El Gavilan Restaurant

It can be difficult finding good Tex-Mex in the DC area; I love other cuisines from Central America, but sometimes I have a hankering for what I grew up eating in the SW US, and I have a soft spot for bean burritos. Most of the time when you order a "bean burrito" here in the DC area, you get pot beans (e.g., think of Chipotle), which are simply cooked whole beans. It's easy to see in your burrito as the whole beans are still intact.But, my weakness is for frijoles refritos (refried beans) which are made by squashing pot beans and heating in a pan to lightly toast them and to remove some water. Usually some kind of oil is added, which is traditionally lard (not my preference), but can certainly be any number of vegetable oils. There are usually additional spices added (epazote is fairly common). Often the beans are then given a creamier texture by putting in some kind of blender. The end result is a delicious filling for a burrito that is much more flavorful than plain pot beans.While frijoles refritos, in a Mexican context, are usually made from pinto beans, you can make them from pretty much any kind of bean. When I've found frijoles refritos at Salvadoran or Guatemalan restaurants, for instance, they're often made from black beans. The taste is a bit different, but they're still good.So, on to the main point: El Gavilan makes a very tasty bean burrito filled with frijoles refritos. It's plain -- just the toasted tortilla filled with beans--but it's very good. It would be great if they could take this a step further and offer a burrito mojado (wet burrito) in which a refried bean burrito is covered with enchilada sauce and cheese and then baked. (Burritos mojados are almost impossible to find in the DC area. The only other restaurant that I've found that makes them is Guapo's.)On a related note, El Gavilan's enchiladas are also very good and I prefer their pupusas because they're not so oily.

I have been on a horrible luck streak, and feel bad leaving bad reviews. But, dinner from El Gavilan was nearly inedible. I ordered plantains and a chimichanga. The plantains were reduced to a thick paste, overcooked to the consistency of baby food and lacking in any flavour. The chimichanga was not browned at all. It looked like a burrito, but the tortilla was simply dry. Not fried. Dried. Inside, there was little but shredded chicken -- dry and bland. It was served with white rice (?!?!) And a dollop of sour cream -- no salsa, no gauc, nothing. Tex Mex for people who don't like spices, flavour, or taste.

My family & I really like getting take out from here. Food is always great, special orders are ok & they actually follow through on the requests. Very friendly service.

Okay why did I just find out about this place? I have been going to El Golfo's for years, not knowing that this place was right across. I give this place three stars cause of their yummy frozen drinks, but the food and service was not that great. I would go back just for the frozen drinks! The food not so much. However, the food is good enough. I got the chicken wings which were not saucy. I was excited about saucy wings, but they were just fried with batter. The wings were real crispy and juicy, but I wanted more sauce on it. I also got the cheese quesadilla which were good, but just bland. I wish it came with some vegetables like salsa and lettuce. I got the strawberry and guava daiquiri with rum added to it. I did wish the drink was stronger, but it was still really good. Going back for the drinks!

Here's the good- the food is consistently pretty good and homemade tasting. The service from the serving staff has also always been really friendly and considerate, we have a toddler and they're always wonderful with her.The bad? The service is at times almost laughably slow. I've called on a Tuesday night, been told 45 minutes for a simple order and shown up to find the place dead. In person we waited an hour yesterday for tacos, enchiladas and a pupusa. I suspect this is the kitchen more than the waitstaff and as the food is generally really good quality, I think they may make everything to order and really take their time. Still one wishes that they could work on this a bit. Aside from the wait times this place is so much better than the competition next door and they could easily become a local favorite with 5 star reviews.

This place from the 90s until prior to the pandemic had great authentic food. I grew up in the neighborhood close by. Recently, the food and portions have fallen off significantly and I will not be eating here again after over 2 decades of patronage. There are simply much better options at the prices in the area.

Came here for a dinner date and had a pretty good time. We were sat right away, and started off with some taquitos. They came out pretty fast and were tasty. For dinner I had the chimichanga with chicken. The waitress asked if I wanted grilled or fried and thought she meant the chicken ‍ so I said grilled. I was disappointed when it came out and realized she had meant the whole thing. It was pretty good in the end. The beans and rice were a bit bland.Realizing most of the reviews were about how good the steak was - I wish I had got something with that. My husband got the Santa Fe Burrito and I had a bite - so yummy!Decor was nice, there was a solo guy singing karaoke that was a bit distracting, but other than that a pretty good time.Hope to be back to try the steak!

Another fantastic Latin option in the Takoma Park area! Absolutely need to try their pupusa Loroco. The cheese they use in their pupusa and enchilada is fantastic!

they took 1 hole hour to bring my family our food,we only got 1quisadilla and 2 orders of puposas

We had this delivered, enjoyed everything had the beef soup, three enchiladas meal and a cabbage tomato appetizer, nothing special but nothing bad, will go back but most likely pick it up.