Bill of Tacos

Follow the delicious mayhem as Isaiah of Bad Medicine tries every taco joint in Washington DC. Click here for his list of DC's best tacos. #billoftacos

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Biking from Dupont Circle to Metro Center is harder than it looks, but when the reward is tacos it's worth it. Tonight I was meeting up with my cousin Ashley to check out MXDC Cocina Mexicana by Chef Todd English. Ashley is a fan of large tacos that are full of meat with tons of sauce. She just never wants to be hungry after eating a plate of tacos, which is justifiable.

Tonight we put MXDC to the test and I hope authentic Mexican with a modern twist holds true. The restaurant is a fancy spot with a second date level of quality. During the week it is full of a work crowd who is not just there for mixed drinks and unique salsas.

MXDC serves their tacos Mexican style on soft corn tortillas. At three tacos per order for $11 a plate your options are carne asada, pollo, pork belly, cochinita pibil, hongos (mushrooms), and mahi mahi. Ashley ordered the pork belly and mahi mahi, while I had carne asada and hongos tacos.

Overall MXDC makes good food. Their tacos are small and are very easy to eat, but they are not the smallest that I've seen. Plus their portion toppings are well balanced. Surprisingly, MXDC's mahi mahi tacos are wonderful and might just be the second best fish tacos in DC. The Carne Asada is almost just as good, but the hongos and pork belly tacos are okay. A little too much mushroom kind of ruins it and though the pork belly was juicy it wasn't as flavorful as the other tacos. It needs something.

My rating for MXDC tacos: 4 tequila shots

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I made a quick stop in Adams Morgan after a photoshoot to chow down on some tacos at Super Tacos & Bakery. One of my favorite things about this place is that it's actually a bakery. They make cakes and I bet they are wonderful.

Now Super Tacos is really small, so if you can't find a spot to sit and eat don't worry most people take the carry out option. For $2.75 a taco you can order chicken, beef, veggie, chorizo, beef tongue, grilled steak or one of their three kinds of pork. You can have it fried (Carnitas), baked (Cochinita Pibil) or roasted (Al Pastor). Most of their tacos are served Mexican style with a white corn tortilla expect for the Gringo (American style) which is on a flour tortilla. Fellow taco lover Brandon ordered the Al Pastor and Cochinita Pibil. I went with the Carne Asada and Gringo Beef.  

Overall, Super Tacos make good street taco. They're a good sized, the meat is cooked well and they use lots of onion. Also the tacos are served on a Styrofoam plate.  As Brandon would say, "If you want a good taco anytime. Go here. There are fancier tacos in DC, but this one is much better than average." So grab yourself a Jarritos and go eat your tacos outside.

My rating for Super Tacos & Bakery Tacos: 4 tequila shots

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A new location for District Taco recently opened on M street near my office. It's larger than the original spot and I can see my coworkers becoming regulars very soon. Taco on my friends, taco on.

I've already rated DT's tacos, but I felt like their breakfast tacos needed a shot. Especially since they are serve them and other breakfast items all day. For $7 you can order 3 breakfast tacos. The options are the "Basic" taco which is egg, cheese and potato. A "Healthy" taco which is just egg whites or a Veggie taco that's pinto beans, cheese, sauteed onions and green peppers. The first two tacos also include unlimited toppings which is kind of nice. This morning I went with the basic tacos on a flour tortilla, since I'm a meat and potatoes kind of guy.

Since DT individually wraps every taco these breakfast tacos are probably smaller than they should be, but they are still quite satisfying. I'm a fan of the breakfast taco. The combination of cheese, egg and potato really works and I'm sure if you add pico or guac it would only add to it's great taste. My only wish is that the potatoes were seasoned. Not only would it add a nice kick, but there are many different way to season them to perfection. If you make these at home, which you can easily do please season your potatoes.

My rating for District Taco's breakfast tacos: 3 tequila shots

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Our second stop of the night in Eastern Market was Pacifico Cantina. It's a pretty sweet restaurant that kind of feels like the hull of a schooner, which might be related to the fact that the whole place is made of wood. Though the colorful ceiling and the tequila bar will defiantly be inspiration for my future beach house. Also they have a roof top bar that I bet is awesome during the Summer months.

At Pacifico for $4 a taco you can have one of their "handcrafted tacos" made with flour or corn tortillas. Their toppings menu is pretty solid with a selection that includes grilled fish, baja, chicken, carne asada, pork, shrimp or a roasted pepper base veggie taco.  This time around we each ordered two tacos. Dave had the chicken and veggie. Brandon got the pork and carne asada, while I ordered the fish and carne asada.

Not surprisingly, Pacifico makes a decent taco that's the right size and mix of tastes. From the meats to the salsas everything was flavorful. My fish tacos we're basically the whole fish and the mango salsa added a nice layer of sweetness. Even the carne asada was pretty good. Their stand out is their pulled pork taco which was on it's own level of goodness and worth ordering every time you visit. Pacifico might easily be the best taco joint in Eastern Market.

My rating for Pacifico Cantina tacos: 3.5 tequila shots

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Metro'ing to Barracks Row by way of Eastern Market I met up with our dirty taco cook Brandon and fellow friend Dave. Dave likes his tacos flavorful and fresh. He likes being able to pick up his taco, because it's not a mess which I think is a simple request.

Well our first stop of the night was Las Placitas which my Texan friend Ruben suggested we check out. LP is a cute spot with a Salvadorian/Mexican cantina vibe. I wouldn't be surprised if this place was a decent dinner date spot for a Wednesday night especially after ordering a pitcher of margaritas.

Unfortunately like most Salvadorian places in DC their taco menu is very basic. They only have two taco dishes. The Tacos Al Carbon which is three soft flour tacos filled with chicken or fajita steak. Or the Tacos de Pollo o de Carne which is three crispy tacos stuffed with chicken or shredded beef and cheese. Everything is served with lettuce, pico, guac, sour cream, rice and beans. To mix things up, Brandon ordered the crispy beef tacos for $13. While Dave and I split the soft tacos for $14 and ordered one platter of steak and one of chicken. Also that night LP had a special that was a chicken, steak and shrimp combo but no one was feeling like shrimp.

Overall their tacos are nothing special and the soft tacos are served fajita style, which is a downer. You probably could make better tacos at home, so I would order something else at Las Placitas. At this point in my taco journey I don't think most Salvadorian restaurants make good tacos. For them tacos are a dish on their menu for people who don't have much experience eating with Latin food. Plain and simple, which is disappointing.

My rating for Las Placitas tacos: 2.5 tequila shots

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The tourist trap which is Georgetown continues to surprise. As much as I want disregard it's overpriced culture there are gems to be discovered. As the sister restaurant to Founding Farmers, Farmers Fishers Bakers has made a home next to the fountain/ice rink in Georgetown's waterfront and will be a hot date spot this Spring. It provides "sustainable dining" paired with a fancy tiki bar that makes excellent Hurricanes. By far this is one of my favorite restaurants in DC entirely because of the farm themed decorations. If you ever come here, please visit the bathroom. FFB's menu is American, so they serve what they call "Authentic Field Tacos" on masa puffy corn tortillas, flour tortillas or a sweet corn cake. For toppings you can order chicken, fried white fish, pork belly, steak, pulled pork, beer braised beef or tuna for the average price of $12 for two tacos. This is a good taco menu, especially since tuna tacos are rare. I ordered the braised beef tacos on the sweet corn cake and added the tuna on flour tortillas for kicks. I was very impressed with their tacos. The meat was seasoned well and the tacos came with a different combination of cheese, cilantro, radish, avocado or salsa sauce. It was a great blend of tastes that were very delicious. Especially the sweet corn cake, which you should definitely try at least once. My only turn off was the price since I felt that they were charging $6 a taco, because they are located in Georgetown and that doesn't spell "field tacos" in my book. My rating for Farmers Fishers Bakers tacos: 4 strong tequila shots

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Of the DC food scene that participates in Taco Tuesday near the top of that list is Smoke & Barrel. It's a meat lover's paradise in the heart of Adam's Morgan. Their meat is so good that they claim to have the best vegan wings in the city. For a Taco Tuesday, I met up with food loving friends Matt, Isabella and Roy. Matt likes his tacos soft and savory, while Isabella prefers her tacos to be very spicy. As for Roy, he just likes his tacos fresh to death and dressed to impress. S&B is a cool dark spot that is usually crowded, so we snagged a table in the basement which is cleverly nicknamed the "Bottom of the Barrel." The Taco Tuesday deal at S&B is that for $5 (until 11pm) you can order their taco platter. It's 3 flour soft tacos with one side from a limited selection of their menu. Not included in this deal is their beef brisket and BBQ smoked tofu, but you can still order the pulled pork, pulled chicken or veggie chili. Yet I will point out that their regular taco platter is usually $12, so $5 is a great freak'n deal. The fun fact about S&B tacos is that they are served only two ways: traditional or BBQ. Their traditional taco comes with cheese, lettuce and tomatoes, but honestly you should ALWAYS order the BBQ tacos. Especially since there is no mix-n-matching and BBQ tacos are not easy to find in DC. These tacos come with cheese, BBQ sauce, coleslaw and pickles. Despite the great taco deal, I ordered the traditional beef brisket tacos and traded a taco with Matt to try to their BBQ pulled chicken. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised to find that S&B's tacos met my high expectations. Even all the sides were tasty. I do wish that that the traditional tacos had more cheese in them, but the BBQ tacos made up the difference. They taste great even before you start adding some of the bottled sauces S&B has sitting at every table. I encourage you to trade bottles with the people next to you, so you can try all six flavors. My rating for Smoke & Barrel’s tacos: 4 tequila shots

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I just found out that "taco cat" backwards spells "taco cat" so now I have to get a "taco cat" shirt. Well, you can purchase "Taco Cat" by omnitarian on shirt.woot for $15.

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It had been while since I've visited the gentrification pinnacle of DC that is Union Market. Judging by the crowd this was the spot to be on a beautiful Saturday. Tucked in the right side of the market is a little shop called TaKorean. This is the child of DC's first Korean taco truck and they have transferred their taco experience into a highlight of the market. Many people could be spotted walking around carrying little trays of tacos, which is the best advertising you can ask for.

TaKorean has a tasty menu that's a combination of Korean flavors with a Mexican twist all made from scratch. Their specialty is tacos and they feature cool flavors such as bulgogi steak, tangy chicken, caramelized tofu and spicy ssamjang pulled pork. Throw in toppings like Sriracha sauce, lime crema, cilantro, sesame seeds, and two kinds of slaw and it's a party. Everything looked inviting, so I ordered two sets of three tacos for $9 each.

TaKorean's steak and tofu tacos we're good and I could see them expanding the shop into something bigger. I necessarily wouldn't crave their tacos, but there is no way I could visit Union Market and not buy one.

The Korean flavor is unique and whatever they caramelize the tofu needs to be a topping. Their two biggest hurdles is that I wish their spicy stuff was spicier and the double corn tortilla didn't overpower the Korean flavor. Honestly, I would encourage you to load your taco with a lot of toppings. Don't hold back if you want flavor. Also, I didn't realize that they had rice and I bet adding rice to your meat taco would be amazing.

My rating for TaKorean's tacos: 3.5 tequila shots

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Good news! I have finished our Taco Map and added a button link to the top menu. I will continue to updated it during my taco adventure.

Currently I have divided DC's Taco Joints into three sectors and the map symbols that I'm using are Pins, Circles and Stars.

"Pins" are Taco Joints that I need to visit. Please let me know if I'm missing a place.

"Circles" are places where I have been and clicking on them should reveal their Tequila Shot rating.

"Stars" are Bonus Taco Joints that are not on the official list, because they have odd hours or are only open during the Spring/Summer. You will still get bonus points for visiting these places, but don't feel guilty for skipping them.

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Among the cozy bar scene of Glover Park sits Surfside. It’s an island themed casual fast food restaurant with an addicted to Bob Marley. Despite it’s college vibe with a full bar in the back, I really liked the atmosphere. Plus Surfside is often mentioned to me in taco conversation, so I was excited to check it out. The way you place an order at Surfside is kind of unique in the DC taco scene. There are different kinds of menu sheets to fill out, which makes it easy for you to custom build your perfect taco. That night I was more inclined to pick one of their pre-made options, but it’s still a nice feature. All of their taco specials are named after islands, but in general they come in a flour or corn tortilla with grilled chicken, shrimp, steak, veggies, blackened fish or pork. Jordana, who was joining me for her second Bill of Tacos visit, ordered the blackened fish tacos and I had the Cabo San Lucas. It’s two grilled steak tacos in flour tortillas with grilled poblano peppers, red onions, cilantro, guacamole and lime sour cream for $10.95. The steak in my tacos was savory and I liked the grilled peppers, but the best part about Surfside tacos is their size. These tacos are HUGE and at $5 per taco you are definitely getting more than your money’s worth in meat. These tacos are so overstuffed that I ate the first half of the contents with a fork and I still could barely eat the rest of the taco with my hands. Honestly I don’t think I could even eat three Surfside tacos, because it’s a messy struggle just to eat one. Maybe a taco can be too big if you have to beat it into submission first. Overall, Surfside probably has one of the best blackened fish tacos in DC. Unfortunately they are also very oily and probably should be drained longer. The fish quickly soaked through the tortilla, which forced Jordana to use a fork. Anytime you have to use a fork to eat the taco it ruins the whole experience. The devil really is in the details. My rating for Surfside’s tacos: 3 tequila shots

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Shout out to Dave and Brandon for eating tacos with me tonight in Eastern Market. Dave likes his tacos to be full of flavor.

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I would like to thank Paul B. Jones for bringing his camera to the State of the Taco party and taking some great shots. What a fun night!

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On a Sunday evening I had my second taco party appropriately named the State of the Taco Address. Originally I was suppose to be half way through my taco list, but I had only reached the 35% mark and the list was still growing. Every week I was hearing about a new spot that I needed to check out. It's true, DC's growth rate is ridiculous. Well this time around we had three volunteer chefs. Texas native and editor of luri & wilma magazine Charlie Heck who made us fried tacos. Bartender and beer master Ben Matz brought smoked beef chuck to line our tacos with. Last but not least photographer and new DC resident Paul B. Jones whipped together some guacamole and homemade flour tortillas. As our guest watched the Olympics coverage, our chefs took turns preparing their tacos for consumption. Watching Charlie fry her tacos and walk me through the whole process was pretty cool. It was a family recipe that she toned down a little for us non-Texan folk.

Before the dinner bell was rung, I gave a little speech about what I have learned so far. Here are my top five talking points:

Fajita tacos are soft tacos, but not all soft tacos are fajita tacos.

Use two corn tortillas or don't use them at all.

A good taco usually has radish as a topping.

Bean paste or melted cheese make for a great adhesive for your tacos.

Vegetarian tacos need a base ingredient. It can't just be a bunch of toppings in a tortilla.

It was a really fun night and a good amount of people came by. Plus the tacos were delicious and may have been better than our first party tacos. Charlie's fried tacos, which we nicknamed "fracos" to her dismay, rocked our world. Some shop in DC need to try this. Even now I'm still drooling over Ben's smoked beef chuck. His smoker is homemade, but it works magic and I'm so grateful that he brought enough for seconds. Paul's tortillas were a gift. The addition of almond flour really sweetened their taste and they blew the store bought tortillas off the table.

I appreciate our chefs for stepping up to the challenge. You guys rock and I'm already looking forward to the next taco party.

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Eric’s Oh Crap I Want Some Steak Tacos

The tacos were so good at our Presidential Tacoration party that I have asked our chefs to share their recipes. Eric of Boobs Bacon Bourbon has kindly sent us his recipe for his steak tacos. Try it out and feel free to send him a shout out if you like it.

ERIC'S "OH CRAP I WANT SOME STEAK TACOS" TACO RECIPE

INGREDIENTS:

1 – 2 pounds of steak, cheap cut, fatty

One medium onion

Garlic

Cilantro

Olive Oil

Salt

Cumin

Limes

Black pepper

White corn tortilla

Lettuce, tomato, whatever salsa you want

PREPARATION:

• Cut steaks into thin strips or small cubes.

• Chop onions, garlic and cilantro.

• In a bowl, combine above ingredients with drizzles of olive oil, salt & pepper, and a dash of cumin, and squeeze lime juice into it. Toss together.

• Let it sit for 15 – 20 minutes.

COOKING:

• Heat pan with olive oil medium high.

• Drain some of the juices sitting at the bottom of the bowl of your steak that’s marinating.

• When the pan is hot enough, put the steak mixture into the pan and brown the meat.

• Once browned, turn the heat to medium-low, and cover the pan partially.

• Let it bubble and simmer for about 20 minutes or longer. The longer it simmers the more tender the meat will get.

• Turn oven to Broil. Put tortillas in a baking sheet. Broil about two minutes on each side.

• Take meat off the heat. Serve with lettuce, tomatoes, extra cilantro and/or salsa as you like. 

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I have not been to a lot of Taco Tuesdays so far for Bill of Tacos, but I still heart this shirt. You can buy I Taco Tuesdays by Sean Naylor for $15 on shirtwoot.

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Our final stop of the day was Pica Taco the home of the El Toro Burrito Challenge. This location is kind of a secret, because who really hangs out on the corner of 14th street and Florida? Even though this is PT's second location in DC the quality of their Mexican food does not suffer unlike some other restaurants. PT has a great taco menu. You can order soft or crunchy tacos with barbacoa (beef), carnitas, lengua (tongue), pork or chicken for $2.25 each. Yet the chorizo and the fish tacos are $2.75, which is still a great deal. Since most of us we're nearing a full stomach, we ordered our last round of tacos and I got the barbacoa and chicken to end on a high note. Most of PT's tacos seem to be made Mexican style except for the chicken, but all of them were delicious. Especially the lengua taco that Jarryd let me try. It's definitely worth ordering at least one. Overall, PT's tacos WILL definitely quench your taco thirst. My rating for Pica Taco's tacos: 4 tequila shots

What I have leaned on this Saturday taco tour is that the perfect number is 4. You need 4 people and 4 taco joints. This way you can pair up to split taco platters and you can trade off on who pays for what. Drinking and eating at every stop does take it's toll earlier than you think. Well I would like to thank the guys for spending their Saturday with me eating tacos. Great conversation and drinks always pair well with delicious tacos.