El Chucho

Almost don’t want to write this review because we like actually getting a seat at the bar– but they deserve all the five star reviews in the world. Superb food (get the chicken tacos and the street corn!) always incredibly fresh – served fast, served late, just like we like it.
I had no idea tequila could be so interesting. They have a thousand kinds to try – and they know how to mix it into extraordinary cocktails.
There are no bad servers or bartenders here – they will ALL treat you like gold and, sadly, you’ll probably become a regular here just like us :)
We love it here so much. It’s both a cozy neighborhood bar and a completely unique place worth seeking out. Great date spot!

El Chucho has delicious food, but service so slow you might not want to bother trying it.
The hostess seated us upstairs for Sunday brunch. There was a long wait in-​between ordering drinks, getting drinks, fixing the drink order, getting served, paying the bill… I think you get the idea.
It may just be that we were ravenous after the long wait, but all of us actually really enjoyed our food. My huevos rancheros was perfectly layered and seasoned, although very small in portion. My friend’s potatoes kept me from going hungry. They were crispy and light like a perfect french fry.
If you do end up going to El Chucho, I hope it’s during off-​peak hours. Otherwise you may end up waiting a long time for not enough food.

It’s hard not to walk into this place without thinking «hipster,» but just because a place is tragically ironic doesn’t mean the food should suck.
For starters, the salsa was great. I could have made a meal out of the salsa, and I probably should have. The waitstaff was also fantastic. Friendly, enthusiastic, and knowledgable.
The cocktails looked good, but if you’re dry, drink water. The phrase «we make our own sodas» is never a good sign, and I should have known better. What’s amazing is — as a Mexican joint — they seemed to have nearly every brand of tequila but didn’t carry Jorritos.
I get it. Homemade soda is trendy and people love to pretend that they love it… like kale. But it’s never good, and the blood orange soda was no exception. It tasted like it was garnished with fish oil and black beans, which would have been great on my entrée, not my drink.
Which brings me to the entrée. The huaraches, which until last weekend I thought were shoes. And that’s kind of what they tasted like. How can something so colorful have absolutely no flavor? I seriously thought about asking for hot sauce and salt.
Between the soda and the little shoes, er, huaraches, I have to wonder if something hadn’t happened in the kitchen that night. A place that seems this popular shouldn’t taste so bad. I hope it was just a hiccup.
Three stars for the salsa and staff. Seriously friendly and amazing salsa. I wish I could have brought a jar home with me.

I really love this place. I go whenever I have the opportunity. Great tacos and the elote is addictive. The only thing I ever walk out feeling is disappointed in the service. Its inconsistent, I am really familiar with the industry but the majority of the time, I find the staff a little ungracious to be in an occupation that requires you to be nice. Sometimes its very friendly but most of the time… impatient and I don’t mean in the busy times which is completely understandable, even when its slow. I’d say work on that, I’ll be back and I always bring friends, I just don’t want to have to over apologize if I wanted more chips or another order of corn because you look annoyed. Keep up the good stuff though!

EL CHUUUUCHOOO *train horn* wow, never knew this place existed! Definitely one of my top favorite taco go-​to place when I am in the Columbia Heights area. My friends and I stumbled upon this taqueria while waiting for our table to be ready at Bad Saints (across the street). Without a Unilocal,we went with our GUT instinct and headed upstairs to our table at El Chucho. At first we were just going to grab appetizers, something to hold us down until our reservation time. BUT when walking towards our table, I could not help but to eye everyone’s dish on the way! TACOS TACO TACO! The smell of downtown Mexico suddenly rang my memories. As we sat down, we decided to order two tacos each. I ordered the Al Pastor, which was shredded pork. WHOA. The taco had the right amount of sweetness and balance of heat. Of course, I did a swap with my friend and tried his pollo (chicken) mmmm that was delicious as well.
The atmosphere was great. The setting was a bit intimate for our group. I would recommend this place for a date. I will definitely be back to try other menu items!

Definitely one of my favs restaurants in CoHe, and up there for my fav Mexican in DC. El Chucho doesn’t disappoint! No matter what meal you go for, the menu is delish! My favs: the guac is so good (albeit a teeny bit on the pricey side, says me), the elote (street corn) is honestly my favorite thing on the menu! Sooo delicious! A bit messy but well worth it! The tacos are all very good and authentic, tiny tortillas, filled with meat, and a sprinkle of onion/​whatever topping (the al pastor meat is my personal fav).
And for the first time this past weekend we went for brunch and had some very tasty entrees! For one, they have the regular menu, plus their brunch menu. I had the breakfast burrito al pastor (YUM), my hubby had the huevos rancheros (he devoured them, said portion was small, it was), and we had a side of breakfast potatoes which came with a very tasty dipping sauce. I also tried the horchata for the first time here, and it was tasty! Served on ice, very refreshing! Oh and I love their rooftop, great spot for a tasty meal!

It’s the neighborhood taqueria — there’s a wait on those warm nights but when you want a marg and taco in the heights, it’s the spot to go.
I love it for a date or a girl’s night out. Their fish tacos (or any) are on point — and I love their jalepeno marg. I’ve also had a seasonal cocktail of theirs and seen that other people do tequila shots. It’s got a great vibe when you come inside as well as a roof. There are tons of places nearby to grab a drink if you do have to wait!

I really wanted to like El Chucho– it’s hard for me to turn down Mexican food, and adding a full bar to the mix seems like an excellent idea! However, I think after my 2 visits, El Chucho and I are on the outs.
It mostly comes down to bad service. I know that any restaurant can have an off night, but both times that I was there, the service was so disappointing. On my first visit, the hostess seemed so put off by a simple question about whether there was upstairs seating available-​if looks could kill, I think my friends and I would not have made it through the night. Once we did get seated, I noticed that it took a while to get a waiter’s attention, and since this happened on both of my visits, I chalk it up to a level of understaffing or poor floor management. I will say that the servers were friendly once they arrived, but the wait seemed like too long.
I think the food highlights had to be the churros and margaritas. I thought the tacos were decent, but maybe my years in California have spoiled me and paying too much for only «ok» tacos seems like a travesty. I do like the retro restaurant décor, and maybe I would recommend it for people looking for a good happy hour location. Yet, I think there are probably a lot of places I would advise you to visit first before going to El Chucho.

El Chucho has a happy hour on Monday when the Chicken and Al Pastor tacos are $ 3 and the Elote is $ 2.50. It’s a regular spot for my boyfriend and his friends who live in Columbia Heights. I joined them on a rainy night. It was pretty crowded, but we were lucky enough that it wasn’t too busy that night since there is nowhere to wait for your table and again… it was raining.
The rooftop has such a chill night atmosphere. I was really glad we were seated upstairs. I ordered some Carne Asada tacos and the Elote. The Carne Asada tacos were not that good. I would not recommend at all. I didn’t even want to finish it. My boyfriend had an order of the Al Pastor tacos. The sauce made these so much tastier. The elote though… I’ll come back just for this and some Tecate and some good times with friends. All else, I wouldn’t care for.
To sum it up, I wouldn’t come back solely for the food, but if my friends were in the area and we needed a place to drink and chat, this would be a neat place to hang out.

Pretty good! I like the vibe upstairs on the porch. It’s pretty cramped downstairs with the bar, but if you can get a table upstairs, I’d recommend it. I ordered a can of beer, and then the corn on the cob. WOW! The corn is outstanding. Next time I will likely just order that. For dinner, I ordered what was essentially a Mexican flatbread, with green peppers, mushrooms, and some various sauces. Everything was fresh, and the floury bread was excellent, but it didn’t all come together as I had hoped.
For the drinks and the corn, this place is 4 stars. However, my dinner was a 3.

A fun, «hip» spot in DC but it can get a bit crowded. I wish you could make reservations in advance! Drinks and food are good, but the food can be a bit pricey.

One of my favorite happy hour places in this neighborhood. Affordable, good atmosphere, great food, and both outdoor and indoor seating. Highly recommended! Calabacita– taco with squash blossoms and fried zucchini — is a must order for vegetarians.

The coupe had over an hour wait for brunch but we walked right in here… great service, and the food is soo good. I got the chilequiles with veggies, so much deep slow cooked flavor! Music a little much for this time of day (loud metal) but the food made up for it.

Nice indoor/​outdoor venue. I came here for a Meetup and I really enjoyed myself. I got a chance to sit at the window bar that serves as an indoor/​outdoor space. The establishment is small but they also have rooftop dining, which I decided not to take advantage of… I’m still kicking myself in the butt for that one.
Anyway, the food was pretty good for $ 21. I had a chef’s omelette and the mimosa’s were bottomless. I really enjoyed the Hibiscus flavored one. It was the perfect sweet and sugary drink! I think I had 2.5 glasses and if I didn’t have to run errands after the Meetup I would have definitely had a few more. haha!
In short… it’s cute, quaint and exceptionally reasonably priced. No complaints here!
PS: I will be back for more and the next time I won’t tread so lightly with my alcohol consumption. ;)

The brunch is really good, delicious breakfast burritos, huevos rancheros and chilaquiles!
My favorite thing about this place is the happy hour, tacos al pastor y elote callejero are my favs! The service is great, friendly staff, cool rooftop and margaritas to die for!

I’ll be back asap. Let me start with that. This place was amazing. Insanely nice selection of tequila in the bar. The front wall of the building completely opens up to let the light and fresh air in. The owner has a passion for tequila and the food, as he recommended some good choices to me. I also overheard him explaining some of the tequilas to other customers and everyone was extremely engaged.
The food was so fresh and nice. I ordered the asada tacos, four of them actually lol. I also ordered one of the blue tequila based drinks and it was delicious. Watching the bartender make the drink was pretty cool, too. This ain’t no college bar — they know what they’re doing and they take it seriously.
Overall, go take a look and enjoy yourself. You won’t be disappointed.

Love this Columbia Heights locale for its rooftoop & the happy hour specials! House margs are $ 5, flavored margs are $ 6 and tacos are 2 for $ 3!
I’ve been here twice for food and found it to be «meh» both times. The tacos al pastor leave MUCH to be desired. The meat is more finely ground than your usual taco al pastor — more like a ground beef taco texture than a fresh off the skewer pastor taco texture. The tacos are fairly small and don’t pack a ton of flavor. I wouldn’t pay full price for them, but for $ 1.50 per taco during happy hour, it’s not a bad deal to soak up some tequila! I also tried the chips & guac — a fairly small portion of both served with a small side of salsa. Again, not a bad deal for happy hour ($ 6), but lacking in flavor and portion size.
The strawberry habanero with chili salt margarita is unique and DELICIOUS. The sweet-​spicy combo is a perfect way to enjoy a summer evening.
Unfortunately on my last visit, service was somewhat lacking. Our waiter served us the swirl margarita both times when we both ordered the strawberry habanero. The second time, we tried to get his attention for 10 minutes, before giving up and just settling for the swirl. It took us awhile to get the bill and our water glasses unfilled often.
There is indoor and outdoor seating (upstairs terrace and small patio out front), but not many seats, so come early!

THAT CORN THOUGH.
Happy hour deals are pretty sweet. $ 5 house margs (with your choice of chill salt), other flavored mags vary in price, and super cheap appetizers.
If you didn’t catch it by my intro, you should most definitely try the corn on the cob. It’s topped with amazingness like cheese and sauces and spices. You might think corn is a weird thing to have for happy hour, (so did I) but it’s amazing.
The margaritas are decently sized and delicious as well. We also got the chips and guac which were meh, though the salsa was great and spicy.
This place is rather small and divey, so try and come early especially if you’re with a larger party. There are seats inside and outside, but not too many.

After a few visits, I tried giving this place the benefit of the doubt each time, but I just can’t anymore.
First, let’s start with the positives: the tacos are extremely delicious – tripas and carne asada tacos are jam packed with flavor that I ordered quite a few. The guacamole and salsa are also a good appetizer before the meal and set you up nicely for their tacos.
Other than this, el chucho is a nice yet small Mexican restaurant in Colombia heights, but they really need better service and better alcohol. The hostesses here also need better estimation on when you will be seated after waiting – saying 10 more min. after 30 min is fine the first time but not multiple times. Also I hope that they can improve on their drinks because their frozen margaritas and regular margaritas taste like virgin margaritas! They don’t even creep on you.
Overall, el chucho has so much potential and hope to come back one day, but not in the near future.

So it was Cinco de Mayo and I thought, «Yes! Let’s go to El Chucho’s, friends!!» Wellll, it was okay.
Love:
+ friendly staff. I understand the wait would be long but the team was nice about it and worked to accommodate people.
+ nice patio area for non-​cinco days. I’d love to snag a spot at the counter that faces outside!
Not so love:
+ tiny area inside
+ margs were a letdown. For ~$ 8 all of ours felt watered down and not worth the price.
This experience was mediocre which is a shame with it being Cinco de Mayo, but I have hopes that other days aren’t like this and I’ll probably be back to give the food a taste.