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    El Camino

    3.8 (230 reviews)
    ModerateMexican
    Closed 5:00 pm - 10:30 PM
    Updated over 3 months ago

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    EL CAMINO ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Moderate noise
    Hipster
    Happy hour specials
    Good for groups

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    Recommended Reviews - El Camino

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    Beef enchiladas
    Allie W.

    I thought this was very good! Got a pitcher of margs, guac (it's a very small serving), corn dip and beef enchiladas and enjoyed it all.

    Nachos
    Tiffany C.

    I've gone here multiple times because it's a few blocks away. They have good tacos, nachos are $9 and any of the meat toppings are the same price. So $5 for steak, chicken, chorizo. The service is good, whenever they see your water is low they full it up and the service is super quick. It's good for an after work drink at the bar. So if you are by yourself it's good for that. It also has an outdoor space which is good for the spring and summer time.

    Mojito sub tequila  10/10
    Bailey B.

    This has always been my favorite neighborhood spot. The quality in food & drink never waivers below phenomenal. I'm not sure who's back there seasoning/cooking their steak, but Food Network needs to get involved and spread that recipe far and wide. I sometimes find myself dreaming of my standing "steak quesadilla+ Mojito sub tequila" order. If it arrives in a short glass, I know I'm in for a fun evening Stop in for happy hour (beer+margarita specials) and Taco Tuesday ($1 off tacos) and join the El Camino Stan club!

    Friend plantains
    David M.

    Finally stopped in here I pass this place all the time on Rhode Island and it is typically a busy spot. They have great margaritas there are many different flavors and you can get them frozen or traditional. We also tried the fried plantains and the ceviche. All really good and serving traditional Latin American food. Service was great and several TV's inside and out where you can catch the game. They also have a killer happy hour and I would definitely go back to this place.

    Shari D.

    El Camino has tons of outdoor seating, as well as bar/table seating inside. The food here is so flavorful! They have tons of options on the menu and the pricing is very decent for the area. My favorite taco so far is the salmon taco, it's cooked so well, the sauce is also very creamy and flavorful! They have a great drink menu, with lots of mezcal options, which I really enjoyed. Sitting at the bar, Pedro has always been helpful and welcoming, he makes each drink with precision.

    El Camino Steak
    Glen Y.

    We pass this El Camino all the time while on Rhode Island Ave, and finally decided to try it. It did not disappoint! The wait staff was great and answered any and all questions we had. I have been twice (so far), and sat outside on both evenings. The first time I tried the El Camino steak, and the second was the Pollo en Mole. Both were great. There are so many options! My wife saw something in what I believed was a Grubhub menu that wasn't on their printed menu, and they accommodated her. I also had the nachos (not pictured). They were great as well. I shall return!

    Birria Tacos, Yellow Rice, Black beans, Mango Margarita
    Karla W.

    I may be bias but El Camino has some of the best service and Mexican food in DC. Now listen it can be hard to find authentic Mexican food but they do a great job at it. Their drinks are 10x better and the crew managing this establishment always welcomes you in like family. If you haven't done so already... try their brunch. THATS a 5 star alone! I come here all the time and they have never disappointed.

    House margarita (happy hour)
    Thomas G.

    I went to El Camino for the All Day Monday Happy Hour. The pre-made batches of margarita and sangria are well worth the price and are both flavors without being overly sweet; they're well balanced. The guacamole was freshly made and we were able to choose a spice level, which was new to me. The bartender was personable even as the restaurant became more busy towards dinner time. The music, staff and environment were authentic very much so resembling my experiences in Mexico.

    Fried plantains
    Rumesh V.

    We are a huge fan of this restaurant ever since they reopened. We have been going there quite often. It's super convenient that they are just few steps away from our house. First of all, their service is amazing. We always prefer to sit at the bar. Both their bar tenders are very friendly and offer great recommendations about their drinks and food. We order Margaritas to start off while munching on their free chips and delicious salsa verde. For entrees, they have multiple options ranging from tacos, fajitas, plato grande (meat platter) and steak. I have had it all and love everything. The entree I order mostly depends on my mood. When I get back from a nice workout, I tend to order plato grande which comes with beef, chicken, shrimp, plantains, beans, rice, and sausage. It's humongous and easily serves three people. Absolutely love the taste. I recently ordered steak and it was so good. It was medium rare and served with broccoli, carrots and shrimp. Wow! These two entrees are perfect for me especially after my workout. For tacos, lamb barbacoa taco is my favorite. Absolutely love the way lamb is cooked. Their hot kinda salsa is spicy but delicious. I am thankful that they reopened and that they are just seconds away from our house. Extremely convenient to order out during these tough times. Hope they continue to do well. #thankyouthursday

    Shrimp burrito
    Rachel L.

    Ordered takeout for lunch as we've been trying to try smaller spots. Overall the food was decent. The staff are incredibly friendly and it was pretty quiet inside. The shrimp burrito was very yummy. Great amount of shrimp & the guac was delicious. Very fresh. The steak and eggs w/ potatoes was very mediocre. The steak was extremely well done which we're used to but this was VERY well done. Not much flavor in the rice and beans or potatoes. I think we would try other menu items to give it another shot but definitely not getting steak again. Overall it's fine so maybe we just need to branch out with our choices!

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    7 months ago

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    4 months ago

    This place has improved so much in the last few years. Friendly, good food. I really hope it's not closed!! El Camino, where are you!!

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    5 months ago

    We love this neighborhood gem!! Service is always friendly, food is always tasty, and the price point is excellent.

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    3 years ago

    Best nachos u can get in this buisness and tacos customer service is great in here and very friendly servers

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    Oyamel

    Oyamel

    3.8(3.5k reviews)
    1.5 miPenn Quarter
    $$

    This restaurant from Jose Andres was one of the better elevated Mexican restaurants at which I've…read moreeaten. I wasn't super starving so I had a fish taco and the enchiladas. The taco was amazing and was some kind of fried catfish! YUM! And the enchiladas were delicious as well. The green sauce cut through the overabundance of cheesy goodness quite well. I like that you can mix and match tacos so you're not stuck with all of the same one. The menu didn't have a ton of choices, which made deciding a bit easier. They had an amazing bar staff too that was absolutely killing it mixing cocktails. The margaritas were on point and the one had a flair of "salt air" foam instead of a messy, sticky rim. Who wants a messy sticky rim, right?

    Boss pulled up and said "we're going to Oyamel" and that was the right call. Weekday lunch, Penn…read moreQuarter, reservation secured because this place does not slow down for anybody. Pitcher of margaritas for the table: smooth, rich, not too strong. Exactly what a group lunch needs without turning into a whole situation. The guacamole is terrific and they'll adjust the spice level to your liking, which is a small thing that goes a long way when you're feeding a whole office with different tolerances. The tacos are built on house-made masa tortillas and you can taste that they care. I did the Pollo à la Parrilla and the Chilito de Res. Both landed. The beef especially, slow-braised and seasoned like they meant it. This is a José Andrés restaurant, so you already know the room has energy. If you're in the District and haven't made this a regular stop, fix that.

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    Oyamel - Margarita

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    El Sol Restaurant & Tequileria - Fajita El Sol

    El Sol Restaurant & Tequileria

    4.1(779 reviews)
    1.0 miShaw, Downtown
    $$

    This place hit the spot, even toddler approved! We ordered take out and it was prepared pretty…read morequickly. The menu is quite extensive, it took us longer to decide on what we wanted. I got the nachos, my husband got tacos, and we got a chicken quesadilla for our toddler. The nachos were PILED with toppings and so colorful - even in a take out container is looked beautiful. They were SO tasty, very full of flavor and spice. My husband said the tacos were delicious and our toddler actually ate a lot of the quesadilla. Win all around. Highly recommend!

    In town for the week, tried to get into Unconventional Diner for brunch...a backup was needed. We…read moreventured down a few blocks looking for anything and found El Sol. Fair sized joint with a smallish patio out front. Having perused the menu on the way, I was looking to try something just beyond "staple of cheap Mexican." Sadly, we were presented with brunch menus, so it was a breakfast burrito for me and the breakfast tacos for her. I was remarkably hungry, so the burrito was eaten (and quickly). But truth be told, it's standard Mexican fare made with breakfast ingredients. No more description necessary - you've had this before and you'll have it again. The service was marginally lackluster- if you're not in a big party, you might get shuffled down in prioritization (or at least I thought we were...once ready to leave I did the 'fidget with credit card' trick to get the staff to close us out. It took frustratingly long. All in all, if I lived in the neighborhood, this would be my cheap Mexican place and more out of convenience than culinary merit.

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    El Sol Restaurant & Tequileria - Top floor!

    Top floor!

    El Sol Restaurant & Tequileria - Queso Fundido con Chorizo

    Queso Fundido con Chorizo

    El Sol Restaurant & Tequileria - Chips & salsa

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    dLeña - Pork Belly** and Short Rib**

    dLeña

    4.4(1.3k reviews)
    1.0 mi
    $$$

    dLena does brunch differently, and it works. The setup: $45 gets you all-you-can-eat, $70 adds…read morebottomless drinks. Instead of ordering off a menu, your server just starts cycling through the entire menu in tapas-sized portions, one after another. It sounds a little chaotic on paper but it flows well in practice, and it means you end up trying things you wouldn't have pointed at yourself. The flavors throughout were genuinely good, a cut above your standard Mexican restaurant. The mole in particular was excellent, the kind that actually tastes like it took some effort to make. Two misses: the chicken on the chicken and waffles was overcooked, and the salmon was too. Both proteins had the same problem, which makes me think there's something off in the kitchen's timing rather than just bad luck. When you're running an AYCE service where volume is the whole model, consistency on execution matters more, not less. Still, those were isolated stumbles in an otherwise solid parade of food. The value at $45 is real. Would go back and would recommend it to friends.

    In DC, looking for a memorable dinner experience and chose dLeña. The ambiance is excellent!…read moreBecause we did not have a reservation, we sat at the bar. I enjoyed my food more than my husband enjoyed his. My favorite thing that I had was the corn empanadas - - I would come here again and again to eat these. They were absolutely delicious plain. They were also absolutely delicious with the chimichurri sauce! I also ate the birria de hongo tacos. The birria gave it a smoky flavor. All of the flavors of the various ingredients mixed together really well, but I would still try something different if I came back here. My husband had the Wagyu beef empanadas. He loved how full they were in terms of content on the inside, but did not enjoy them enough overall that he would want to come here again.

    Photos
    dLeña - Bathrooms

    Bathrooms

    dLeña - Broccolini

    Broccolini

    dLeña - Salmon Zarandeado*

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    Mi Vida - Fish taco

    Mi Vida

    4.0(234 reviews)
    1.3 miPenn Quarter
    $$$

    Worked a full day, and didn't eat lunch. I was looking for a nearby Happy Hour. I found this one…read moreonline, and that their HH started at 3. Perfect timing! This is Directly across from the Chinatown Metro, F /7th St NW. TACO Tuesdays, are $4.50 on HH (compared to $6 HH tacos) I tried the Pescado (fish) and Camarones (Shrimp). The Shrimp was the BEST!!! I also ended up getting 2 ALITAS ($2 each) Marinated wings. SOOOOOOOOOOO GOOD! And the DE LA CASA ($8) good! and Ponche De Lola ($8) Refreshing!! Tables outside. Bar was clean. Hostess was very nice! Bartender was helpful and nice, answered all of my questions I will be back!

    We were here to celebrate one of our friend's birthday. Glad we reserved the time around the…read moreWizards game as this place wasn't crowded much as the game was going on. Parking can be hard to find in the area during the game days. I recommend taking the metro or bike if you live in DC. The ambiance was great. The service was great as well. The server recommended some of her favorite apps to start with. Highly recommend the freshly made quac and hot salsa with the chips. So good. One of the best hot salsa in the city. For entrees I ordered the chicken fajita and my husband ordered the birria tacos. The tacos did not come with the sauce. We thought the birria tacos was suppose to come with the sauce. When we asked the server she said you have to order it separately. Well that's mostly why I am giving them 4 stars and also the chicken in my fajita was pretty dry. I had to dip it in the hot salsa to make it nice and juicy.

    Photos
    Mi Vida - Interior

    Interior

    Mi Vida - Carne tacos

    Carne tacos

    Mi Vida - Dining room

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    Dining room

    Mi Vida - Carnitas Tacos with black beans and rice- DELICIOUS!

    Mi Vida

    3.9(1.6k reviews)
    2.6 mi
    $$

    Mi Vida is located along the Wharf, with tons of outdoor and indoor spaces…read more I went with a hungry group of 8 and started with their guac and small plates/apps. We ordered their "most popular apps" for 5 which came with tamales, croquettes, empanadas, deviled eggs, oranges, and fried pork rinds (chips?). The serving size was definitely enough for our group, so I'd only order this for an actual group of 5 if you weren't eating anything else. I had their pork tacos as an entree and tried their carne asada. Both were satisfying but neither stood out. Overall, I'd say this place is a safe place to dine - you know the service will be good and the food will be solid. I wouldn't say that their dishes stand out, but I also mainly tried their basic items.

    I really wanted to love Mi Vida because the atmosphere is beautiful and the decor is stunning. At…read morenight, it has such a lively vibe and the service has always been wonderful! I'm giving it 3 stars because the food just hasn't hit for me as much as I hoped. The first time we went, I tried the birria and tacos de pescado. I wasn't a fan of the sauce on the fish tacos, it kind of took away my appetite after a few bites. I had my boyfriend try them (he thought I was being dramatic), and he immediately agreed something was off, though his tacos were great. We went again another time and ordered 3 or 4 things, but the chicken tasted a bit old, which was disappointing. I'd still be open to trying it again in the future, but right now it sits at just okay for me. A cute place for drinks though!

    Photos
    Mi Vida - Interior

    Interior

    Mi Vida - Appetizer

    Appetizer

    Mi Vida - Non-alcoholic drink

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    Non-alcoholic drink

    El Camino - mexican - Updated June 2026

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