Restaurant Spotlight: El Tamarindo
Location: 1785 Florida Ave. NW (U Street/Adams Morgan area)
Cuisine: Mexican
Prices: $$
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
DISCLAIMER: Rating contingent on level of sobriety.
In light of many Georgetown bars becoming unprecedentedly strict with IDs or being shut down altogether (R.I.P. Saloun), many Hoyas have been making the trek to bars in the neighboring area of Adams Morgan. If you are like me and rarely make it home from the bars without stopping to satiate your drunger, a great place to go after hitting the bars in Adams Morgan or the clubs on U Street is El Tamarindo.
El Tamarindo offers traditional Mexican cuisine at moderate prices and, like the fan favorite Los Cuates, serves an awesome frozen margarita.
Here’s what sets it apart: El Tamarindo is open until 5 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, which is LITERALLY unheard of in this fun-hating city where the bars barely stay open until 2. Thus, regardless of whether or not you’re even in the area, a late-night trip to El Tamarindo over the weekend is actually really feasible. Not only do they offer both half and full pitchers of frozen margs ($12.99 and $24.99, respectively), but they also offer sangria and specialty mojitos.
The food is essentially standard Mexican – I had the chicken enchiladas and nachos, which were both really delicious. The guacamole is also really fresh and met my unnecessarily high guac standards. Another great thing about El Tamarindo is that the service is really fast, which is an essential characteristic of anything I consume while drunk (I have spent many a night in total agony during the five minutes it takes for Tuscany to serve a slice of pizza). Ultimately, while some people have knocked El Tamarindo on Yelp, I really enjoy myself every time I go. For its late-night purpose, it definitely gets the job done. The menu, prices, and more information are online at www.eltamarindodc.com.