Los Cuates – Washington DC
1564 Wisconsin Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20007
See larger map and more nearby
VdV Rating: 3.5
Food: Mexican
PRO: Good chunky homemade salsa, laid back vibe, great fajitas, awesome steak and excellent menu
CON: Nothing really, as long as you’re not looking for fancy Mexican
So DC can lay down some quality Mexican food! Can’t say the same for their Pizza (more to come soon, just you wait, and the taxi drivers suck ass and drive too slow and don’t know where anything is), but DC can do Mexican. Olé!
We had the hankerin’ for some good, not too fancy Mexican the other day in Georgetown. Yeah, that’s right, Jorge. We realize we’d just dined on Mexican for dinner a couple nights prior at Oyamel. But that was more fancy-shmancy Mexican, not good down home ‘could eat here every day’ Mexican. And it had been an entire, grueling 36 hours since we’d had chips & salsa! We needed a fix. So we found Los Cuates on Yelp. I know it’s pretty embarrassing but we were on foreign soil! Not literally, dumbass, I just mean that we were on our own. Friendless. Sans amigos in the District of Columbia. And I’ll tell ya one thing: Yelp ain’t nearly as popular in DC as it is in SF or NY. I mean, 22 reviews? 58 reviews? Pishka. Anyway, this place got good marks. And really, I know we call ourselves bitches, but Yelpers can be some downright cheap ass bitches. At least we’re not cheap.
So this place is cool, a few blocks off the main drag of M street on Wisconsin & Q. Cute little place, with just enough Mexican stuff around it to satisfy a gringo. Not too much. No La Cucaracha blaring, no Speedy Gonzalez , yada yada. We reckon it’s a popular spot for the Hoya crowd (what’s a Hoya, anyway. Even Georgetown itself can’t pin it down. And it has nothing to do with a bulldog). ‘Cuz it’s awesome food, good margaritas and a pretty decent value for whatcha get. I didn’t say cheap, but worth it. Feel me?
It’s sans Siete Leguas here but a good enough selection of tequila. And the ‘ritas are solid. Dunno if it’s all pure fresh lime juice but it’s close. None of that crap where ya need a side of Alka Seltzer after the second round.
But enough of the liquids. It was 3 PM and we hadn’t had a bite all day. We were ravenous. I think we looked scary. Like wolves. I think Duran Duran started playing when we walked in. So get us some f’ing Chips & Salsa!! Yeah. And they delivered. So, we’d heard complaints that the chips were so thin, they break off in the salsa…Damn life’s rough for you, you little G’Town, senator’s daughter. Get a life! Well, wait. Ha. Yes the chips are thin, but that just means it allows the salsa to do its job, which is deliver awesome-ness to your gullet like a Fedex truck.
Yee haw! All good. The salsa is pretty mild but very fresh, with big chunks of tomato and onion and minced pepper. We demolished 3-4 bowls of it, and they happily refilled it each time. ‘Cuz they know – with chips & salsa comes bonus rounds of Margaritas! These Georgetown people are clever.
These guys have a solid menu of all the usual suspects. Tacos, Fajitas, Burritos, Chimichangas, Frijoles, Guacamole, Mole. Mole Mole Mole. Sorry, couldn’t resist. The menu is nothing that crazy, and that’s cool. Just good, well executed Mexican food. And lots of it.
We had the Chicken & Steak Fajitas ($15), which were awesome. We wanted it rare (the beef, not the fowl!) and we got it rare. A super duper generous portion, lotsa cow and bird, sizzling like a mofo wit
h green pepper, onion, some crazy hot Pablanos with beans (not black, bummer) good rice, s’cream and all that jazz.
We’d come back here for this dish and more anytime we’re here. But I think next time we’d just stick with the steak. Nothing personal against the chicken but the steak just rocked it.
Hey we liked fancy-pants Oyamel a lot too, but this is more of an everyday Mexican place. meaning we’d probably eat here almost every day if we lived here. So pilgrim, if you’re in the G’Town hood, or even anywhere around DC and want some killer Mexican get your ass to this place!
VdV Rating: 3.5
Hours:
Sun-Thus 11:30a-10p
Fri-Sat 11:30a-11p
Sat-Sun 11:30-2p (brunch)
1564 Wisconsin Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20007
(202) 965-7009
