Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Arizonian. I enjoy Gringos and Mariachi's in Bethesda and Rosa Mexicano for what they are, but there is nothing that compares to the authentic hole in the wall Mexican restaurants in Arizona.

I thought Gringos and Mariachis sucked. I ordered like five different tacos plus beans to give it an honest try and they were all bad. Rosa Mexicano is also pretty bad unless you just want chips and guac or something. Oyamel is a better choice downtown.
— Tucsonan

I'm from Texas and agree with you. I didn't even like my margarita at gringos and mariachis. I thought my tacos were okay there, but not worth the price. Oyamel > Rosa Mexicano.

Anonymous wrote:Chicagoan who is scoffing at not being included in the initial list -- some of the best Mexican food in the country is in Chicago, no question.

Anyway, DC is lost. Good luck. That being said, there are some tasty food options form the greater Central/South American region in DC -- I love the Peruvian chicken places, Samantha's in Takoma Park has interesting Central American writ large food. But as for reliable tacos/burritos/carnitas/birria -- the kind of places that are a dime a dozen in Chicago -- not much comes to mind.

Taqueria el Mexicano in Langley Park/Hyattsville has good mole. And there's a place in downtown DC, kind of Shaw/Logan Circle area that makes a mean pambazo. Those are the first that come to mind.

I’m the ex-pat Californian but I agree about Chicago. I routinely had better Mexican food there than in either Northern or Southern California.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The places to go to are in neighborhoods you don’t want to go to.

Name them. I don't care

Someone mentioned la Mexicana on route 1.

Oh no! not route 1!

Anonymous wrote:Arizonian. I enjoy Gringos and Mariachi's in Bethesda and Rosa Mexicano for what they are, but there is nothing that compares to the authentic hole in the wall Mexican restaurants in Arizona.

I thought Gringos and Mariachis sucked. I ordered like five different tacos plus beans to give it an honest try and they were all bad. Rosa Mexicano is also pretty bad unless you just want chips and guac or something. Oyamel is a better choice downtown.
— Tucsonan

Anonymous wrote:I love cactus cantina just for the atmosphere and consistency

I live in California, but I really miss Cactus Cantina. My favorite was the steak fajitas. They used to drizzle hot butter over them 😋

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The places to go to are in neighborhoods you don’t want to go to.

Name them. I don't care

Someone mentioned la Mexicana on route 1.

Chicagoan who is scoffing at not being included in the initial list -- some of the best Mexican food in the country is in Chicago, no question.

Anyway, DC is lost. Good luck. That being said, there are some tasty food options form the greater Central/South American region in DC -- I love the Peruvian chicken places, Samantha's in Takoma Park has interesting Central American writ large food. But as for reliable tacos/burritos/carnitas/birria -- the kind of places that are a dime a dozen in Chicago -- not much comes to mind.

Taqueria el Mexicano in Langley Park/Hyattsville has good mole. And there's a place in downtown DC, kind of Shaw/Logan Circle area that makes a mean pambazo. Those are the first that come to mind.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Arizonian. I enjoy Gringos and Mariachi's in Bethesda and Rosa Mexicano for what they are, but there is nothing that compares to the authentic hole in the wall Mexican restaurants in Arizona.

Why does everyone keep trying to make Arizonian a thing? That second "i" does not belong in there.

I prefer to be known as a Zonie, but I think it’s only people from Southern California who refer to us that way and it’s not in a nice way!

Anonymous wrote:Arizonian. I enjoy Gringos and Mariachi's in Bethesda and Rosa Mexicano for what they are, but there is nothing that compares to the authentic hole in the wall Mexican restaurants in Arizona.

Why does everyone keep trying to make Arizonian a thing? That second "i" does not belong in there.

ex-pat Californian

Oyamel
Bandit Tacos
Casa Oaxaca
Muchas Gracias (go Th for the Cochinita Pibil)
Burrito brothers

Anonymous wrote:I’m from Arizona. My husband is from Texas, so he loves Chuy’s. It fine, I guess. Our favorite is El Sol in Vienna and they have a DC location, too. Alfredo Solis is the chef and he is from Mexico City. It’s by far the best Mexican I’ve found east of Arizona.

And also, to add to the international list of cities where the Mexican is lousy, include Helsinki. Yuck.

Meant to include the link: http://www.elsol-dc.com/

I’m from Arizona. My husband is from Texas, so he loves Chuy’s. It fine, I guess. Our favorite is El Sol in Vienna and they have a DC location, too. Alfredo Solis is the chef and he is from Mexico City. It’s by far the best Mexican I’ve found east of Arizona.

And also, to add to the international list of cities where the Mexican is lousy, include Helsinki. Yuck.

Why has no one said Taqueria Habanero on 14th street? Owners are Oaxacan, and they make their own tortillas from scratch, to order. Second place is Muchas Gracias. I’m a Texan, and these are interior Mexican places, not Tex-Mex. There is no good Tex-Mex in DC. Chuy’s in the burbs is the closest.

Anonymous wrote:Arizonan here. My local favs are Anita’s (New Mexico style) and then El Paso (Sonoran style). However, each of these restaurants would only rate about a 6.5 - 7 back in Tucson.

Hello fellow Old Pueblan. I would take a Tucson 6.5. (I think of Casa Molina’s as a Tucson 6.5….). Is that El Paso in Alexandria? It’s a bit far from us but I guess closer that TUS.

I’m also the one that said I thought District Taco is okay, and everyone else seems to hate them. I like their chorizo tacos—those are pretty solid although for some reason east coasters like to dump onion on everything. I guess my standards have dropped.

There’s no place to get like a machaca chimi elegante style with a side of refried beans…..or even a decent red Chile burro.
Casa Oaxaca in bethesda did have homemade horchata, though, so that’s something.
There was a random family-run Mexican place in Bowie near route 3 that had the best beans but they closed a few years ago and were replaced by a stupid chain.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am from Colorado. This place is as close as it gets for me https://www.facebook.com/Tortas-Y-Tacos-La-Chiquita-Mexicana-357747881024056/
I no longer even attempt to find breakfast burritos or green chile (Colorado or New Mexican style)
I do like Tacos Picosos in Alexandria. It's not really what I am used to but I love their beans.
I like Bartacos fish tacos
I really dislike District Taco. I still like Chipotle in a nostalgic way but find that many locations around here suck.
There are so many more options now than when I moved here 15 years ago!

Ummm yeah, Colorado has terrible Mexican food. You drown it in that terrible sauce…. Bleach.

I’m from AZ, lived in NOVA for 9 years and have now lived in CO for longer—there are a handful of ok Mexican places here (mostly the places that have taken over buildings that used to be other fast food restaurants) but we really haven’t found any that we really like. Better than the options around DC though.

I once made the mistake of going to a “Mexican” restaurant in Scotland. Will never try Mexican food outside of North America again.

LOL.. did the same in London. Yikes.

No bueno in Montreal or Buenos Aires too.