"Critic's Choice..."
Cheap Eats: 100 Bargain Restaurants Where You'll Find Lots of Flavor & Fun
Washingtontonian Magazine - June 2004

Entering this little storefront restaurant can be a blinding experience. The walls practically vibrate from the bright colors--orange, mustard, green, red, and blue. The small dining room is filled on weekend evenings while the bar reverberates with noise. In good weather outdoor dining reduces the inevitable weekend wait. It's not just the atmosphere that brings people in--the place has first-rate Salvadoran and Mexican cooking. The menu is short but more than sufficient. Among the appealing appetizers are pupusas, quesadillas, and nachos with various fillings and toppings. Tamales--either wrapped in a corn husk with yellow corn or in a banana leaf with chicken or vegetables--are good, too. The Mexican menu features such standards as tacos, enchiladas, and flautas, plus unusual twists like a marinated tilapia taco. The skewered marinated pork is loaded with flavor and grilled to perfection. The fresh shrimp, sautéed with onion, tomato, garlic, and cilantro, is excellent. Sunday brunch features huevos rancheros and grilled chorizo and eggs.

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"Voted Best Bargain Restaurant Award Winner..."
Washingtonian Magazine - June 2002

June 2002 - Read Review Online

June 2001 - Read Review Online

"Clarendon Has the Mexicali Blues..."
Washington Post - 1999

What do you call a Mexican/Salvadoran restaurant launched by the owners of a neighborhood hardware store and the local handy man named after a Grateful Dead song? Mexicali Blues, which is exactly what south-of-the-border starved folks in Clarendon are no longer singing now that their prayers have been answered. Walk into this bustling establishment on any given evening and you'll find singles sipping margaritas at the bar. Young couples, families, and the over-40 crowd bumping elbows, inadvertently eavesdropping on one another at the crowded tables. The personable wait staff careening about the tiny restaurant, humming at the beat of reggee, Latin American or hip-hop music.

Question: Why the crowds?

Answer: This is simple: "...some of the most authentic Mexican and Salvadoran cooking this side of the Rio Grande"

"Twenty Restaurants to Watch For..."
Washingtontonian Magazine - 1999

Mexicali Blues The hip, sun-splashed decor aptly captures the spirit behind this new Mexican-Salvadorean restaurant that'll make a yucca fan out of the most stalwart naysayer. The soft tacos, burritos, and grilled meats shouldn't be missed.

"Great Mexican Cooking in Arlington..."
Washingtontonian Magazine - 1998

Had yucca lately? Mexicali Blues knows what to do with this much misunderstood tuber. Try it deep fried with pork cracklings and marinated cabbage-it's sensational. Or share an Everestlike mound of yucca pica: roasted wedges coated with spicy tomato salsa-the restaurant's tongue-in-cheek take on Buffalo wings. Either way, it's addictive at this Mexican-Salvadoran restaurant.