Lime Fresh Mexican Grill

So sad yet another Lime has closed.
Its a shame, it was so delicious!
So good, So good, So good, So good, So good, So good, So good, So good, So good, So good!

The wide-​variety of options which come with a wide variety of options is what makes this place unique in terms of the food. I personally have enjoyed the burritos and quesadillas and would suggest both. They also have a vast selection of salsas to try for free which is also an amazing addition since your meal comes with tortillas chips.

This place is a chain with several locations in the DC area. The burritos and tacos are good and on par or better than other chains in the area. They have a nice little salsa bar and good selection of ice cold beer to wash those tacos down with. Service was friendly and the food comes out quickly, making this a good spot for a quick lunch or dinner.

Lime Fresh is a good option for the non-​chipotle conformist in you. I stopped by Lime Fresh on my way to U street to grab a bite and fill up before the nightly U street shenanigans began. There was no line at the time (early Sat evening) and I ordered a fully loaded chicken burrito. They also have frozen drink options as well as beers and neither is really expensive. I had a little bit of the frozen sangria and it was pretty good. The price was just right is definitely an affordable option for a good burrito.
Nothing really stood out but there was nothing wrong with my meal or the service. It’s a good stand in for Chipotle and I’ll be back at some point in time to try out some of the other food options. If only I worked closer to DC and had the chance to try out the happy hour here…

Really good and reasonably priced, love the salsa bar and the steak with cheese tacos were awesome

Happy hour is great ! I recommend the ground beef crispy tacos!! I’m not a huge fan of the chicken because of the char taste but the beef they only have frozen happy hour drinks (margarita& sangria) btw

This place is cheap, and the food is just okay — not great. It’s saving grace is that this place is super cheap during happy hour. The salsa bar is okay, the salsas aren’t super flavorful and I suspect they come out of a bag or bin, but are definitely sourced from somewhere else. The chips aren’t good either. The tacos are okay… tastes like a $ 2 taco. The margs and sangria are from one of those frozen swirley machines, so as you can imagine they’re not spectacular. If you’re a margarita purist you won’t enjoy the margs here.

pretty good! i had nachos with chicken. the ratio of cheese to chips definitely could have been better, but it came with a tasty little sauce on the side and guac which was good. i actually liked it better as leftovers the next day.

The place actually seems and looks good.
I stopped by last Friday for happy hour thinking it started at 3 when it really started at 4.
$ 2 Corona’s? I don’t see why not :)
I stayed there for about 2 hours, as I watched people order food and eat away. Everything smelled soooo good and it looked good too. Too bad I wasn’t eating but I will definitely give their food a try next time.

A friend recommended Lime to me for lunch. The food was fresh and it was great the first time and the following visits. They move fast and the service was excellent dining in and carrying out. They have a salsa bar with a variety of salas. I’m not a big fan of so many salsa’s but the ones I tried I liked. Soon I will try their Happy Hour they are known to have really good margaritas. Lime is definitely worth the money you pay.

During my first visit here, I made the noob mistake of getting my burrito to-​go and quickly scooting on out the door once my order was handed to me. When I opted to eat inside during a second visit, I unwittingly discovered the self-​serve salsa bar. That salsa bar truly changed the game and deserves most of the credit for this 4 star rating.
As I mentioned, the burritos alone are nothing spectacular. They are filling but small compared to a standard Chipotle burrito and pricier at about $ 8 each. They are also pretty bland on their own but improve greatly once you start throwing stuff from the salsa bar on them.
The salsa bar has 7 different varieties as well as a whole jar filled with just cilantro. I LOVE cilantro — that alone made me so happy. I also really liked the pineapple salsa and black bean salsa. I piled all of these on my burrito as well as on the tortilla chips included in my order. My only gripe is that the small plastic serving cups were tiny so I had to make multiple trips to get the heaps of that delicious salsa.
This place is in an area with stiff competition from other quick fast-​food joints, but that salsa bar is definitely worth checking out.

The good:
-$ 2 tacos and $ 2 Dos XXX beer from 4−7pm most week nights
— Excellent salsa bar! Mango, hot, mild, smokey, there were like 8 great flavors
— Convenient location across from Chinatown Metro
The bad:
— Food came stone cold. The tortillas were not heated, and the meat was barely warm.
— Chicken was dry (it had been sitting too long in a warming tray)
Overall for the price it was decent. Had I not gotten the $ 2 special I would have said something about the cold food. The $ 2 premium Mexican beers brightened my mood. If I was in the area and on a budget I’d come here, but wouldn’t make a special trip or pay full price.

Normally I have a 5 star experience at Lime, but the female that I captured a picture of ruined Lime’s perfect rating for me.
So the back story is I had major oral surgery 3 days ago & have been on a soft food diet… so I’m starving. I realize I can ask for queso with a couple (2) soft tortillas, instead of the hard chips. Brilliant… right…well I ask her if I could get this & she was like no… ma’am I’m hungry… DON’T tell me no is what I was thinking, but I just walked away from her & sat with my party. Well she went to tell the guy I guess & he brought me some soft tortillas & allowed me to explain my situation & rang me up just as nicely. She proceeded to bring out my party’s food & slammed it down at the table & was just rude… customer service may not be your calling… I was so satisfied with the taste of the queso & soft tortillas though!

Chipotle can’t beat this place
Good ingredients and good food
Service better than food slapping in the bowl chipotle

Music was too loud for me when I came here with a friend for dinner this past Tuesday. It was really tough to hold a conversation with her even though there were only a handful of customers.
You place your order and they give you a number card which you take with you to your table. Then a few minutes later, someone brings your order. I ordered an XL burrito after working out and it came with chips. My friend pointed out the salsa bar and I went there to add a couple different varieties straight onto the chips. I should have used the little cups they provide because my chips got soggy quick.
The burrito was well wrapped and fulfulling. I like the tortilla better than other places. For being located across from the Verizon Center, I was impressed and thankful the restaurant was not crowded. It was probably one of the few that wasn’t that night.

Screw California Tortilla. This is where the good tex-​mex eats and drinks are. This review is basically for their happy hour. 2 $ tacos, 2 $ bottles beers and 3 $ margaritas and sangrias. Their ritas and sangrias are strong and sweet and a helluva deal for 3 $. Tacos are decent, not extraordinary but delicious once you’ve downed some beers and margaritas (frozen, not shaken). Also their guacomole is tasty too and they have a salsa bar for your chips. I’ll have to try their other items like their burritos. This is on my list of happy hour spots.

A variety of food was ordered for a lunch meeting. I arrived after most had finished eating. I grabbed the last brown bag marked, «chicken taco» bypassing the chicken and beef burrito bags. I was also instructed to grab a bag of the cinnamon chops.
The 3 chicken tacos were great. I tend to eat on the lighter healthy side and this was perfect. The taco shells were soft, had grilled chicken, tomato, lettuce (not enough), and cheese.
The cinnamon chips had a good flavor, like cinnamon toast. But the texture did not hold up.
I would encourage ordering this for a large office gathering.

Okay, let’s do some level-​setting here for expectations before I dive into my review. Previously, I did an «Olympics”-style comparison among the «big burrito» joints, Chipotle, Moe’s, and Qdoba. After having visited Lime for the first time, it has now occurred to me that another «Olympic» royale battle is in order for new contenders in the «Fast Casual Brought to Your Table» Tex-​Mex: Baja Fresh, California Tortilla, and Lime. Interesting note: there’s a California Tortilla directly next door to Lime, which has been holding court there for a while, and Lime is the new kid in this part of town… and it looks like they tried to steal Cal Tort’s hot sauce wall. But I digress…
Popped in to Lime pre-​Caps game, so it’s a great spot prior to anything at Verizon Center, especially since that Chipotle across the street is always b-​to-​the-​walls crazy. Arrive sometime between 4 and 7 on Weds., Thurs., and Fri. for their «WTF?!» Happy Hour, which we missed by one little minute, where you get $ 2 tacos and $ 3 drinks!
The employee behind the counter was friendly enough, but was a little out of it and not too knowledgeable about her menu. I ordered three different tacos: the Surfer with grilled fish, the Original taco with chicken, and the I Wanna Tijuana taco with ground beef — this is like Lime’s take on Taco Bell’s double-​decker taco — instant Gold medal in the creative taco options category! I opted for soft corn tortillas in hopes of a more «Authentic» experience — they’re not on the menu, but tacos can be made with the corn. Sadly, all three tacos were comprised of cold corn tortillas, and anyone can attest to how gross that is. Corn tortillas must be warmed and double-​wrapped. At least the Spice Fiend in me had the hot sauce wall to experiment with and to douse those soggy, cold tortillas in heat!
We also ordered a side of guacamole, but we found it to be over-​overpoweringly salty and probably was the first time we weren’t able to finish a cup of guac! There are complimentary chips, but they’re pretty salty/​greasy, and the salsa bar had some good variety, but was pretty messy.
I did order a frozen margarita, but the cashier didn’t pour it for us; we had to return to the counter to retrieve it. It was just okay, but I wouldn’t expect a top-​shelf margarita from a place like Lime, and never with a frozen marg — ha!
Not sure about the morale/​level of service of the staff; table busser/​sweeper was busy checking her phone while she was mopping/​sweeping, tables sat un-​bussed, cashier neglected to pour margaritas and wasn’t too keen on menu specifics.
Baja Fresh and California Tortilla to be reviewed at another date in the near future, but for now, I’d have to saw that Lime is sitting at a solid Silver to Bronze position of the three contenders. Their hot sauce wall, WTF?! Happy Hour, and double-​decker taco give them very high marks, but there are definitely other areas where Cal Tort and Baja Fresh outshine the Lime.

I love me some Lime!
This location doesn’t have as much seating as the one in Columbia Heights, but the service and food and overall ambiance is just as pleasing. This franchise has yet to disappoint me.
My friend and I were super impressed by the staff at our visit yesterday. At one point, unbeknownst to me, my infant daughter somehow tossed a toy out of her stroller, and an observant employee picked up the teething toy (bless her) and brought it over, asking, «Is this your baby’s toy?» It would have been a sad, sad day if that thing got lost.
The food is good, and, while not super authentic Mexican, it sure hits the spot. It is also way more filling than you imagine and my friend and I both totally over-​ordered and couldn’t finish our tacos and quesadillas. The chips are good and, of course, the big stand out is the salsa bar. Oh I am SUCH a sucker for the pineapple salsa. MMMMM.
Good, filling food on a budget.

Woohoo! My favorite fast-​causal Mexican joint has finally opened a location within walking distance of me! And next door to California Tortilla and across the street from Chipotle no less. This should be interesting…
But to me, there is hands down no competition. Lime Fresh is the best. It’s priced right and the quality is top notch.
This particular Lime Fresh location is quite small, so when it’s crowded, you’ll have to get cozy with the other customers. It also offers a slightly more limited menu than it’s other locations. For example, there’s only one type of guac here, not multiple. But it’s clean and new. And oh so tasty!
The queso is forever a fav of mine. Get it! And their salsa bar has so many delicious offerings. And if you need more chips, just ask — they’re unlimited. I swear I could sit here all day and eat chips and queso and salsa. But the tacos are great too. And their salads are large and wonderful. The steak salad was chock full of steak.
And the staff are friendly and attentive. We were checked on several times as we chowed down.
And be sure to try a frozen sangria! It’s so tasty and the perfect companion to the eats.