El Tapatio Mexican Restaurant
4309 Kenilworth Ave, Bladensburg, MD, 20783
El Tapatio Mexican Restaurant Menu
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Address :
4309 Kenilworth Ave
Bladensburg, MD, 20783 - Phone (301) 403-8882
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Opening Hours
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Specialities
- Takes Reservations : No
Delivery : No
Take-out : Yes
Accepts Credit Cards : Yes
Good For : Lunch
Parking : Private Lot
Wheelchair Accessible : Yes
Good for Kids : Yes
Good for Groups : Yes
Attire : Casual
Noise Level : Average
Alcohol : Full Bar
Outdoor Seating : No
Wi-Fi : No
Has TV : Yes
Waiter Service : Yes
Categories
Mexican Cuisine
If you enjoy Taco Tuesday, then you have officially fallen in love with the Mexican Food. The main grain of Mexican cuisine is maize. Also known as corn, maize is grown for the past 9000 years after the crop was discovered by the people in Mayan civilization. Mexican empire flourished when they started growing beans, tomatoes, chili pepper, sweet potato and cactus. Till this date these ingredients are used in cooking authentic Mexican dishes and drinks.
Great use of spices, fresh chili pepper dishes like fajitas, tortilla chips, corn chips, salsa, chimichangas, burritos, nachos and quesadillas are invented in America. But when you are looking for authentic Mexican food then you must find a restaurant in the city that serves Rajas con Queso, Garbanzo in a Guajillo Chile Sauce, Pork Filled Chiles Rellenos, Chiles en Nogada, Molcajete Salsa, Pico de Gallo and Frijoles de la Olla. An eye-opening fact – Mexican don't like their food hot. They use fresh chili and other spices to create a flavor that lingers in your mouth.
Mexican food is great for those who are Gluten Intolerant as they use Corn instead of wheat in most of their dishes. Also, you can easily find many beans based Mexican dishes. Another dish which didn't get similar glory as tacos or nachos is the Mexican hot chocolate. If you love something hot on a chilly day, then go for Mexican Hot Chocolate. On merry days, you can enjoy the authentic Mexican Drinks like Tequila, Mezcal, Tecuí, Sotol, Bacanora, Charanda, Posh O Pox, Puebla and Pulque. Mexican Cuisine is for people who enjoy strong drinks and hearty meals.
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Benjamin A.
I have eaten here many times over the years, and love this joint. Hard to call it a restaurant, because it qualifies on many fronts as a "dive." Before moving out of the area almost 8 years ago, it was a little hole in the wall. Now that I have returned, it has grown into a larger footprint, and morphs from a hole in the wall Mexican joint into a bar/club in the evenings. The food is still great. The customary chips and salsa are terrific. The chips are fried in the premises. My go-to dishes are chile rellenos and mole. Both are fantastic. The guacamole is another key add-on, and is also made fresh. Wash it down with a Jarritos Mandarina and you have the perfect lunch (likely followed by a long, glorious nap).
(4)Rico S.
Authentic. You might need to polish up on your Spanish to make sure your order is right.
(4)Meaghaan T.
Absolutely horrible food. Like really bad, we left without eating more than half. The waitress was really nice.
(1)Auloni R.
I went here this weekend with a friend hoping for delicious and authentic Mexican food. However, I never got to try it. Crunched for time we ordered from the bar for a to go order. A few minutes after placing our order both our eyes grow wide as a large cockroach runs across the bar. No one else seems to notice, say anything, or care. Needless to say we hightail it out of there as fast as we can. Maybe their food is good? But I doubt I'll ever know. I won't be going back.
(1)Joseph M.
This was excellent, truly authentic cuisine. We (family of 7) visited twice in three days, and had a great experience twice. The pupusas and salsa were very good, as were the flautas, tacos, fajitas, and quesadillas. It reminded me of the experience of eating in a small restaurant in Guatemala. We enjoyed the atmosphere and and the food!
(5)Mario G.
Towards the end of a mile long strip of Mexican restaurants and bars along Kenilworth Avenue, you'll find one of the best authentic eateries in El Tapatio. I've been here about four times now with friends, trying something different from the menu each time without being disappointed. The fajita platters are incredible, easily some of the best I've ever had. Nice variety of tacos, plenty to drink while eating as well. The carne asada plates need a little help though, twice we've received well done lukewarm steaks drowning in sauce (depending on the dish). If you're a soccer fan, they always have the EPL, Liga, and international games on televisions and projectors. Best to go late mornings/early afternoons for best service, or check it out at night for some drinking and an interestingly unique experience lol.
(3)Chris W.
I have read numerous Yelp reviews from people who have eaten tacos in San Diego and California so I think I know a thing or two about authentic tacos. Even if I didn't know anything about authentic tacos I have to say the tacos here are really good. Are they better then the tacos from the West Coast? Having never eaten a taco west of Austin Texas I have to say the answer is definitely "it doesn't matter." I have also had one of the soups here that was good? Do they make soup out West that I can compare the soup here to? I'll never know how much I enjoyed this soup until I know how authentic it was!
(5)Mary P.
Delicious close to home Mexican food. The tacos are cheap. They have great goat meat. However if you don't look hispanic the waitress won't speak to you at all. Not even my attempts to speak Spanish resulted in more than a one-way conversation. And every time I ordered something I had an echo in lieu of the man beside her translating "taco" into "taco" and "horchata" into "horchata". Seriously annoying from my perspective and I've had much more complex conversations en espanol. Anyway the food came fast and their horchata is closer to a drink I enjoy of South Korean variety, ricelike more than milk like and almost too rich to finish. I'd come here on a weeknight cuz they were pretty much dead and put in my order right away. Otherwise they may be utilizing the dance floor area which is twice as big as the seating area and they only have like 10 tables.
(4)Deepak V.
Ok so you'll probably fair better if you speak basic Spanish (this is the only place your high school Spanish will work). Besides that, the food is cheap and awesome. Lunch special is $6.50. You can't even get lunch at the BK lounge for that much.
(5)Alice L.
El Tapatio earned three of these stars the second I saw that birria was the first dish on their specialty menu. I agonized for a long, long, long time about whether to get it for lunch. As my other reviews might indicate, one of the best meals I've ever had was a sumptuous plate of birria at a Chicago birriera -- so wonderful that I went into a food coma for days afterward. Still having a ton of work left to do that day, I decided to fall back on some tasty, reasonably-portioned tacos instead. I then noticed that they had a birria taco, though, which I'm happy to say resolved my dilemma. One taco de carne asada, one taco de birria. Both were generously portioned and came with extra tortillas. I could tell that their corn tortilla was freshly made on premises, which is good except mine were sliiiightly less charred and thicker than I would've preferred. The birria was tasty though, as was the carne asada. I also had the best horchata that I've had so far in the DC area: creamy with some depth of flavor, as opposed to the gritty sugar water that other places serve. They also have a good selection of salsas for your tacos, including one terrifying one that was surely created by vast, vast, vast amounts of habanero peppers. So authentic that many of the waitresses barely spoke English. Tasty and cheeaaaap. Maybe not worth the trek all the way out to Bladensburg, but if you're somehow in the area, go for it. Also, it seems to be attached to a Mexican dance hall...?
(4)Krissi H.
Want to stick out somewhere like a sore thumb? If you're white/non-Hispanic, head here on a late-ish Friday night. We ended up checking out El Tapatio on a Friday night around 9 p.m. A little late for dinner, but we figured they'd still be open. What we did not figure was that this place becomes a bumpin' Hispanic dance club on Friday nights. When we first got to the place, we noticed a guard (with a gun!) outside. He asked if we were going in to eat, we said yes, and that was that. I'm assuming he was some sort of bouncer. Maybe the place gets rowdy on Fridays. We had to walk through the dance floor to get to the restaurant part (a little awkward). We sat at a table (only a few other people were eating and we were definitely the only white people). Our waitress (who didn't really speak English) brought our menus. Lots of choices. Chorizo, fish, tripe, tongue - and even fried quail! I decided to stay to the mundane and ordered one carne asada taco and one chorizo taco. YUM! Man, those were delicious. And cheap. Literally like $2 each. The salsa they serve is also delicious. Smoky and totally drinkable. I would definitely check this place out again. But not on a Friday night. It was SO loud in there. And I do speak Spanish, but the waitress just could not hear anything I said - English or Spanish. I didn't feel uncomfortable being the only white people in the joint; I just think it was a bad night to go if you aren't interested in dancing/loud music/drinking.
(4)Dona C.
How do you make one lousy trip from the city out to the UPS distribution center in Bladensburg MD worth it? By making it into a fun food adventure! And that's exactly what we did. The best rated restaurant in that zip code was El Tapatio, which excited my fiance since he luuuves Mexican and we all gripe about how hard it is to find "good authentic" Mexican around here. And boy was it authentic! I echo another reviewer's sentiments that yes, you wll be the only non-latino people walking in (we are one Asian chick and one Caucasian dude) and totally get stared at by the completely Latino male clientele. It was such a trip! Sitting amidst wonderfully colorful Mexican tablecloths and bass-thumping Raggaton, we were served by a incredibly pretty but incompetent waitress. I'm grateful that my boy speaks fluent Spanish! The tacos were in-cre-di-ble! Yummeeeee! Goat was the best, slow cooked to perfection, moist and juicy. The tongue was good in texture but not much taste. And sadly the chorizo wasn't all that up to par. If I remember correctly six tacos two beers plus tip I think it came out to $25. Which I thought was alright but wasn't as cheap as you'd think it'd be. Also be warned, like another reviewer commented, the parking lot is accident-prone.
(4)John B.
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
(5)Marcy N.
I have to give this divey place 1 star. This is a divey mexican take out joint that doubles as a nightclub. My Dad and I stopped here for lunch on a Thursday afternoon around 1pm. I ordered the enchiladas which were pretty good. The service was good and our server was gorgeous. Why the one star? Only because of the following. In the middle of eating lunch with my Dad someone turned the music up to club level and I don't know what the name of the song was but it went something like this. I want to love you all night long. But instead they substituted a word so it went like this. I want to *uck you all night long. It was very uncomfortable with my Dad sitting right across from me. All I could hope for was that his hearing was off.
(1)Patrick H.
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.
(4)Steve H.
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.
(5)andrew s.
Downgraded a star, not because they are worse, but because I have found them some competition, and they go up and down in my estimation (but still very good), relative to a lot of variables that I don't understand. Still definitely worth going.
(4)sarah s.
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-
(4)Stephanie M.
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.
(5)