Taqueria Distrito Federal 3

Thinking of a burrito? Don’t do it. Carnitas was *not* pulled pork, which is the definition of carnitas to me. Sour cream tasted like mayo. Mexican rice was off. Despite being starving, I threw out the whole thing after four bites.
A previous Unilocaler claimed to be a West Coaster and dubbed this place authentic. To what… Oregon (land of 95% white people)? I’m from California… an authentic Mexican taqueria this place is not.
I had high hopes when I walked in and saw Juarittos and Mexican Coke in the fridge and Univision on the TV. Keep looking… you’re better off at Taco Bar in Gaithersburg.

5 tacos, drink and dessert = 15 bucks. I tried steak, pork, chorizo, pastor, and I can’t then of the last one. Meat was kind of dry, the best was pork. Tortillas must definitely go, tortillas were poor quality. Atmosphere was nice and waitress was friendly. Free wifi sure helped with the pain. I think I’ll give it another try, next time I’ll try the torta.

I came here tonight with my boyfriend. We had a
certificate that we planned on using. When we told our waiter Jose, he told us the owner refuses to honor them anymore even though he signed up for them. He told us he wouldnt blame us for leaving and that the best he could do was give us 20% off.
My boyfriend and I were so hungry at that point and Jose was so nice to us, we decided to just get a few tacos to go.
The tacos were decent i got a sope which was pretty good. My boyfriend said carnitas sucked but the chorizo was good. The shredded chicken wasnt bad either.
This place flatly not honoring our
certificates is so wrong. I am not ever going to come back here because of that. Their food is nothing amazing and definitely not worth the trouble of dealing with.

I liked the ladies who worked here — they were very kind and helpful, but I didn’t like any of the food I tried. I believe the meal was a couple kinds of tacos and a tamales. The taco fillings were not especially flavorful, the salsa bland, the chips cold and unappealing. The rice wasn’t good. The only part I liked was the tamale, and that would have been much improved by better salsa to accompany it. They do have a large list of taco fillings, though, if you want variety. I won’t become a regular customer. Baja Fresh honestly does a better job, though I hate to say it.

No Bueno. Tried it twice and have grievances each time.
1^st time —
Ordered: CK Burrito
Verdict — The Ck tasted a little off. but the worst was the cheese. it was a piece of you know that string cheese you peel. what was up with that?
2^nd time —
Ordered: 3 Ck tacos
Verdict — Super, super bland. service was not friendly. our waiter was like 14 years old socially awkward. again no bueno.
I don’t think I will go back again. I was so happy to see this place open. but now I believe I will never go back.

We went here for dinner on a Friday night and the food was good. Not gourmet, but really solid and filling. I especially liked the green salsa they had. Also, I’d only ever been to the original on 14^th Street, so the expanded menu was a nice surprise.
The staff here was incredibly friendly. Almost right when we sat down, they brought a small complementary plate of beans/​rice/​chicken to my preschool-​aged child at the same time that they brought the chips. I have never experienced this before at a restaurant, and it was such a welcome offering. They also gave him a lollipop. Taqueria Distrito Federal 3 knows how to keep kids, and parents, happy. My husband was like «You have to Unilocal this. You have to go Unilocal about the free kid food!»
We will definitely go here next time we’re in the mood for quick tex-​mex dinner (forgive me if this isn’t exactly tex-​mex, but we usually order burritos so I feel like that’s what we’re eating).

Sooooooo… Yesterday was Friday and I can account for most of it… I wake up and do the gym thing and then wander through the open air market until it hits me… I haven’t had anything to eat since that Tasty Diner BLT& egg sandwich at 3am.
Is 10:30 am way to early for tongue? It’s never to early for tongue!
Burrito de Lengua! I must be out of the loop because this place just opened up as the third installment! I never heard of 1 or 2! I will say that I am giving this spot 4 stars for one reason. The extremely polite counter staff! I powered through my meal in about 10 minutes and they check up on me a lot. I mean like 6 times!
The menu is standard Mexican fare so I will not go through it. What I did like was the option of beef tongue as a protein option. When I ordered it, I got a, «Do you know what you are getting» look. I grabbed a table and realized that It was really early. Then I felt weird because everyone else was eating eggs! I was approached by a staff member and he dropped off lightly salted tortilla chips and an avocado creamed dipping sauce. I snapped out of my funk and tried it. pureed avocado, lime juice and cilantro. That’s it! Different and delightful. Soon followed rather small burrito filled with tongue, pinto beans, yellow rice, Oaxaca cheese, diced red onions and sour cream. What struck me as odd was slices of cucumbers and radishes as the plate garnish. The appearance of the burrito was a bit on the sloppy side. Kinda like a poorly rolled cigar. Not a big problem. Flour tortilla was stone cold and the contents of the burrito were tepid. I am thinking that they were not really ready for a lunch order at that point in the day. The texture of the beef tongue was tender and balanced with the bite from the diced red onions, moist yellow rice and pinto beans. The Oaxaca cheese was cut into thick strips and I actually thought just a bit too big for the burrito. Overall I like this place but If I return … WHEN I return, I will ask for specific things.
#1 Hot fillings
#2. Hot tortilla

This place is legit. They have a huge selection of meats on their menu and you can get any one or a combination of them in pretty much any preparation. I wasn’t too adventurous today; I went with my go-​to Mexican entrée — chicken fajitas. But these were outstanding. They came out on a super-​hot sizzling platter, piled high with chicken, all three colors of bell peppers, red onions, and tomatoes. The chicken was tender, but caramelized on the outside. The veggies were sweet, just a little bit charred, and not overcooked. They were served with corn tortillas instead of flour, which I really liked. They also came with Mexican rice and black beans, both of which were well-​seasoned and really tasty. My friend got the salad with grilled chicken. It was really nice; it came topped with tomatoes, avocado, radishes, onions, and a delicious, mild, slightly salty Mexican cheese. The prices are low and the portions are huge, too. both of us have a lot of leftovers — definitely enough for another whole meal. The service was good, too. As soon as we sat down, the waitress brought us water, chips, and their avocado-​based salsa, which was excellent. I will be back!

Went to use a living social and will definitely be back. As soon as we sat down, they brought us water and some amazing avocado salsa and chips. It was so good I couldn’t believe it was free.
We ordered the tamale platter, some tacos, and some sopes. The goat tacos were my favorite — highly recommend! The pork and cheese tamale was also a stand-​out. Despite the casual setting and the low prices, the food was definitely a step above what you would expect from a, fast casual type of place. They really focus on the ingredients.
Everything came out quickly and the servers were very attentive. I’m already looking forward to going back.

I noticed that this place just changed to TDF 3 and while waiting for my daughters to finish dance class I decided to pop in here. I sat down with a menu, got some tasty enough chips and «salsa» or some green avocado type sauce that was pretty good but a bit on the runny side. These were complimentary! Ordered the veggie taco, the tongue taco and the tripe taco and it was yum, yum, and yum! It was so nice to see tripe tacos again. I used to get these at my favorite taco truck and they stopped selling them about 2 years ago and I have missed them ever since. The prices here were reasonable especially with the free chips and salsa and the service was just okay but it seemed to fit with the establishment. No frills just food! Will definitely go back and try some other things one day. Give it a shot, it would be great to keep the place in the neighborhood. Just wish they would upgrade the décor a little!

Taco Combo #3 $ 13 (⁴⁄₅ NOMs)
give me all your meats. Oh yea I’m excited to finally try a new taco place right near our NOMNATION HQ. Give me lots of meat choices and I will love you, there are 11 different meat combination choices here. They even have beef tung (Lengua)! I thought they were a bit small at first, but don’t let size full you, they will fill you up. Combo also comes with a nice little dessert. All their sodas are imported from Mexico with real cane sugar. Love all the different preparation variations for beef and pork. You can’t go wrong with any meat choices, I order Al Pastor, Chorizo, Costilla Puerco, Carne Asada and Lengua. Wish they labeled my tacos so I know what I was trying since I can’t tell wich is wich haha. I just know my tummy was very happy and I will be back to try more taconomness

So, this physical location has been reincarnated once again. Let’s hope this place has a longer shelf life than its predecessors. I was a bit confused about whether we were supposed to take a seat at one of the many vacant tables, or order at the counter and have it brought to our seats.
We seated ourselves and a waitress brought us menus and avocado salsa and chips. We didn’t see her again, as the owner brought us our food, and checked in on us periodically. I knew what I wanted right away.
I ordered a horchata and the fish tacos from the appetizers menu. They were cheap. $ 3.50 for two! However, they weren’t to my liking. The fish was very dry, as if it were made very early in the day (I was here Sunday night). It reminded me of the meat in the serving dishes at Qdoba’s and Chipotle’s. It was in little pieces and brownish in color. I tried a piece on its own, and it had no flavor. If the fish was fresh and cooked to order, it would have been great. It also could have used a bit of sauce, like California Tortilla’s version. I liked the slice of fresh avocado though. I won’t be ordering it again, but that won’t stop me from coming back and trying something else.
One of the owners was there, and he was very sweet. The place had a few other patrons filing in after we were seated. It’s conveniently located across the street from the Wayne Ave parking garage, which is free after 6pm. There’s not much street parking on Wayne Ave, but plenty on Fenton around the corner.

Unilocal won’t let me award 3.62 stars so I had to round up.
I had a Living Social deal to use so I decided to spend it on dinner for the parents and me. I ordered 2 each of the pollo asado, carne asada, and lengua tacos, as well as the chicken flautas.
The lengua (beef tongue) tacos were my favorite of the bunch as the meat was tender and flavorful. The chicken tacos were okay but each taco only had one lonely strip. As for the carne asada tacos, the taste was decent but the texture was closer to shredded beef so I’m not sure how they were actually prepared.
The chicken flautas were delicious! Look I know it’s not healthy but how can I not love deep fried tortillas encasing shredded chicken? The yellow rice that came with it was average but I dug the refried black beans that were obvi made in house and not out of a can.
I bought an horchata as well and while it took care of my craving, it was too sweet for my taste. I’ll stick with that divine nectar known as Mexican Coke from now on.
The staff was nice too. The server brought me chips and salsa while I waited (they have some sort of creamy avocado salsa instead of the usual red stuff) and let me use my Living Social deal for takeout even though it apparently was for dine-​in only. Way to make me want to return!
***Hey gringos! This is Mexican food. Do not complain about it being bland simply because it’s not smothered with melted cheese, guac, and sour cream.***

This would be a 2.5 stars review if it were available.
I stopped in for lunch earlier this week and experienced what many others have been both praised and criticized about TDF3. The tacos were pretty good, the tamale was not very good at all, and the service certainly leaves something to be desired. When I came in, two of the women running the place were eating their lunch by the cash register. They were sweet, but struggled to communicate that there was table service.
I ordered from the table and the waitress brought the food and water with little interest. The chips were scarce and a little stale but the salsa was good yet the waitress never offered me more chips when I finished off what they had given. It’s a weird environment where they are giving mediocre sit-​down service and then you get up and pay at the register.
I’d go back but would certainly order the tacos to go. It seems like the best way to go at this place unless they improve the service or offer to bring your check when you’re done. It’s in a pretty good location in Silver Spring near the parking garage and right besides the Downtown Silver Spring area.
I don’t love the place inside since it’s pretty characterless and did not look like they spent a lot of money, but hope they improve with time.

I was excited to find that Distrito Federal had expanded to Silver Spring. 10 minutes to good tacos would be a major benefit.
As I walked to the restaurant I and looked around I noticed that the place was new, bright, and clean. The restaurant also had a «well we built this space out and spent a lot of money, so where are the customers scent». That something you can’t wipe away.
When the waitress came she seemed like she wanted to take the order, clean, up and get home. We we merely another task other list of things to do before she left.
The tacos arrived and were the best part of the experience. The tortilla and meat were were good quality. A garnish of avocado livened up the dish. Unfortunately the Al Pastor and Lengua has almost no flavor.
We tried to order the beef tamale, but they were sold out. My wife switched to a vegetable quesadilla. How badly can you make a quesadilla? Well in this case, pretty badly. Dumping a salad with lettuce onto a tortilla, adding cheese, and melting does not a quesadilla make. Spices, taste? Not much.
At this point we felt that the food, while not memorable was edible. That was until they decided to mop the floor with disinfectant.
Nothing says leave and don’t come back like the smell of Simple Green in a bucket.
The place cleared out quickly, and so did we.
My hope for a good, close by taqueria continues.

Amazing tacos! I will definitely be back, and I hope this place does well here in Silver Spring.
Now this is Mexican cuisine, not Tex-​Mex. The tacos are served on soft corn tortillas, and are designed to showcase the meat. And they do have a great selection of meats to choose from. I tried the lengua (tongue) and the al pastor (beef and pork), which were both excellent. I think the lengua was my favorite, so juicy and meaty. The toppings are minimalist to enhance the meat flavors, not to cover it up (so don’t expect loads of cheese).
Jalapenos and a couple hot sauces are on each table (one hot one mild), and the other toppings served with tacos include radish, green onion, cucumber and a slice of lime. I definitely want to try more tacos, and the other specialties, which include menudo on weekends! (A traditional soup made with tripe and pigs feet) Also on each table, they offer their own chips and instead of the typical salsa, a creamy lime dipping sauce. It’s light, tangy and refreshingly different from the usual Tex-​Mex offerings.
They also have a nice selection of Mexican beverages, and I enjoyed a yummy glass of horchata with my tacos.
The space was also very clean and newly renovated, with fun décor that didn’t overwhelm the small area.

DISGUSTING! the people who took our orders were rude and obnoxious.
The chips were stale. I couldn’t tell if the sauce was Guacamole or salsa.
The meat was dry! The only reason I gave this 1 star is because they had Mexican Coke.

Finally! Some real Comida Mexicana in downtown Silver Spring!
Great visit on opening night. The owner and his nephew were warm and welcoming and the place was packed!
The ceviche tostada was incredible, and the tamarindo flavor agua fresca was top notch. Their guacamole packs a punch thanks to chopped jalapeño.
As a California girl, I appreciate that the tacos come with slices of fresh lime, radish and cucumber on the side.
Can’t wait for them to get a liquor license so they can serve Coronas, Pacificos and magaritas.
We will DEFINITELY be back.

Nothing but good to say. Of all the dishes we’ve tried, the flautas were the only thing that disappointed me, and that’s only because they were made with flour tortillas instead of corn tortillas. But the sopes, huaraches, tacos, burritos? All delicious. I’ve yet to try the pozole or tamales, but that’s only because I’m a little hesitant – no one can top homemade on those two things, it seems. I tried the jamaica today – a little sweeter than I’m used to, but still very good. I love how they prep their chicken, and the carnitas are pretty damn good.
My husband and I have been there various times and are happy to go back. My only complaint from today is that they switched the music from mariachi to Top 40 when we sat down to eat.