OP here- thanks all for the suggestions. Tried Taco Bamba. Had the chorizo taco and the huevos rancheros. The huevos rancheros were good, the chorizo was tasty. It was good food, but not wowed by it. Will try a few other menu items next week.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Manassas is where its at. Real Mexican restaurants.

Recommend specific places, please?

Not the pp you quoted, but I live near Manassas. I am also from San Diego so I know (and desperately miss!) Mexican food. The best we have found is El Vaquero West in Haymarket (a little further down the 66 from Manassas)
http://el-vaquerorestaurant.com/haymarket/

Anonymous wrote:Nastiness aside, as a PP pointed out, DC has a very small Mexican population so don't expect much in the way of Mexican food. You just can't compare it to TX or LA! We do have a large Latino population, the largest of which are Salvadorenos, followed by Bolivians. Head out to Falls Church, VA and try some Bolivian food! Ethiopian? DC has some of the best in the country because of our huge Ethiopian population.

That said, I'm from Chicago (huge Mexican population) and lived in Texas and Mexico City, so I crave good Mexican all the time. There is a small concentration of Mexicans out in PG County MD, around Bladensburg Rd. in Riverdale. There are some small, dive places that are pretty decent like El Tapatio. In Adams Morgan I always liked Mixtec - owner from Mexico City.

In addition, Tacos are the big craze around here now so there are lots of decent taco places popping up all over the city. There is a good strip-mall place up in Gaithersburg called Tortaco, which has, yes, Tortas and Tacos. The owners are Mexicans from LA. Worth checking out.

Which places to you recommend? I'd love some Bolivian food. And I've been wanting to try Ethiopian food.

We gave up on our search, and I learned to cook.

9:08 back again. I must also point out that when I lived in Houston, I often had to seek out authentic Mexican food too. Most of what was there was Tex-Mex. Big difference.

Nastiness aside, as a PP pointed out, DC has a very small Mexican population so don't expect much in the way of Mexican food. You just can't compare it to TX or LA! We do have a large Latino population, the largest of which are Salvadorenos, followed by Bolivians. Head out to Falls Church, VA and try some Bolivian food! Ethiopian? DC has some of the best in the country because of our huge Ethiopian population.

That said, I'm from Chicago (huge Mexican population) and lived in Texas and Mexico City, so I crave good Mexican all the time. There is a small concentration of Mexicans out in PG County MD, around Bladensburg Rd. in Riverdale. There are some small, dive places that are pretty decent like El Tapatio. In Adams Morgan I always liked Mixtec - owner from Mexico City.

In addition, Tacos are the big craze around here now so there are lots of decent taco places popping up all over the city. There is a good strip-mall place up in Gaithersburg called Tortaco, which has, yes, Tortas and Tacos. The owners are Mexicans from LA. Worth checking out.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Picante in Chantilly is pretty good:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/picante-chantilly

Sure, if your food preferences lean more towards flavorless cardboard and paste.

My wife and I moved up here from Texas and we haven't found anything close in quality to what we had down there, although I've got to guess there are some good authentic places to go given the diverse mix of immigrants in the area. If we have to get something, we go to Tequila Grande or Guapos, but it just makes us miss the hole in the wall places we visited down in Dallas all the more.

I know the education system is poor in Texas so I will look past your ignorance-it's not your fault.

Texas has a larger Mexican population than the whole of the DC area. Chicago even has a higher Mexican population than DC....as a matter of fact DC in comparison to all other major metro areas has quite a small Hispanic population.

With that said, of our Hispanic population, the majority are El Salvadorian, so maybe you should start eating pupusas. Do you go to Miami and complain about the poor margaritas, ignoring the mojito?

It looks like you're also from Texas? With your poor reading comprehension. Or maybe you're just from Chantilly and bitter that someone called your food flavorless cardboard.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do street tacos exist in this area? Or the guys who sell corn on the street? Or the guys who sell bacon wrapped hot dogs out of the little carts? I'm from southwest AZ and really miss real Mexican food.

Just wait until you go home for a visit. Anything you try in the area will be disappointing.

That's what I was afraid of. But I'll give the el chilango truck a shot and see what happens

PP who posted the El Chilango recommendation here. Definitely try it! I'm from Virginia so I can't say I'm any sort of expert but I do think the tacos are worth seeking out.

I love District Taco too but I certainly would not call it authentic or anything special.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Picante in Chantilly is pretty good:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/picante-chantilly

Sure, if your food preferences lean more towards flavorless cardboard and paste.

My wife and I moved up here from Texas and we haven't found anything close in quality to what we had down there, although I've got to guess there are some good authentic places to go given the diverse mix of immigrants in the area. If we have to get something, we go to Tequila Grande or Guapos, but it just makes us miss the hole in the wall places we visited down in Dallas all the more.

I know the education system is poor in Texas so I will look past your ignorance-it's not your fault.

Texas has a larger Mexican population than the whole of the DC area. Chicago even has a higher Mexican population than DC....as a matter of fact DC in comparison to all other major metro areas has quite a small Hispanic population.

With that said, of our Hispanic population, the majority are El Salvadorian, so maybe you should start eating pupusas. Do you go to Miami and complain about the poor margaritas, ignoring the mojito?

District Taco. I'm from southern ca and DT is the only good Mexican I've found here.

Anonymous wrote:Do street tacos exist in this area? Or the guys who sell corn on the street? Or the guys who sell bacon wrapped hot dogs out of the little carts? I'm from southwest AZ and really miss real Mexican food.

Yes, but you are too pure to roll with the vatos. You have to get out of your sanitized zone if you want good Mexican/Central American food

Tipicos Gloria Restaurant in Herndon....however white people get upset that their asses aren't kissed when they dine there.

In that same strip mall is a great Afghan kebab place, called Charcoal Kebab...best Haleem in town.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do street tacos exist in this area? Or the guys who sell corn on the street? Or the guys who sell bacon wrapped hot dogs out of the little carts? I'm from southwest AZ and really miss real Mexican food.

Just wait until you go home for a visit. Anything you try in the area will be disappointing.

That's what I was afraid of. But I'll give the el chilango truck a shot and see what happens

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do street tacos exist in this area? Or the guys who sell corn on the street? Or the guys who sell bacon wrapped hot dogs out of the little carts? I'm from southwest AZ and really miss real Mexican food.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/el-chilango-arlington

This is worth your while, trust me!

Hey thank you so much! I appreciate it

Anonymous wrote:Do street tacos exist in this area? Or the guys who sell corn on the street? Or the guys who sell bacon wrapped hot dogs out of the little carts? I'm from southwest AZ and really miss real Mexican food.

Just wait until you go home for a visit. Anything you try in the area will be disappointing.