I have mixed feelings about Mexican food. There’s the Mexican-inspired high end cuisine (yum), the super cheap authentic fare (yum) and the in-between (ick) where you feel like you’re overpaying for food that’s decent but not great, and not all that inventive either.
Well the other evening my friend Erin and I found ourselves out in Alexandria, VA. We were starving and knew we couldn’t make it back into the city. We just so happened to be in a very Hispanic area of Alexandria, so we decided to try one of the random little hole-in-the wall spots along Highway 1. GOOD CHOICE, ladies.
Tacos El Costalilla sure didn’t look like much from the outside. It was a run-down little place in a strip mall next to a Latin Grocery, an Asian Grocery, and an African Grocery (clearly this was an international area!). The tables were cheap diner tables and chairs, and there was no waiter service. The menu was above the counter with typical pictures of the food and prices. Ahhhh, the prices. $2.25 per taco? I don’t mind if I do!
The Menu above the counter
This was the real deal. I could feel it. And I was right.
I ordered three tacos, one with pork al pastor, one with carne asada and one with beef tongue. Now I grew up eating pickled tongue (it’s a Jew thing) so this didn’t seem all that bizarre to me, but Erin thought I was pretty adventurous. Her reaction was along the lines of “eww…if you want, then you go girl. Put that tongue in your mouth!” For her part, she ordered sopes with carnitas.
The sopes were phenomenal. I’d never had them before! Essentially thick corn tortillas similar to arepas, fried, and topped with cheese, bean, and meat. It was a great combo, and very filling. My tacos were more Spartan than I expected, just the meat on a couple of corn tortillas, but there was a whole buffet of toppings that you could add on top—onion, lettuce, salsas, cilantro, etc.
house made horchata
So the food gets tops scores, especially from a value perspective. The drinks scored equally high! Erin had some absolutely amazing house-made horchata (cinnamon rice milk for those unfamiliar). It was sweet and thick and delicious. They also had a full line of Jarritos sodas as well as homemade jugos frescos.
Overall rating: Good, authentic Mexican (not tex-mex!) at beyond reasonable prices. Two thumbs up.
Oh, and the tongue? It was the least impressive of the three tacos. I recommend the pork al pastor. It was by far the most flavorful of the three I tried!
taco with all the fixings
Tacos El Costalilla
7862 Richmond Highway
Alexandria, VA
(703) 704-9088
Highly recommend you try El Chilango taco truck, 14th and N Queen in Arlington. Very good Mexican tacos, the tongue is my favorite.