El Charrito Caminante

Although it may not look like much, El Charrito has some of the best Mexican and El Salvadorian food in the DC area. I’ve been to this place at least a couple dozen times and never had a bad experience. Please note that it’s cash only. They have an ATM in the restaurant.
**Food**
The menu is fairly simple but allows for many combinations with the different meat options.
Burrito Supreme: A staple I order on every visit. It’s filled with rice, beans, lettuce, sour cream, guacamole, and your choice of cheese. I usually get the chicken which is very good, but have also ordered the chorizo (a little salty) and the goat (which is unique and has solid flavor). The burrito itself is not huge but not small either.
Tacos: They come in two corn tortillas with your choice of meat. A great choice and combined with the burrito supreme is the right amount of food.
Pupupas: Comes with your choice of meat or veggie. The herb pupusa is my favorite and worth trying.
Green Sauce: So amazing and it really helps bring out the flavors in the burritos and tacos. If you’re taking out, they usually include some with your order. Be careful as this can sometimes be very spicy.
**Ambiance**
Not fancy by any means. There are a few stools where you can eat at the counter, but really it’s meant for take out orders.
**Service**
The guy taking orders is very stoic and straight to the point. Don’t expect anywhere close to white tablecloth service here.
**Other Tips**
Call in order in advance to save some time. This places get very busy at times, so you may have to wait up to 15 minutes if you don’t order beforehand.

It was ok.
I’ve had better.
The same with costumer service.

This place’s burritos are great! They have a wide selection of LATAM carbonated soft drinks. Yucca is okay but unfortunately didn’t come with good dipping sauces. Very inexpensive.

You are forgiven for thinking this place is closed. There’s a dumpster in the parking lot and their main signage is broken, so it’s not very visible in the dark. Walk through the front door and there’s a large counter. Seating is only available at the counter, maybe enough seats for 6 – 8 people. No tables. Cash only, ATM inside.
I’ve tried their food twice and feel unexcited by it. I really believe that the main draw of this place is that it’s really cheap, especially compared to overpriced restaurants along the Metro line. Note, I’ve only had their burritos and pupusas so far.
*** SERVICE ***
Walk up and place your order. Pay when you get your food. You can order over the phone, which I’ll probably do next time. It takes them around 10 minutes to churn out 2 burritos, kinda slow IMO. (³⁄₅)
*** FOOD ***
I’ve read in other reviews that they have horchatas, but I haven’t tried ordering it yet. They have a couple juice dispensers that look like they might have horchatas, but it looks so dirty that I can’t bring myself to try it.
Burrito Supremo (3.5÷5) — I’ve tried the Combo (Carne de Res and Chorizo) burrito, which have been good. The burritos are not huge, but have a lot of other ingredients that help bring out more flavor. The two meats are not mixed very well (i.e., usually just get one meat in a bite), and I’ve been enjoying the chorizo portion better.
Pupusas (³⁄₅) — I feel like some things are better eaten when hot and fresh and I’m guessing that is true for these pupusas. Since there is not an eat-​in option (I don’t really want to eat there), I’m waiting 10 – 15 minutes before I can sink my teeth into them, and it’s really rather unimpressive. I’m imagining stringy melted cheese and instead I’m getting lukewarm chunks. It’s kind of like having a mozzarella stick right out of the oven vs. a cold one. It’s not bad, but again I’m not excited about them.
*** BOTTOM LINE ***
If you’re on a budget and really want some Mexican, this is a decent option. (³⁄₅)

Awesome food for under $ 5. It’s been years since I’ve been coming to this «hole in the wall,» and I still can’t believe how cheap it is.
I wish they had seating, but then again, that might take away from the speed, quality, and cost of the food… so I’d rather keep going to the nearby park to eat my meal.

Best food taco truck. It is a very basic menu, 4 types of taco’s with some mixed options. All tacos are soft shell tortilla’s, everything made from scratch and each taco is $ 2.50. No frills, just good food. I’ve been there many, many times, no wait, great service, best place.
Anyone below giving a 1 star or bad ratings for any reason are idiots and should be ignored. From what I can see they are complaining about issues i’ve never experienced or have unrealistic expectations from a food truck service locally made cheap food. This isn’t a fine dining restaurant and isn’t a place you order with substitutions or expect something other than what is offered.
This place is just good food. Try it and you will see.

The worst service ever, I was seated there for 10 minutes and I asked to order, the gentleman very rude told me he had been waiting on me. That’s not customer service.
I ordered carne asada, on the picture menu says carne asada grilled onions and peppers, when I got my carne asada it doesn’t have any onions and peppers, so I asked to the guy he told me very rude: carne asada doesn’t have onions and pepper, but I told him, look the menu, or change it, he responded me, is too expensive to change the menu…
What kind of service is that???
WORST WORST

They get high stars because their food is so good! Very authentic. Love their carne asada tacos – that fresh cilantro is boss.
Lost a start for the poor customer service. The larger guy taking orders has a pretty nasty disposition.

One of the best keep secrets in NoVA. I’ve had their tortas and burritos and they’re amazing and very cheap ($ 5 or less). Their burritos aren’t super thick but they have an amazing layer of refried beans which is grilled with the shell before they layer on chicken, lettuce, and guacamole. It’s also fairly juicy which I’m guessing comes from some sort of sauce. They also have awesome pupusas. Go here now.

Great food, as close to authentic as one can get in the area, and the price, can’t beat it!

Food and price was great! This was my first time here but my boyfriend has been multiple times. I got two tacos (beef and chicken) and my boyfriend got a burrito. The tacos were so delicious that I wish I got another one! The ingredients taste fresh and for $ 2 you can’t beat it! Tip– it’s cash only but they do have an ATM inside.

Y’know, it just wasn’t that good. Got a chorizo and a carnitas taco and some plantains. When I got a taste of the chorizo it took me back about 30 years and reminded me of the tacos I used to get at Jack in the Box (and no, I’ve not eaten at Jack in the Box in about 30 years…) Anyway, it was an interesting way to be reminded of 6^th grade…
The carnitas was chewy. Both tacos had waaaay too much cilantro (and I like cilantro).
I won’t let the fact that I loved my ooey gooey sweet plantains skew my rating up a star (I wish more places had plantains!)
I would have eaten at the minuscule counter but the stools were too short and it was about 200 degrees inside.
On the plus side, parking is easy.

Hole in the wall cheap eats, my fave! And this is definitely one of those. Got the goat, chicken, beef and pork tacos and the cheese pupusa. The goat and chicken were the standouts as they were the most flavorful, beef was good too but the pork kinda dry. We just came for some light eats but will definitely be back to try other items as they’ve got a good variety of things on their menu. Taco bamba still one of my fave taco spots but this place is definitely worth trying. Just wish they had more variety of hot sauces. Good tasty bang for your buck!

The best kept secret in Mexican food period.
The single ‘$’ is accurate as one can get 4 papusas or a large meal plus a papusa for under $ 10. When I lived in the area I used to regularly order from El Charrito and was never dissatisfied.
My personal recommendation is the chorizo papusa or the supreme chicken burrito. Both are served with some underrated hot sauce and the papusa comes with fermented cabbage.
My last secret tip is to CALL AHEAD. When I first started coming I didn’t really enjoy standing in the door well for 15 minutes. The place is extremely small and can get very crowded during meal hours.

I dig this place. I eat off the food cart during summer weekdays. I don’t eat pork, so no chorizo or carnitas for me, but the pollo/​chicken and carne de res/​beef tacos are excellent. Cash only, no seating, but you can chill on the grass and stone wall near the food truck picnic-​style. Good experience.

It’s cash only, which I don’t have a problem with, but no noticeable sign indicated this fact. Lucky for you they happen to have an ATM machine ready to rip you off. That is a shady move, charrito.
Service SUCKS. The greasy grumpy dude was so stone faced and disdainful I thought for a moment he was mad at me.
It’s also dirty, but on the bright side at least all those flies made me feel wanted and welcome, unlike greasy shirt dude.
The food fails miserably to meet the standards you would expect after reading these Unilocal reviews. The lengua tacos were over cooked, the chicken tamale was bland and the burrito gives more tortilla than actual food.
I went to this place years ago and I remember it being better. Maybe I’m older and grumpier now, but I think the more reasonable explanation is that their substandard food is propped up by eager Unilocalers desperately clinging to the nostalgia of this former taco truck and now hole in the wall.

Quite good tacos — mostly cilantro, onion, and meat. Would be better with fresh jalapeños and queso fresco, but good anyway. The salsa picante adds some nice kick.
The carne asada is tough but flavorful. Pupusas are good — I’m not sure what kind of cheese they use. The beans are among the best I’ve had at any restaurant. I haven’t had he tamales yet, but I have high hopes and will update when I have tried them.
Four stars — I would give it five but the tacos are not quite what I would hope for.

Decent and edible, but certainly not spectacular. I visited for lunch and I believe they are cash only (at least under a certain amount). I got two (soft shell) steak tacos and a chicken pupusa. The tacos and pupusa were pretty dry and the slaw that typically comes with the pupusa was a bit wilted and looked old so I didn’t even eat it (I had my pupusa plain). Tacos were decent, but again a bit dry and not spectacular. The one thing it has going for them is that the food is very reasonably priced and it’s fairly quick. They don’t have any areas to sit, so this is solely a take-​out place. Would I visit again? Likely not, as there are other taco places I prefer, but I also wouldn’t dissuade anyone from trying it because others might have a better experience than I did.

Delicious, ordered for lunch for the first time and it was ready to be picked up in 10min. Quick check out and food was packed well with everything we needed. Really good food, I will definitively come back to eat here.
The prices look to have gone up from the pictures of the menu that have been posted, but completely worth it.

My husband and I came here to grab some tacos — I’ve been wanting to try this place for a while, so I was pretty excited! The place is really small, and located in a small plaza off of Washington Blvd — they only have counter seating, but most people seem to come in for to-​go/​carry-​out orders. The menu offers items such as pupusas (queso, revueltas, frijoles, loroco, and pollo), tacos (carne de res, lengua, chorizo, cabrito, puerco, pollo, or combinado), main dishes (burritos, carne asada, arroz con pollo, etc.), tortas (same meat options as the tacos), tamales (corn or chicken), plantains, and combination platters. We tried their Queso pupusa — this was not at all greasy (which I actually kind of preferred it to be), and filled with a good amount of cheese; it came with a side of marinated cabbage (red salsa type on top), which was kind of tangy. I also tried their chicken tamale, which came out piping out, but it was just ‘okay’ — there were big chunks of chicken throughout, but it was more on the bland side for me. For tacos, we had the Carne De Res (shredded beef), Chorizo, and Puerco (pork). The Puerco was definitely on the bland side — I was a little disappointed, as it had a nice little crust to it. The beef was slightly better, as that had slightly more of a flavor, but still in the bland category. The Chorizo, I liked the best out of the 3, as that was nice and salty — it was way too salty for my husband, so he ended up giving me his. The guy that took our order was very straightforward; he also pointed out that we should use their housemade tomatillo sauce (which I usually stay away from as it’s usually heavy cilantro-​based), but I was surprised when he told me that there wasn’t any in there. I put it on some of the pork meat that I had left on my place, and it really dressed it up much better than eating it alone. However, the spice really hits you at the end, so if you’re a spice lover, you’ll probably enjoy this! The ladies in the back who were making and cooking were very nice. We also had an horchata, which was more on the sweeter side, but still pretty solid. Definitely a cute little ‘hole-in-the-wall’-esque type of place in Arlington for okay tacos.
+housemade tomatillo sauce
+Carne de Res & Puerco — on the bland side
+Chorizo — salty
+solid horchata