Costa Real

Food is delicious but I will never dine here again.
A few months ago I stopped in for take out and was impressed with the food. I recently moved from Austin, Texas and have been trying the local Latin restaurants to find my favorites. Unfortunately, as good as the food is, after dining here tonight I will not return. Their staff is VERY poorly trained. Although light skinned and blonde I am half mexican and had no problems understanding the menu or waitresses however, one waitress felt the need to condescend me throughout the meal. The other waitress clearly had very poor english. For an appetizer, I ordered two different pupasas, directly from the menu, as is, no special requests, yet for some reason she had to come back three times to clarify. For the entrée, I ordered beef fajitas that the menu said came with crema y guacamole pero when they brought out the meal they did not bring either. I asked for it and that somehow set off a chain of questions about did I want a side of both, a side of just one, just a little bit or a lot, etc. I was halfway through the meal before they finally brought it and then they charged $ 1.50 for each ‘side’. Again, the menu said it came with the fajitas. Also, the takeout leftovers were poorly packed and the atmosphere was lousy, blaring music and waitresses that carry on with personal conversations while draping their arms over your booth. Whatever. I tipped 17%, left and will never be back. Good food should come judgement and racism free.

Overall, good food. Pupusas lacked a bit of flavor but the burritos were good. Took forever to get food so be prepared to wait.

Neal E. is on the money with his review. I’ve been to a few Salvadorian venues in Manassas and I am a fan of the cuisine. Costa Real was really delicious. I went with 4 of my co-​works and everyone enjoyed their food. I was glad that we brought a translator with us but for the most part the waitress did an excellent job. I had a beef enchilada which was different than any other I have had. it was good but not as hot as I would have liked it but I think it was meant to be that way, it was almost like a beef salad on two fried tortillas. I can’t wait to go back and try out the rest of their menu!!!

Had dinner here this evening — another Mexican/​Latin American joint in Manassas. It’s located in a retail complex right off of Business Route 234 — the same complex as the McKay’s Used Books.
Walked in about 7:00 pm or so — I noted immediately that I was the sole Caucasian in the place — the rest of the place were Latin Americans of various vintages — I always take this as a good sign that the locals like the place.
I was seated immediately and presented with a menu. I was hungering for a beef Burrito — so I ordered that with a side of Guacamole, a glass of water with lime, and then a bit later — a Corona Beer. The menu contains Salvadorian and Mexican items.
My first two servers spoke poor or little English — so they brought a third over who spoke clear English. I was kind of expecting the possibility of this occurring — so I was unphased.
While I was waiting I noted there were several flat screen HD displays, plus a large projector screen — all displaying a soccer game being. And there was a Jukebox — playing Latina music a bit to loud.
First a small basket of chips were brought out with a side of salsa — not bad salsa — but not spicy enough for me. I added some of the Habanero sauce on the table to the salsa — the brand is «El Yucateco Chile Habanero.» Made the salsa nice and spicy!
The food came out in about 10 minutes. The Burrito comes with a side of rice, a small iceberg lettuce salad, and something similar to refried beans — although the consistency was thinner than what I am accustomed. The Burrito had jack cheese melted over the top of it. The rice was kind of plain on its own — so I dumped the refried beans mixture into the rice and then dosed it with the Habanero sauce. Now it’s good!
The steak in the Burrito was very tender and tasty. I devoured it in no time flat. The Beer was well — Corona — nice and cold and served with a lIme.
One thing I noted while I was there that I thought was bit odd — was that all the servers were women — and all of the folks patronizing the place were guys — there was not a single woman patron in the place. The short snapshot of my time there is probably not representative of the place overall — but I still found it odd. Seemed like a lot of the guys were flirting with the waitresses.
Cons:
— Jukebox and soccer game were way to loud
I would come back here again — to try some of the other menu items.