of the Caribbean. The crowd there is a bit on the blue-collar side, but they're just there to have a great time. -
Review from michelle r.
Greenbelt, MD
5/9/2010
This place is wonderful! Everything about is is nice. it is a good break from the chevys and taco bells of the world. The food definately tastes authentic and the atmosphere makes you feel like your in mexico.
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Review from Carol H.
Hyattsville, MD
8/13/2010
It was ok but not great. Enjoyed the serenading guitar duo.
