Quick Takes: Gringos & Mariachis

We sample terrific tacos in Bethesda.

Cost:

Zesty tacos al pastor at Gringos & Mariachis. Photograph by Scott Suchman

About Gringos & Mariachis

Cost:

cuisines
Mexican
Location(s)
4928 Cordell Ave
Bethesda, MD 20814

The guys behind the red-sauce-slinging Olazzo—a hearty-Italian-American restaurant in Bethesda and Silver Spring—are an unlikely source for some of the area’s top tacos and margaritas. But at this dark, mural-painted taqueria, which opened in February, they’ve pulled it off.

We tore through corn tortillas holding grilled carne asada with avocado salsa, al pastor-style pork with pineapple, and best of all, fried fish with Sriracha and slaw. Drinks are similarly tough to choose from—whether the bracing jalapeño-cucumber margarita, the just-sweet-enough ginger-hibiscus version, or a smoky spin dashed with mezcal. But you could always linger at the reclaimed-wood bar over an order of duck nachos and knock back all three.

This article appears in the May 2014 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.