El Limeño

[from Siobhan Roth]

Hi Petworth neighbors, I'm happy to report that El Limeño, the Salvadoran restaurant on the corner of 2nd & Upshur, has opened, and it's terrific! We ate there last night, we had tacos - one each of beef, chicken, and shrimp - that were fat and tasty. Also a cheese pupusa, perhaps the yummiest I've ever eaten, and at $1.75 for a six-inch disk with a big serving of curtido on the side, an incredible bargain.

Tablecloths, cloth napkins, and a half-dozen chandeliers set on dim give the place a pretty cozy feel. Also, at least on weekends, the kitchen is open LATE. We walked in at 11:15pm and weren't the last customers to order food.

Comments

[Traveling Nibblers]

We ate at El Limeno on Thursday and it was just great. The nachos were possibly the best I've ever had and the skirt steak - to die for. The chicken fajitas were so-so, but I think that it's only because I was comparing them to everything else we ordered. Even our waitress was great. We will DEFINITELY be supporting this local spot and will be introducing it to our non-Petworthy friends.

[Angel]

I'm there at el Limeno weekly. The food is exceptional. The service is exceptional and Roger is the best!!

[GOB]

Yeah, like people on a neighborhood blog would make up fake names...COME ON!

[Michael Bluth]

Obviously, you are not a golfer.

[OSN]

I'm sure El Limeno is great, and I plan on visiting it very soon. However, does anyone else have the suspicion that some of these posts were posted by the same person with fake names. See: Dr. Tobias Funke, Lucille Bluth, Barry Zukercorn and bob loblaw. If you are real people, I do love your names.

[Markus]

In all seriousness, I ate there for the first time last night, and anyone who cares about good food in our neighborhood is being a bad neighbor if they have not been to El Limeno. The pupusas were great and the beef enchilada I had was like 10 levels of besteverness.

Go Go Go. to El Limeno.

It should be crowded on Friday and Saturday nights.

[mjbrox]

Honestly, the food is great! Very fresh, tasty and filling.

Also, if you are a big Tequila fan, it seems like the Owner (Rodger) gets something new every week.

I still dream of day when Upshur is filled with thriving businesses.

[Dr. Tobias Funke]

I have not yet been to El Limeno, but my good friend and Coach Carl Weathers tells me the fajitas are succulent.

[Lucille Bluth]

They've got all my brands at the bar! I highly recommend the chicken quesadilla, and a vodka rocks.

[Barry Zuckercorn]

I have to agree with my colleague Bob Loblaw that El Limeño is great. I like that the owner makes an effort to remember repeat customers. They seem to do a pretty good takeout business.

[bob loblaw]

My wife and two kids just had a great meal at el limeno. the only diappointing part was the lack of people eating there on a saturday night. if we want to rejuvenate Upshur we need to support those willing to risk coming in. Eat!

[Gabe]

My wife and I ate at Limeno last night, and it was excellent. I am so happy to have a restaurant like that in Petworth. I will definitely be back again.

[AJS]

Just ate a really wonderful dinner at El Limone and will definitely be going back. I encourage everyone to stop by and try it out.

[Toby]

I'm going to try El Limeño, as I know and love Salvadoran food. For those of you who aren't acquainted with it, it is similar to Mexican food in many ways yet not as spicy. El Torogoz has great carne asada, which I get as a carry out. Salvadoran tamales, especially corn ones, are great, called tamal de elote.

And neighbors against a restaurant? Están locos? I wish this new restaurant good luck and bienvenidos a Petworth.

[Bill]

Actually Torta Bakery is (will be?) down the block, close to the corner of 3rd at 225 Upshur. I assume that's the one we're talking about. Not sure why he (Ken Rubotzky) hasn't opened yet, but his saga of navigating the treacherous waters of DC permitting is in an earlier thread on this blog.

[Toby Hall]

An ex-coworker and I ate there yesterday for lunch. The food was good, the place looked really nice, and Roger, the owner, was very gracious. I really hope he makes it. The disappointing thing was - we were the only two people there during lunch.

PS to petworthian - according to Roger, the bakery is next door and its owners are still working to get it opened...

[petworthian]

Whatever happened to the bakery that was trying to open up there? Is El Limeno in that same space?

[AJS]

Vacant buildings are supposed to be assessed at a very high tax rate, in order to promote productive use. Unfortunately, a review of DC's online tax records shows that many such vacant properties in our neighborhood are not assessed that way, and indeed carry very low appraisals.

I agree that the permitting issue seems to be a problem. If people have a valid gripe with a proposed liquor license, I have no problem with that license being held up until the issues are resolved, or denied if they cannot be.

Sadly, however, some believe *every* proposed license is a problem, regardless of the circumstances. It would be useful to know if there are other proposed licenses in Petworth that are being held up in this way; we could try to demonstrate community support for those projects.

In the meantime, let's go to El Limeno and show our support.

[Mjbrox]

We ate there last night. The food and service was great, although there are still some kinks in service being worked out.

The owner came to our table and we spoke, he has been working hard for many months to get all of his permitting. Apparently there were some neighbors opposing the restaurant and they gave him a hard time.

What frustrates me is that, there are only two things that keep the 100 block of Upshur from being filled with stores instead of boarded up windows.

DC Permits - Getting the proper permits seems to be a nightmare, we saw this with the Bakery and we are hearing about it again. Quality restaurants like Domku and Temperance had problems getting liquor licensees and I can only imagine it is holding back other restaurants from opening in our community.

Properties For Sale - I have heard from more than one person that the empty stores you see empty have huge asking prices that are above Market value. From my observations, it seems like the owners are just waiting till they can cash out big. If that is the case Fine!, but I believe DC should impose strict regulations on how a vacant buildings are kept up. This would force the owners to sell the property instead of neglecting their property and creating a scar in our community.