To die for, I always have room! Strawberry habanero margaritas with chili lime salt, chimichangas made from ingredients I assume are only grown in heaven, tacos that blow your mind, tortas bigger then your face and Elote aka Jimmy-crack-corn because you will jones for it again! El Chucho dropped the mic when it was conceived and just continues to be the best in alcohol, food and atmosphere! read more

El Chucho - Not your momma's chimichangas! - Mexican Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

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Loved it. The street style corn is comically delicious, and is the best $4 you can spend on food in DC. I debated ordering 2 more after my first. The tacos are a biiiit pricey but they are so tasty - noticeably better flour tortillas than most other places have. I had the Al Pastor tacos. Went on a Sunday evening, sat outside. Nice vibe. Will come back for weekday happy hour now. read more

They don't have Diet Coke, that just mattered to me. The food was decent but nothing special. I went there for brunch. Probably will not go again. read more

happy hour off the chain! && the one time i went was for national tequila day! what better way to spend that day && place !!

We got take out, and it was ok. The meats had plenty of flavor, but the rest of the ingredients seemed to be toned down for the average American pallet. I don't love corn tortillas, and that is the only choice. He churros are very good, and the ceviche is average. The sandwiches had tons of meat, read very heavy and filling. read more

Great HH! Love the open space. The food is good, drinks are well made. Only gripe is some of the bartenders seem to cool for school, don't pay attention and have some attitude. I've noticed this all 5 times I have been here. read more

Atmosphere and music is amazing. Food is on par too. Cool little hang out. Would definitely recommend the Enchiladas Suizas and the churros for desert. read more

We decided to check this place since there were so many reviews on google but we should have trusted yelp. The place is Ok. The food is not great. Very mediocre. We will not be back. read more

Went here with my future mother in law. Been here many times pre-pandemic- always amazing food. Was so happy with the way they enforced safety measures politely and responsibly . Was one party of people who were upset the server asked for them to put on masks before approaching their table , and love how two other tables supported the server enforcing the guidelines. Great food , safely . Couldn't ask for better! read more

I went here for the first time yesterday evening for happy hour. I got the tacos al pastor and a draft margarita. I thought the tacos tasted good, but the they were small with just two small tortillas with meat on top, nothing else to go with it. I also didn't like the draft margarita. It didn't taste good at all. I got it because it is the only margarita you can get for the happy hour price, but I almost wish I had gotten a regular full price margarita instead. I loved the atmosphere though! The service was also really good. read more

Great tacos and margaritas! Guacamole and salsa was also good. The service here is also good and friendly. We got a table on a busy night very quickly. Fun vibes in this place. read more

El Chucho is one of the closest things I've had to authentic Mexican cuisine in the District. I went there for a late night bite after hitting up Wonderland Ballroom down the street, and it was still buzzing at 12:30am. Friends and I ordered the spicy margaritas, which were spot on, and I had beef tacos with pickled onions. The steak was tender and the flavors were authentic Mexican. The restaurant has a cool rustic ambiance with a modern flare, and the service is quick and professional. It is perfect for dinner, drinks, or for midnight munchies. Five stars for sure! Will be back. read more

This place does Mexican street food that is legit. The full name, El Chucho Cocina Superior, says it all -- the food is superior to all other Mexican joints I've had in the DC area. We showed up about a half hour after the doors officially opened on opening night and the place was already getting crowded. We wanted to sit on the rooftop deck anyway and were accommodated quickly. It was a hot evening, and little did we know that the biggest storm of the summer was about to hit, but the fans and tent-like covering helped shield us from the sun and heat. The space downstairs is a little small, with high top tables and the bar, but that made it seem all the more intimate, as any true one of a kind Mexican place should be. The bar itself is a good size, as are the margarita and cocktail menus. The original margarita "on tap" (i.e., margarita slushie) and the Blue Hawaiian (not your typical bright blue Hawaiian, this one is creamy and seafoam green in color) were the best drinks of the night. Between the four of us we ordered a grip of food. Everything was good, but two things in particular stood out: the elote callejero (corn on the cob) and the torta ahogada (a "wet" pork sandwich, if you will). The corn ($4) was grilled and the side facing up was covered with spices, fresh herbs and sauce. It was nice and salty, just wish the entire thing had been spiced, not just the visible side. The torta ahogada ($12) is a pork sandwich on super fresh bread and was absolutely amazing. I love that it's not a typical menu item at most Mexican restaurants, yet they embraced it and excelled. It was covered in a thick spicy salsa, yet the bread still didn't become soggy. There's so much sauce you get plastic gloves with your order to eat them. My tip: don't even try to be civilized and eat it with a knife and fork, it won't taste as good. Use the gloves and make sure you bite through the whole sandwich to let the flavors meld within each bite. Bonus points: have someone else with the gloves on feed you. Group effort, yum! El Chucho is an excellent dining option in DC, and bonus points for it being so close to Justin's house, in Columbia Heights, so this California girl can have quick and easy access to the Mexican food she needs. Plus, Michelle and I have already decided to come back to try the tacos, on their special tortillas which have been flown over from Chicago, and have more corn. read more

If you don't order the corn on the cob, you're crazy. It's like mac n cheese on an ear of corn. Get one per person. Amazeballs.

El Chucho represents a fantastic recovery from exhausting afternoons. Whether your poison of choice is tequila or mezcal, El Chucho's got you covered especially on Tuesdays when the latter comes at a 20% discount. While everyone else apparently loves the elote callejero (corn on the cob covered with mayo and spices), I'm more partial to their al pastor tacos. Sure, the meat isn't as juicy and tender as what I find back in Texas, but there is a light hint of sweetness (pineapple perhaps?) and it is properly served on corn tortillas with cilantro and lime. At the price of $3 for two tacos during HH, it's a decent snack. read more

This must be done. Yes, I'v enjoyed the food and drinks here. Service.... emphasis on the vice, unfortunately. I'm not vain so let's just go ahead and throw out there that I am 43 years old. I'm scared of needles so it is needless (needle less?) to say that I don't shoot up Botox. And I have certainly loved me some time in the sun. So when Cranky Hipster Waitress carded me on a Sunday afternoon after my husband and I stepped in from a spontaneous stroll, I laughed. Mirth turned to utter disbelief. I didnt plan on stopping anywhere because I was just out for a walk, so of course, I didnt have my id on me. D.C. being D.C. I understand that this is a very litigious city but COME ON! Who cards a 43 year old? Use some common sense. Will this deter me from going back? If it was a favorite place of mine, no, probably not. The truth is, there are so many awesome places in our city these days that I just don't have to bother with Chucho. It's fun and kitschy but a bad server can really sour the experience. She was not friendly, not accommodating, pretty smart alecky and rude about the situation and then never bothered to check up on my husband's order. read more

This restaurant has a great atmosphere and a well rounded happy hour selection. Though the house margaritas were excessively sweet, the corn elote and tacos were great. read more

Got the Al Pastor burrito and shrimp tacos for take out. Tacos were extremely crisp and I enjoy the traditional portion size. Al pastor burrito was great, strong spice flavor and loved the pairing with salsa verde. Looking forward to dining in. read more

Great place, amazing food!!! However... horrible service. Our server YESIKA was so rude. She literally screamed at us when we pointed out she had brought the wrong food, said she could check her notes n obviously realized it was her mistake. Still she didn't apologize n kept an attitude the whole time. We end up cutting our time short and going somewhere else. read more

Flavorless pretty much sums up all of the food here. Yeah your girlfriend thinks it looks cute, but at the end of the day she'll even admit it's mediocre. And wish you went somewhere else. Especially after a long wait. The hipsters can go ahead and have this place. I'd rather hit up Super Taco anyday. read more

Margaritas on tab and good happy hr for. Monday all night happy hr. The combined the menu into one, check out my pics read more

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My coworkers had plans to hit up Wonderland down the block but since they didn't open for another hour we wandered up the block to El Chuco. I was pleasantly pleased! Since we were a larger party we were seated upstairs which is pretty much an outdoor rooftop. Drinks? On point! Food? Good. Maybe because we were doing happy hour we went with the "small bites" like the Tacos and Elote. Both were quite yummy, indeed! I will be back sometime. read more

The corn is good, the brain is decent, and the drinks are reasonably priced

Decent happy hour specials (weekdays from 4-630pm); overflowing with hipsters to the point of humor (e.g., I didn't spot one man without a beard, flannel shirt, and glasses); rude service; questionable cleanliness. read more

Street food gone stylish at generally reasonable prices. If you don't believe this kitchen's got firepower, check out the Sonora Dog and huitlacoche flautas. But some of it just feels like a "more is better" philosophy, which is too bad because street food doesn't need fancy tricks to shine. The tripe tacos don't benefit at all from foie gras. The worst offender is the Señor Clusterfuck cocktail with both mezcal and Talisker. Totally redundant, just tastes like vague smoke. There's no reason for this unless you really need that hipster cred, and El Chucho already has plenty. This place has more mustaches and vinyl than the 1970s. read more

During stay at home orders we needed a break from cooking. We have been to El Chucho many times and love the upstairs outside seating and have also enjoyed our meals. During stay at home and stay at home light- their food and service has been fantastic. They figured this early and have been doing it really well. My mouth is watering right now thinking about last night's dinner. Thanks El Chucho. read more

Margaritas were the smallest and weakest I've ever experienced. Seating can be a problem. Tacos are really small.

Would have loved to tried the food; however, they gave our table away. First off, they don't take reservations. That is a disaster because the place is small and there is always a wait. Secondly, they told us the wait would be an hour. Sigh. Ok. I put my name down and left my phone number. The hostess said she would call - since there was no space to wait inside the restaurant. An hour goes by, we return to el chucho to see where we are on the list. She said we had missed our window, they had given our table away. They never called. We asked why they didn't call, why they even asked for our phone number. No answer. read more

All I can say is yuck!!! My husband and I ordered the chicken and beef tacos. THE WORST TACOS we ever ate. They smelled like dog food but he refused to give it to the dog. $20...in the trash! read more

Service was fine and the location is nice, but the food was quite bad. If you're just looking for a summary: go to Mama Chuy on Georgia Avenue. Frankly, go anywhere else. The food mostly just suffered from an overwhelming blandness, but when there were flavors, they were unpleasant. The guacamole was watery and bland. The tacos were greasy. Out of four different platters, one was worth finishing. I'm not usually very critical, but this was bad enough that it warrants a review (and a warning). I am not surprised that, in only a short month or two of doing business, it has already gone from having long waits to having no wait. read more

Tiny place, great drinks, amazing "crack" corn. Get the soup, it's actually very filling and quite delicious. I'm a fan!

Our group of 5 agreed that this place deserves 2.5 stars. I think most of the stars go to the ambiance. The place was busy on a Friday night, service was pretty good, and we loved our little table on the rooftop patio. The food was hit or miss. We loved the elote everyone raves about. Frozen margaritas were tasty. Chips and salsa were fine but not superior to our local tex mex place. One friend got this giant bun with some meat and sauce in it (can't remember name of the menu item) It looked horrible and he didn't eat much. We tried all the tacos and I think the only ones I really loved were the Al pastor. Carne asada was just meh. Pollo was overcooked and tasteless - we joked about sending it back for seasoning. Calabacita seemed bland. Tripas I'm told was also just okay (I couldn't stomach the grey meat - that's a pun, because it's tripe and tripe is intestine :). We decided that going to one of the tiny Mexican carry outs down the street would have produced tastier food. Still, I might go back with friends to enjoy the patio, drinks, and corn...just not for a meal! read more

Fantastically creative tacos, was woo'd by the smokiness in some of the chicken tacos. Traditional margaritas reminiscent of those great hole in the wall Mexican restaurants. Impressive happy hour consisting of 6 tacos for just 9 bucks. Great social scene, this is the place to be! Would consider the food to be modern Mexican. Been twice and will be back many more times. read more

Ordered take out. They forgot part of the order, argued when I called about it, didn't credit for the missing items, AND the food they did put in the bag was also wrong. Won't make the same mistake twice--other local Mex places can manage to get a simple take out order right. read more

Excellent tequila! We had a fantastic waiter who had a beard and gauges (or earrings flirting with the next level) either way, the service was great. AND my dear friend forgot her wallet and the waiter RAN after us to return it. That is a sign of a great establishment, folks. Interior design rocks too. read more

We visit friends in DC once or twice a year and this is the spot I always want to go back to. Their tacos are fantastic. The asada in particular is so tender and flavorful. They make great margs and the place has a fun relaxed vibe. Highly recommend this spot read more

Terrible Service. The bartender ignored us for most of our time there. Then when our order was brought out it didn't have advocado as listed on the menu. When we asked our waiter why there was no advocado, he told us they were out of advocado. No apology and nothing said by the staff until we brought it up. Finally the food was subpar, very greasy and a lot of bread. Needless to say I will not be coming back. read more

4 stars is only for the corn on the cob. I could go there everyday to eat it! The margaritas are fun and different and perfect for a summer night. Go in clothes that keep you cool when it is hot since most of their seating is outside and/or they keep the garage door open! Cute neighborhood addition and very helpful staff! read more

I am not one for long reviews, because I don't personally like reading them when I am looking for a place. Anyway, El Chucho's food is fantastic, different and authentic. Their drinks are good and strong, and the staff is great. They maintain both a neighborhood feel, and a gourmet experience. Perfect for foodies, and happy-hour goes alike. read more

The margaritas are fine, but this place has truly the most disappointing fish tacos I've ever had. We're talking dry and flavorless fish without any redeeming toppings. Maybe this place is better for red meat eaters, but for me, it was nothing short of a let down. I won't be coming back. read more