Restaurant Finder

El Aguila

Cuisines: Tex-Mex Salvadoran Neighborhood: Silver Spring

Based on 4 reviews.

Address	8649 16th St., Silver Spring, MD 20703
Phone	(301) 588-9063

Rater Comments

These comments express the opinions of individual Restaurant Raters, not those of Washington City Paper.

Review by maryjjoplin on July 29, 2008

The brunch buffet was excellent! They make omelettes to order right in front of you! There is something there for everyone. If you want Salvadorian/Mexican or american, they had it. Everything from eggs and bacon to stuffed salman (which was fantastic) My sister and I went with our 3 kids and they were so nice to the children! It's a great place with a great staff!

Review by Spartansfan on January 7, 2007

This has turned into a regular favorite for us. The service is much, much better than it used to be, certainly better than that described in the City Paper review. It's a large, clean, open, well appointed, authentic and friendly restaurant with a considerable menu, good food and service and reasonable prices. Plenty of parking right outside the door, too. What's not to like? Good place to go with friends. When they have entertainment, it's both good and unobtrusive. It's also an AFI Silver Theater discount restaurant, so it's a great place for AFI members to visit and save $$. Highly recommended.

Review by Caroline on June 7, 2005

A slightly more upscale restaurant than you might expect from its location in a strip mall with a Jerry's, El Aguila offers a huge range of Mexican and Salvadoran food along with a few items of more complex provenance--crab cakes, anyone? A vegetarian quesadilla tastes like your standard throw-in-some-vegetables sop to non-meat-eaters, and a bean burrito is gushy with refritos. Still, the place his plenty to recommend it: Prices are reasonable, service is slow but thorough, and the chips arrive warm and crispy.

Review by mcclive on June 1, 2005

Relax, you’re going to be here awhile. El Aguila subscribes to the mañana school of customer service. Food and drinks come whenever they get around to it, and you’d better signal for the check ten minutes before you really need it. And scrutinize the bill carefully, because that happy hour margarita will somehow be listed at full price. Despite the service, El Aguila has the feeling of an unperturbed neighborhood respite where families hang out. The food is mostly Central American, so don’t order the tacos off the Side Items menu unless you want to overpay for a cheap item. Pupusas, however, are a good bar snack, with the accompanying flavored shredded cabbage. Better order the beans and cheese or the pork, as the plain cheese has little taste beyond grease. The tacos over on the entrée menu are a different story. You’ll get a lot of food, and it won’t be cheap greasy taco meat. Try the roasted beef or pork tacos, or to be quite regional get the tongue, which always reminds me of food from snack trucks that park on the street in Hispanic neighborhoods. Tacos come topped with avocado slices and cilantro, a fresh taste that cuts the meat nicely. Other entrées are done well but may not finish strongly. Crab cakes taste different from the Maryland favorite but are soft and flavorful. Marisco saltado comes with shrimp, scallops, and, strangely, french fries, in a light tomato-based sauce and somehow it all works quite well. Most entrées come with plain rice and plain steamed vegetables, weak accompaniments. Hungry types get a plato, a huge assortment of meats and sides meant for two but are ordered frequently by fathers dining with their families, who eat the whole thing by themselves. Friday nights bring live entertainment, solo singers who mix Hispanic favorites with ballads from the 70s. Whoo, whoo, whoo, feelings.