Don Juan Restaurant

I love the patio seating here, a huge redeeming quality!
The menu is very long, which is something I’m always wary of. We all got pupusas, except our poor vegetarian friend who got veggie tacos which looked like the pieces of vegetable décor which gets added as plate filler perched atop a tortilla. All that to say we won’t be coming here again with veggie friends. The pupusas however were very good as they tend to be. We split a pitcher of the house margarita which was shamefully small for $ 30, if they were to remedy this issue I’d give them an extra star.

Good drinks. Good food. Sitting outside with shrimp fajitas, guacamole, and a margarita is one of my favorite things!

Realy enjoyed the food and the service was great. Verity of many authentic dishes. I particularly enjoyed the pantains. The chicken casadia was excellent and loaded with chicken. I didnt2get to have dessert, but will be going back for sure.

I enjoyed the pupusa here. We shared a cheese and bean pupusa just to try it, and each bite was yummy. It even came with a little slaw that gave each bite some kick.
For my meal I got fajitas, and they were okay. The chicken tasted a little odd, though the onions were nice. The usual accoutrements plate it came with was disappointing, though – very little in the way of salsa and no lettuce or cheese… just lots of rice and beans, and then a tiny bit of guac, salsa, and sour cream.
My husband got lomo saltado and the bite I had was okay but not great.
Not sure I’d come back, honestly :(Maybe just for the pupusas?

One of the best Mexican restaurants that I can remember. Very authentic and great service.

Good prices; nice staff; yummy eats.
If only they believed me when I ordered in Spanish :(

I have been here many times and enjoy not only the food but the casual atmosphere, especially on the patio.
I usually order the burritos. Fresh tasting and not overwhelmingly large. The plantains are also quite good. Slightly sweet and not over cooked.
It’s a great place to spend time. With friends for food, drink and talking.

Solid restaurant with tasssty food! We live within walking distance to this spot and in the last month we have been numerous times. Mostly we’ve ordered take-​out, but we did dine in over the weekend and the experience was great, too! The guy that works most nights in the take-​out portion of the restaurant, behind the outdoor seating, is so nice and friendly. The food is great! There is no shortage of Mexican/​Salvadorean restaurants on Mt. Pleasant street, but this one is definitely my fav. If you dine in the vibe is fun and casual, everyone’s drinking coronitas or Dos Equis or Coronas and having a great time. The cheese pupusas are so tasty and I have really enjoyed their burritos and tacos, too! Basically, a great choice for a great meal!

After a long afternoon of marching in the Pride parade, my girlfriend and I dragged our exhausted selves to the outside patio of Don Juan Restaurant. We ordered the vegetarian daily special, the cheese enchiladas, and guava and guanabana (soursop) smoothies. Let’s start with the drinks. The smoothies were fruity and thick, and perfect accompaniments to our meal. Between our two entrees, there was a ton of food. The vegetarian special comes loaded with a fried plantain, elote (corn) tamale, pupusa de queso, avocado, and a rice & bean burrito. I was hoping that the corn would be sweet, but the tamale was tasteless. The pupusa de queso was decent (not the best that I’ve had in Columbia Heights but nothing to complain about) as were the plantains. The only description that I can provide of the rice & bean burrito and cheese enchiladas were that they were smothered in cheese. While the addition of some cumin, oregano, or other spices would have greatly enhanced the flavor, in our physically depleted states we welcomed the surfeit of cheese. My one complaint about our meal was the tasteless tortilla chips and salsa. The chips and salsa did not only have no salt, they had no flavor. In vein we dug through the bowl of salsa looking for tomatoes and spices, but to no avail; there were none. I tried scooping salsa onto my chips, only to have the slightest hint of red coloring appear as the watery salsa dribbled off the chips and back into the bowl.
Don Juan Restaurant calls itself the best authentic Mexican and El Salvadorean restaurant in Washington DC, a lofty claim in a city full of small, family-​owned El Salvadorean eateries but few real Mexican restaurants. I would recommend Don Juan if you’re looking for a casual eatery with outside seating which offers cheap, calorific, cheese-​loaded Tex-​Mex and fresh fruit smoothies after a late night of partying. I give Don Juan Restaurant a three-​star rating.

this place cracks me up. definitely an authentic clientele, which means that on occasion an older man may or may not be drunk and singing loudly in Spanish in there, with is other loud drunk buddies.
so its not glamorous. however, the food is quite tasty, and there is outdoor seating on the side for days when its nice out. the servers are quite friendly but damnnnnnn are they slowwwwww. anyways, they have really good specials there; you can get like a mini burrito, a taco, an a mini enchilada for under 10 bucks or so, and I have no complaints taste-​wise (they aren’t trying to reinvent the wheel here. just your basic Mexican/​salvadorean stuff). def a great option for carry out to enjoy with a movie at home, although there is plenty of seating inside as well.
I highly doubt anybody who works there would be reading Unilocal reviews but my only issue other than slow azzz service would be that I wish there was a greater variety of hot sauces!!!

Cool neighborhood spot! Food is good and the outside seating is nice. There’s cheap beer and drinks. They have Coronitas which is nice to have on a hot day and always reminds me of vacation. They’re open late and the service is always accommodating. The salsa is kinda runny and there’s no thickness to it.

Friendly staff and OK food and drink. The ambiance is far from the most welcoming and the music selection is disastrous. The big TV screens are a plus.

Sometimes you just want some quick and simple Mexican food. Since it’s right up the block from my house, Don Juan is more of a take-​out place when I’m lazy, don’t feel like cooking, and am craving a burrito (or knowing me, more likely an enchilada).
From what I’ve had at Don Juan’s (which isn’t that much since I’ve only been twice), the food has been decent, nothing spectacular, but pretty much exactly what I’ve been looking for. If I’m to knock anything, it’s that my take-​out portion size wasn’t enough to fulfill my late night cravings of cheese, beans, and rice.
While I would never say Don Juan serves up the best Mexican food in the city, but it does serve up the most convenient (at least for me) Mexican food in the city and I know that I’ll be heading back on those nights when a cheese enchilada or a burrito craving rears its head.

4 stars because I was a lot a bit drunk when I went there so maybe I’m exaggerating, but it was really good. More authentic than any establishment I know of in the area — particularly better than the fajitas joint down the street. I don’t remember what I got, but it was good. America wants you to check this place out. But never move to this neighborhood. America wants you to stay in AdMo. Neighborhood is too awesome for you. Sorry not sorry.

Love everything about this place. Usually get the chicken burrito or enchilada and it exceeds my expectations every time. Service is great and servers are friendly. Unique atmosphere, great place to watch a football (soccer) match.
My girlfriend is also thrilled about the food. She is vegetarian and has plenty of options to choose from.

Happened to be in the neighborhood and stopped by on a Sunday evening.
No draft beer, margarita’s so-​so, chicken enchilada’s average (came with a tiny small spoon size of guacamole and sour crème). No complimentary chips and salsa.
Service was poor.
Atmosphere, uh, not exactly cozy. Music loud.
you can do better…

Don Juan’s is a perfectly enjoyable restaurant for anyone who doesn’t come in with completely inappropriate expectations. This is a place for locals to go sit down with some drinks and a hearty meal and just relax watching sports or sharing conversation. Are the directions tacky? Of course. Who cares? It’s relaxed and easy-​going, and that’s all I want from a place like this.
Our dinner experience was overall chill and positive. Service was reasonably friendly and they were happy to seat a large group of us inside for an early dinner. The chips and salsa were a bit plain, but the margaritas were delicious, sizable, and reasonably priced. They have a mix between Tex-​Mex and Salvadoran food, which makes for an interesting variety. I look forward to trying some of the Salvadoran selections in the future when I can better figure out which dishes are vegetarian. For this occasion, I stuck with the familiar and got a vegetarian burrito. Everything on my plate was pretty standard Tex-​Mex fare, but it was still tasty and I had absolutely no complaints.
I would definitely come back here, particularly for another meal-​time visit (versus late night, which I have heard can get a bit crazier). Of course it is what it is, but it’s cheap, tasty, and good bang-​for-​your-​buck. It will be a fun place to sit with the fiancé to watch a game or just relax with some drinks and bites to eat. I’m really looking forward to returning to this neighborhood hangout.

Three and a half stars for reasonably tasty drunk food, and for stocking coconut water in the fridge. Odilver on the carryout side is awesome! The daily specials offer a fair amount of grub at good price, and are executed well– crispy things stay crispy after a 5 minute walk, the rice and yucca are cooked properly, and finally I’ve tasted a pupusa I actually like. I enjoyed the Salvadorian enchilada more than the burrito, but the crispy taco definitely wasn’t bad. Chimichanga was probably crispy before cheese and sauce hit it. Beef enchiladas feature ground meat. Lomo saltado had hearty strips of beef but varied cuts of potato. Tongue taco had fresh avocado wedge, tender meat that could’ve used more seasoning, but a nice roasted salsa on moist corn tortillas. Sopa de mondongo featured one patch of stomach, a knuckle, and some belly with bland cabbage, carrots, and peel-​on plantains. Fried plaintains were decent. Carne asada fell a bit short of expectations in terms of flavor. Future hit list: stewed lengua, sopa de res, ceviche, tacos al pastor, quail, horchata.

If you come here, you should definitely try the Tijauna Tacos or the Yuca Frita. I love the fact that you can get a very generous amount of food for a good price. I am pretty health conscious about the way I eat as well and Don Juan provides me with many diverse options that won’t compromise my dietary needs.
The karaōke is really cool in this place too! I can’t get enough of it, it’s so fun to participate and the host is hilarious too! I always take advantage of a great way to strengthen my spanish speaking skills as well so it’s right up my alley in terms of a good time.
Overall, it’s a cozy fit that can really give you an authentic feel of a Mexican style environment. I definitely would make sure that you express patience with receiving the check however. For some reason, that’s that only real issue I had. Everyone was really nice to me, but I wished that process was a little quicker.
I totally recommend this place to anyone who’s never been!!!

Any place that serves a margarita with a Corona upside-​down in it is fine by me!
We were in here on a Tuesday night and it was pretty quiet. Didn’t have any of the server problems that others have had, as ours was attentive and present. She even cooked us up a second batch of tortilla chips because we slammed the first basket really quickly.
So, back to the Coronarita. This thing was awesome. I took her suggestion to go with frozen (a rarity for me) and it was spot on. A delightful mix of tequila, margarita mix and Corona.
For food, I started with a basic cheese papusa, which was delish– the pickled cabbage on the side was awesome, really kicked up the taste. I had the grilled shrimp quesadilla, which was, well, a grilled shrimp quesadilla. The SO had one of the daily specials, a papusa, burrito and enchilada, all of which were awesome. I think I’m going to try something more adventurous next time.
Definitely worth a try!