Mixtec Restaurant

Ew, this is supposed to be authentic Mexican? If so, I will pass. Kind of small portions for price and so very bland, greasy and kind of gross if you try to finish everything in one sitting! I had a much better experience with another Mexican restuarant down the street that a Mexican friend recommended: Casa Oaxaca — far superior and better ambiance, cleaner, much more tasty and better portion for the price.

Cool little hole in the wall Mexican place. They offer dine in and take out, I prefer the take out but they do have a small dining area with 8 to 10 tables if you want to enjoy the dine in experience. The place is definitely nothing to look but it looks clean and if you get a seat near the window, you can people watch while enjoying your meal.
Food was good, I went with tacos to keep it simple. I had two fish tacos and one beef taco. The fish tacos are definitely the highlight of my meal. Fish was nicely prepared, taco shells were fresh and flavorful. The beef wasn’t the best, definitely on the dry side but not horrible. Not much in the way of add ons, for the fish you get some kind of orange sauce and light lettuce, I didn’t notice any add ons with the beef tacos.
Service was good, while waiting for my food to be done, I got a chance to watch the older woman who was serving as the hostess and waitress. She was very friendly and even with a slight limp was moving quickly and efficiently.
I could definitely see a return visit in my future as I enjoyed the service and food and would like to try a few other items on the menu.

Went here on a Saturday afternoon. Wasn’t too crowded. Went with friends who are regulars, so we were greeted warmly. They had two small kids, and the owners were very accomodating to the kids, bringing their food out early as the adults ate appetizers, and, even bringing the kids extra rice.
Décor is simple, but the tables seemed clean. The place is small, so I did feel a little squeezed in, and had there been more people there, I might have been less comfortable.
One of my lunch partners ordered a margarita and it was hella strong. Good, but considering that the bathrooms are down some tricky stairs, just be aware. Bring your girls with you, to hold you up, as you traverse those crazy narrow stairs to the ladies room (a room which had some odd pictures of dolls on the walls, what is that about?). Anyway, I had the taco placero with chicken. Chicken was good, not fatty or greasy. It was a good sized portion for the price. Another person in our group had beef tacos, and said they were pretty good. And, someone else had a mole dish of some kind (I can’t remember what it was called).
After having lived in CA for a few years, I’d say the dishes fare well against those. It seemed pretty authentic.
Would try it again the next time I’m in DC.

Yeah it’s a total dive, which means it actually has really good food. My boss (who grew up in Mexico) recommended this place to me as one of her favorites in D.C. Get the huevos rancheros if you’re there for brunch— they were delicious. Service was prompt and friendly too.

10+ for 2 tacos and no chips? At a dive? Yes all that and slow service. Anyone reviewing this place who gives more than 2 stars never had a 24hour Mexican place down the street in a major city. Sorry DC your Mexican scene is weak.

Tried this place after coworker recommended… decided to go on a Friday night… nice little down-​to-​earth restaurant… decided to start off with water… upon taking a sip, the water tasted as if it was taken directly from the faucet… so decided to get coke and received a can (no problem)…I was a little disappointed about paying $ 6 for chips and salsa but decided to give it a try. waiter (think he’s the owner) was very friendly… I decided to order the tacos con pastor… food arrived pretty quick and I dug in… the tacos were very good… Received the check and was a bit outraged to find that each can of coke was $ 4 each… Seemed like room service prices… overall the food was just okay, (think the tacos are actually better at Chipotle) and the food is way overpriced… sorry but won’t be coming back

This is just my kinda sh! t.
There’s an 80 year old lady cooking the food back there. She knows what she’s doing.
(++) The owner Pepe. Sit near him, and engage in conversation. He’ll teach you something.
(+) Soupa Azteka is light, but filling and very flavorful. I appreciate when a restaurant provides pictures of all of their dishes. I know whether I’ll enjoy something just by looking at it, so kudos to you sir.
(-) I don’t live close enough to enjoy this place as often as I’d like.
Taste: 8
Quality: 9
Presentation: 8
Service: 8
Cleanliness: 9
Aesthetics: 7.5
Atmosphere: 9
Comparative: 9
Personal Opinion: 9
Overall: 8.5 (B)

Some of the better Mexican food you’ll find in DC. Not cheap (I feel like prices have increased considerably over the years), but quite tasty. My favorites include: Mole Mexicano (chicken in the traditional chocolate sauce), Plato Maya (pork loin & chicken enchilada with salsa verde), and the Plato Azteca (grilled flank steak, pork tamal, chicken enchilada with ranchera sauce). Do yourself a favor & order a margarita on the rocks (or a Mango Jarritos). I also dig the rotating selection of Agua Frescas. It might sound funny if you haven’t tried them before, but get the cebollitas al carbon (green onions grilled with lime & salt). For dessert, you will definitely want to order up some flan to share.

Burrito had meat beans and rice but no spices, sour cream or anything at all really. the beans inside it weren’t spiced, either. The enchiladas came with barely any sauce and were very bland. Nothing was particularly bad, but nothing was particularly good either. The staff seemed very polite and nice however, I am wondering if we just caught them on an off day?

This is my favorite Mexican place in the city. I grew up eating at this place. The staff so nice and the food amazing, I order normally the tacos de lengua, or bistec in salsa verde AMAZING!
The prices are a bit high but given the quality of the food you are paying for authentic Mexican food

Good food! The waitress sucked she didn’t want to split the check! I tipped her anyways

This is yet another restaurant that appears to be beloved by the local Mexican community yet is decried by White and Asian folks from California as not being real Mexican food like they have in San Diego/​LA/​where ever. I am not Mexican but I’ve been taken to many Mexican restaurants and even a few HOMES in the DMV and New York areas by Mexicans and for my money this is authentic Mexican food. I only ate here once but when dishes come with nopalitos, the tortillas are soft and corn, the cheese is queso fresco and they don’t plop a basket of tortillas and salsa in front of you it’s not Tex-​Mex, it’s just Mex. (although it looked like they did also have some of the Tex-​Mex stuff on the menu). I mean, I got a torta, when is the last time you saw a torta at a tex-​mex place? And I thought it was really good. The food had a really homey Latin feel that reminded me a little bit of the food when I lived in Perú. I got the torta with pork and it was delicious, it came with salad with an interesting dressing (seemed avocado based) and awesome potatoes.
And for those of you saying there is no real Mexican food in the DMV… try PG or East Baltimore. Tres Reyes is widely acclaimed by every Mexican person I know and the places you’ll find in East Baltimore (i.e. Little Puebla) are like nothing I’ve ever had elsewhere– some of the spiciest food ever and a Mexican friend of mine swears it is «igual que México» (just like Mexico).

I’m not even sure where to start with this tourist trap. The taco corn (soft) shells were hard-​ish, the meat was overcooked. I will say the consommé (soup) was excellent.
Leaving this place with a $ 20 bill for 2 average tacos ($ 10 for 2? seriously?), a small bowl of soup and a can of soda is nuts. If this place wasn’t in the heart of AdMo, I don’t see how it’d still be in business.

Had a delicious meal with two friends, who both also loved their dinners. In hindsight, it probably is a bit overpriced — especially considering the lack of ambiance. But that’s not what I was worrying about while enjoying our potent half-​pitcher of mango margarita, the succulent chicken, flavorful mole, or the luscious tres leches cake.
I also loved the salsa roja that was served in a bottle, along with the chips and salsa crudo (in addition to a green tomatillo salsa). The very low initial heat of the salsa roja allowed the smoked chile flavor to take precedence, but the heat did build considerably. They were even so kind as to send me home with a few to-​go containers of it.
This is the only Mexican place in DC that I’ve been to. I can’t say whether or not it is better than the others. Based on its own merits, I will happily return and recommend it.

**disclaimer: I’m not an expert on Mexican food; I just like really tasty & filling food**
So, I ended up walking around Adams Morgan craving Mexican food, and suddenly there was Mixtec. It looked strange: plastic table clothes, very small dining room, kitchen open for view, and pictures of food covering the walls. But the menu was very long & very good.
Honestly, I don’t even remember the name of what I got: it was really soft and juicy pork (in a good, falls apart like pulled pork way), black beans, rice, and amazing guacamole, served with a pile of small tortillas to put it on. And it was so tasty… Even better was what my GF got: the seafood soup. It came in a big bowl, with mussels and shrimp and clams all floating in a delicious broth. They certainly didn’t skimp on the seafood.
And, yes, it’s expensive: we each paid about $ 15 for our meals. But the servings were generous and so tasty without being greasy.
Downside? The service was a little slow. But nothing really to complain about.
I would absolutely recommend this to anyone who wants some really solid Mexican food – but this is absolutely not drunk food. I also would recommend that you stick to the special items, not the default quesadillas or basic tacos that Americans seem to go for – those aren’t Mixtec’s strong suit.

I was craving a torta, so I decided to try this place out for lunch. Overall, the amount of stale bread to the very tasty cheese/​avocado insides was too disproportionate.
It was a good sandwich, but the fact that there is no price difference between the avocado/​cheese torta and the carne asada torta and the sandwich and some tasteless side salad came to $ 8 does not tempt me to return anytime soon, if ever.

We had a pretty nice time here. Nothing memorable, but after seeing a roach at Combinacion, it was clean at least! We tried the chicken quesadilla and one consome ranchero (a soup with chicken, rice, and cilantro). The quesadilla had that nice slightly crispy outside that you want, and the rice and beans were decent as well.
Given the divey atmosphere, it was quite pricey (about $ 15 for the quesadilla), but it got the job done, it sustained life, etc. A decent meal, but no reason to head back.
It loses points for slow service and sub-​par horchata. I’ve been searching in vain for some good horchata in dc, and after one sip all I could say was the search continues. Disappointing.

This is a hard review for me to write.
I mean what deserved to be weighted more: food or price/​service?
I’m giving mixtec 3.5 stars from all of my times going. Having lived just down the street, I ventured in quite a few times, some better occassions than others.
Let’s start with the food. It is by far some of the best Mexican food in DC. It is authentic, they have a wide variety, and offer things that most «Mexican» places in DC do not. The quality of the food is always quite good, from the tortas, to the enchiladas to the quesadillas.
They also serve margaritas and beer, which is a nice addition to any meal.
The space is pretty cramped and small, and not exactly clean, but it never posed a major issue to me.
If you have to use the restroom, you may want to skip that. It is through the kitchen in the basement and is not exactly clean. and I will also say here that I do not solely base a review on a bathroom, nor does it serve as an important factor.
What does matter? Cost and service. Both of which Mixtec falls behind on.
I’m sorry but if you have a dirty restaurant, serving the same food since creation, your prices should reflect that. As noted, the food is very good, but it is very hard to justify paying $ 20 for a messy plate of enchiladas in this environment. You can go to some of the boutique Mexican places in Penn Quarter and pay the same price for actual service.
Sure the food at both is far different, but that is exactly my point. You can not charge high end prices for hole-​in-​the-​wall style food.
It blows my mind every time I go there and my boyfriend and I each get a beer, and then a main course and the bill is at least $ 50. I just think of the places I could eat in the city for that price, and I wonder why I am sitting in the filthy place where all of the walls are covered in computer printouts of their food.
The service is also spotty at times. The waitresses who seem to have been working there for quite some time all have the «I don’t give a shit» attitude about service. Half the time they are just hanging out laughing in the back, not attentive to what you may need. Further, when they do come to your table, they are often rude and seem to be offended when you ask for a refill, a box, extra hot sauce, etc.
I’ll say again, I really do enjoy their food, and went their quite a bit when I lived less than a block away from it. It served as many a sick-​day meals for me. But now that I live a bit further, it will be pretty rare that I go and pay the ridiculous prices.
And let’s not forget their rat violations a few years ago where news video caught rats running loose in the restaurant after hours.

Review in short: Overpriced.
Review in long: Do you like mediocre mexican food? Do you like paying way too much for it? Are you too lazy to walk up the road to Mount Pleasant where you can find tons of places with better quality and prices on Mexican food? Well, Mixtec is the right place for you.
I got the mole, which was decent, but cost $ 17 dollars and came with canned beans and a small hunk of rice. Like, what?
I agree with other people, the service is polite. But I don’t go to a restaurant to be smiled at.

Glad I stopped in here to order some lunch to eat outside on a gorgeous day! Ordered the chicken tacos placero. It was basically a large amount of grilled chicken, rice, black beans, fresh salsas, and sour cream with three corn tortillas on the side. Similar to building and eating fajitas. For less than ten dollars I have had three meals from what I ordered!
Definitely a deal for the price and fresh homemade salsas. The staff was super friendly… much nicer than TDF! I will definitely be back! So refreshing to find a decent mexican place in this sea of El Salvador restaurants in the district!