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El Tapatio Mexican Restaurant
Rating Details »
- Price Range:
-
$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
6 reviews for El Tapatio Mexican Restaurant
OK, so five stars might be pushing it a bit, however...
Good Mexican in DC is awfully hard to find, and this place is as good as a good Mexican joint in Texas/NM/Cali. So if you are jonesing for the the real stuff, then go.
Order light, because you're going to want to guzzle the table salsa down by the bowlful, and they don't give you a spoon, so you are going to fill up on chips.
El Tapatio's location might dissuade you from visiting. I'll also admit that the parking lot is oriented to maximize the possibility of your getting into a fender bender.
Don't let these minor inconveniences stop you from visiting. I've only been once, so I can't vouch for the full menu's range. But the birria del chivo was extraordinary. If you've never tried goat, you can pretend you're adventurous. It comes with lightly charred homemade tortillas, which are delicious. And the meal is preceded by homemade chips and salsa, which are of an order of magnitude better than what I've had anywhere else. When they try to refill your basket, resist.
There are a few pool tables on the dance floor adjoining the eating area. There's also a full bar
This is place is not as scary as I thought it might be. I had never ventured off 295 onto Kenilworth Ave. before, let alone all the way into Bladensburg, and I was kinda scared. As a blonde white chick, I did get a few strange looks in the parking lot, and I was the only non-Hispanic in the whole restaurant (and parking lot), but I was treated very nicely and seemed more than welcome. I went for lunch; I could see how on a weekend night, it might be a little much with the huge bar area and dueling jukeboxes going on.
The food was very good-had the chicken tacos, the taco al pastor, and the chicken quesadilla. The tacos were great, like taco-truck tacos. However, based on the previous reviews, I thought they would be the best tacos of my life, and they weren't. But they were good, though. Chips appeared to be hand-made and the salsa was good, too. Quesadilla was one of the best I've ever had. Overall, I think Mi Tierra at Unity Park is just as good if not better, but I would return to El Tapatio definitely. Oh, and you better come with someone who knows some Spanish, because although my waitress did know a little, I definitely had to bust out my limited espanol to get through the ordering process. A good intro to Little Mexico for me-
There's an explosion of goodness going on in "Little Mexico" these days, and if you haven't been over to Riverdale/Bladensburg yet to try some of these "muy autentico" Mexican restaurants you should drop what you're doing right now and rush over to Kenilworth Ave.
El Tapatio has been around a while and it harbors the location of one of "Little Mexico's" first and much loved establishments, Cielito Lindo. Good old CL is long gone but the folks at Tapatio are doing them proud.
First let me tell you that this is NOT TEX MEX. This is Mexican food, made by a Mexican family, primarily for Mexicans. You will not find Cheese laden Chimichangas or double swirl margaritas. You will find Horchata, the cashew drink or any of a myriad of flavored Jarritos Sodas.
You will also find some of the finest tacos you could imagine. El Tapatio specializes in cuisine from Jalisco Mexico and they make their own white corn tortillas to order. It's a not a subtle difference. The tacos are filled with your selection of meat, cubed white onion and fresh cilantro.
Meat selections include: Chorizo, Carnitas, Goat, Carne Asada, Tongue and Chicken. I have not tried the Chile Rellenos but am told they are the best.
The place is somewhat shabby looking and as I mentioned earlier, caters to a specifically Mexican clientele. Non-Mexicans should not be put off, however as you will be very welcome here. It does help to know a little Spanish, though, as it's highly possible your server will not know a great deal of English.
Hands down the best tacos I have found in the DC area, and that includes favorites like DF and Pepitos. I've only been to el tapatio twice and both times I had the tacos - so far I've tried the chicken, goat and chorizo. The goat is different, slow cooked and tender with a nice subtle spiced gamey taste. The fresh off the grill tortillas were heaped full of it. The chorizo is freshly charred and slightly greasy, topped with onion and cilantro it is far far better than the crumbly, dry, and tasteless chorizo I have had at other places. The chicken is slow cooked, moist strips of seasoned white meat with pieces of tomato and sweet peppers. It is almost like it has been stewed. I was pleasantly surprised by these as they were not what I was expecting. The homemade salsas served with the tacos are good too; relatively mild verde and chipotle (I think) and a fiery roja.
As others have mentioned the chips are very good, they are pretty much quartered and fried regular corn tortillas. This lends a thicker chip and a different texture which is really quite good (try making them at home). The salsa served with them is a pico de gallo assisted by a food processor, it is fresh and delicious. On my second trip we ordered some guacamole and it was fresh and tasty.
Again,as previously mentioned the area is a little rough and the restaurant itself has a definite cantina/roadhouse macho rough and tumble kind of feel to it. The jukebox is usually blaring some accordion music and the full bar and pool table area is populated with people who look serious about their drinks. Depending on your tastes this may be a positive or negative.
Service is good, I got the same waitress twice so I think she must be dispatched to my table as the best english speaker as I am an obvious gringo. It's a shame because I speak passable enough spanish to order at a restaurant but never seem to get to use it. Thanks to the aforementioned full bar getting a variety of alcohol is no problem and they also seem to have specials on buckets of beer. On my next trip I'll have to force myself to try something besides the tacos but it's not going to be easy.
AUTHENTIC. Seriously, I ate here on Friday since it was featured in Cheap Eats and I was craving Mexican food. Growing up 45 minutes from Nogales I prefer my tacos from a truck, but hey I'm willing to try a strip mall. The parking lot is a mess, but we made it in, and the first thing I noticed was there were no American's eating, playing pool, or working at this place. Two juke boxes were going at the same time; there were sombreros on the wall, and waitresses in short skirts. I sat down anyway and proceeded to look around to see what everyone else was having. I started with a drink that appeared to be the most popular, my waitress seemed shocked I couldn't speak Spanish (I appear to be Hispanic, I'm not) and proceeded to find the only person who spoke enough English to determine that the beer I wanted in my mixed drink would be Corona. I liked the drink, my boyfriend did not, and it basically was a huge class of corona, tomato juice, and lime. I like lime, but was unable to finish it. Filling, and I'm not convinced the only alcohol it contained was beer. We then split a beef burrito (yum), three chorizo tacos (my favorite part of the meal) and a chicken quesadilla. We couldn't finish our meal, and with the two drinks it was less than $30. My only thing is if I went back I would get the pork tacos. The chips were so so, the salsa good. The real yummy part was the green salsa they brought for the tacos. I'm going back soon, though the exposed wire was a fire hazard, I liked the fact that the people playing pool brought their own sticks. I also plan on going later, I went at six, but it appeared they had a dance floor and I'd like to see what it was like around 10 pm.
