Cheap Eats 2016: Samantha’s

Cost:

Carne asada at Samantha's. Photograph by Scott Suchman

About Samantha’s

Cost:

cuisines
Pan-Latin
Location(s)
631 University Blvd E
Silver Spring, MD 20901
Date-Night-Worthy

Lomo saltado, that mash-up of seared steak, French fries, peppers, and onions with a side of rice, is typically made with chewy, cheap cuts of beef. This cheerful pan-Latin eatery memorably elevates the dish with tenderloin tips and an abundance of savory, gravy-like sauce (great for dunking those fries). Another clean-your-plate dish: a seafood stew with lobster, shrimp, mussels, and clams in a briny, lightly creamy broth. Like most entrées, it’s big enough to share. And many starters, such as cheese-oozing pupusas paired with vinegary slaw, are generous enough to pass as mains.

Also good: Pollo saltado; Cuban-style pork; tres leches cake.

See what other restaurants made our 2016 Cheap Eats list. This article appears in our May 2016 issue of Washingtonian.


Ann Limpert
Executive Food Editor/Critic

Ann Limpert joined Washingtonian in late 2003. She was previously an editorial assistant at Entertainment Weekly and a cook in New York restaurant kitchens, and she is a graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education. She lives in Petworth.

Food Editor

Anna Spiegel covers the dining and drinking scene in her native DC. Prior to joining Washingtonian in 2010, she attended the French Culinary Institute and Columbia University’s MFA program in New York, and held various cooking and writing positions in NYC and in St. John, US Virgin Islands.