dodomaster's Profile
Gaithersburg, MD Restaurants
Heartily recommend Taco Bar...the only place to go in MoCo for cheap and good Mexican food.
Meals for less than $5 in Gaithersburg/Germantown/Rockville area
I second the recommendation for Taco Bar. I'm originally from SoCal and just so we are all clear, nothing here in this area comes close to the flavor from back there. Now, Taco Bar, with their cheap tacos (suadero and chorizo) are killers and their posole is good...a real find for a hole in the wall...nice flavor and did I say cheap and easy :)
Moqueca food served anywhere in Maryland?
Are there any Brazilian restaurants in Maryland that serve moqueca (fish stew)?
Thanks in advance!
Just moved from LA...need REAL Mexican!
Good luck. We moved from Ventura County CA area next to LA 6 years ago and I have been looking, trying, tasting, and feeling disappointed with the local mex food around here. I certainly miss the crunchy carnitas tacos and savory and gigantic carne asada burritos. Forget about getting decent fish tacos...
In Gaithersburg, there is a hole in the wall place called Pepitos which is also a bakery. Decent tacos and burritos, but compared to LA, it is middle of the road... There's El Tapatio 2 in Gaithersburg, and yes its just plain average. Their carnitas were lifeless, unspiced, and just plain jane. On the Washingtonian, next to a gas station is a little liqour store that also serves Mexican food - Taco Bar. They have decent suadero (rib meat) and chorizo tacos, and terrific pozoles - maybe as close to your LA taste as I can find. Riverdale / Bladensburg area joints were also just average...
Manila Cafe in Springfield?
Try Lumpia atbp at Muddy Branch, Gaithersburg instead. Much better food, and their buffet are excellent.
Any authentic mexican restaurants in Pleasant Hill area?
Thanks for the advise...I will be staying at the Courtyard Pleasant Hill, so Monument Blvd, according to Google Maps should be nearby...How's Taqueria Los Toros, or Chivos Tacqueria?
Any authentic mexican restaurants in Pleasant Hill area?
I'm a transplanted Southern Californian who now lives out in Maryland but will be in the Martinez and Pleasant Hill area on business next week Oct 6-10.
I love authentic Mexican food - crispy carnitas tacos, tasty carne asada burritos, fish tacos using homemade corn tortillas that melt in your mouth, with spicy pico de gallo/salsa to top it off.
Any good (safe and edible) places I can go to?
The East Coast is definitely not the place for Mexican food...the quality is just not the same...they do try but my palate knows better...
Thanks in advance.
Fatburger's Comin' Ta Columbia!!
It would be fantastic if In-N-Out comes here in MD. Growing up in SoCal, Fatburger was okay, but In-N-Out is the sacred cow. I like mine '3x3 with onions' (off the menu and mentioned verbally), with the shakes, and the really good dry french fries.
Also, if Tommy's ever makes it here, it would be burger nirvana!
Great crabs at Crossroads Pub
Just had a late lunch at Crossroads Pub in Dayton, MD, close to Laytonsville, this weekend. The crabs were great. Got the info from a co-worker and while the place is a dive, the crab was great, good nice large pieces for around $58 a dozen. Service is a little spotty, but we were too early for the dinner crowd so they only had 1 waitress taking orders and serving. It got better as the other waitresses arrived. I know its a little out of the way, but its worth the drive.
Non-chain Burrito's?
Forget it...I used to go to the Freebirds in Isla Vista, next to UCSB, and they were great...here in DC/MD/VA, they are just okay...you might want to check out the Mexican restaurants (El Tapatio, etc) in Riverdale, but like I said, just okay. You might try to look for them taco trucks and maybe they have burritos too...good luck.
Filipino in the DC area
Great place and great food...the daing fish, and the pansit is great, the kare-kare needs some work, the fresh lumpia is okay, but the ginataan desert is simply marvelous! And the wife loves the turon and the espasol too!
Of course, Mom's cooking out West is still the one to beat, plus all of the SoCal Filipino eateries are almost second to none, duking it out with the growing chains of Filipino restaurants (ChowKing, JolliBees, etc.), It would be nice if some of them will try it out over here...
Nevertheless, Lumpia, Pansit atbp. is a good place for Filipino food because it reminds everyone of 'home'.
El Tapatio #2 (Rockville Pike Location) Review
We moved from SoCal 5 years ago and have been on a quest for comparable mexican food. Have tried the Riverdale joints recommended by 'hounds (el Tapatio, etc.) - they are okay...we went to this restaurant just recently (few weeks ago) and I ordered the carnitas platter...its was just okay...In SoCal, carnitas tacos are served crispy on the outside and soft inside, good blend of hot sauce and pico...at El Tapatio 2, the carnitas was soft and lifeless, and the sauce was lacking... maybe I'm picky, but just calling the way I tasted it... If you really like a better than average taco, go to Taco Bar in Gaithersburg (next to a gas station) and order the suadero (rib meat) or chorizo tacos...very good and condiments are available to suit your taste... its a hole in the wall, but the food is close to authentic... they also serve lengua and pozole...
Shepherdstown WV restaurants
Thanks for all the suggestions...I'll take my time and visit all these places...
Shepherdstown WV restaurants
I will be in Shepherdstown WV for 2 weeks starting next week for a training class. Any restaurant recommendations? No fancy places...just good Italian, Mexican, or BBQ places would be great. Thanks
Good mexican restaurants around MoCo for SoCal transplants?
Thanks for the recommendation...can't find a website for them...do they serve carnitas tacos/burritos?
Good mexican restaurants around MoCo for SoCal transplants?
Hey, actual SB expats...I went to school at UCSB in the 80s and we moved to Germantown, MD in 2003. Yes, my Mexican quest is still on...I will be in a leadership management class in Shepherdstown, WV for 2 weeks starting next week...any good mexican restaurants around that area? We regularly go to Harpers Ferry and Charles Town (for the races), but I haven't seen any mex places...maybe I haven't looked hard enough.
I am specifically looking for street style tacos (crispy carnitas on the outside and soft inside, nicely chopped, with just the right spicy sauce, pico, and homemade tortillas...maybe some good tamales, tacos al pastor, maybe some fish tacos...
Hey, Joe's Cafe brings back a lot of memories for me...Its the last leg of my previous State Street crawl...
Good mexican restaurants around MoCo for SoCal transplants?
Just got back from El Tapatio #2 in Gaithersburg, which is the second restaurant of the original from Riverdale, and I'm sad to say their carnitas tacos were just okay. Almost no flavor and not finely chopped. Last week, we went to the El Mexicano in Darnestown, and while that place is also just okay, it had at least some decent carnitas.
Over the holidays, we took a trip to visit my folks in Southern California (Oxnard, Santa Barbara), and boy, the Oxnard tacquerias and the famous Lilly's in Santa Barbara (home of the tacos de ojos - eyeball tacos) had excellent carnitas. Nice and crispy outside, soft and juicy inside, spicy-flavored and marinated, and the pico and the sauce was just perfect.
So, my quest for something similar here in Maryland continues :(
Filipino Empanadas?
The Pampanguena Restaurant in Rockville, MD might have it. Its right on Rte 355, next to the Shady Grove Metro...i know its a drive, but they've got great food, and last time i was there, i saw empanadas...from one Flip foodie to another...enjoy
Good mexican restaurants around MoCo for SoCal transplants?
Yeah you are probably right :(
Thanks for all the places you quoted...i'll take my time, and visit each one and hopefully find one that's semi-decent...
Boy...i guess all my previous binges with all the taquerias in LA will be hard to duplicate, but then again, its only 3000 miles away...
Good mexican restaurants around MoCo for SoCal transplants?
Thanks for all the do's and don'ts...I guess its Riverdale for some good eats...
Any good place for tamales?
Good mexican restaurants around MoCo for SoCal transplants?
Being from SoCal, we would be partial to cuisine around the Baja California area, although we have pretty much traveled all over Mexico (Ensenada, La Paz, Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, Los Cabos, Guadalajara, Acapulco, Mexico City, Cancun, Cozumel). Nonetheless, from every area, we have enjoyed all the food and washed down with either good Mexican beer (Pacifico - my favorite) or good all fashioned tequila (Patron).
Good mexican restaurants around MoCo for SoCal transplants?
Thanks for the suggestions...
Somebody told me to go to Los Cabos, close to UMD...
Is that place any good?
Good mexican restaurants around MoCo for SoCal transplants?
OK...in Riverdale, which restaurants would you guys recommend?
Good mexican restaurants around MoCo for SoCal transplants?
We recently moved from Southern California and we are looking for some great Mexican restaurants around Montgomery County.
Preferably real Mexican and not so much Tex-Mex. Habaneras, cactus burritos, crispy carnitas style, mole, crunchy chimis, and goat tacos, pozoles, would be awesome.
We have been to Tia Queta in Bethesda; Rio Grande, Pepitos, and Taco Bar in Gaithersburg; Mi Rancho in Silver Spring and Germantown; el Mexicano in Germantown and North Potomac/Darnestown; Taco Tecuba (decent carnitas) in Germantown; we even tried the Salvadorian restaurant Juanitas near Redland (shady grove Metro) and it was decent.
Any suggestions? Nothing fancy, just awesome spicy mexican food is all we are looking for... Thanks in advance.
