Lauriol Plaza

I didn’t realize, when my friends booked a dinner at Lauriol Plaza, that I had already been there once upon a time during my many visits to DC during the spring. I guess that shows the popularity of a no reservation establishment consistently packed most nights of the week. And I was happy to return to get a full dinner service run down of this very fun and boisterous Mexican institution. The occasion was a fun friend dinner with locals Jed and Kelly, with out of town guest of honor Annie. What better way to get Saturday night off to a good start with pitchers of margaritas, bottomless chips and salsa, queso and sizzling fajitas?

In fact, that was the entirety of our dining selections, because honestly, what more do you need? The pitchers of margs were great and go down easy. I also have a love/hate relationship with endless chips and salsa. I simple cannot stop eating the chips, which tends to leave me full for my main course. Oh well. The chips are tasty, restaurant style, large and covered in addicting salt. And just to make sure we over did it, the order of queso (i.e. melted nacho cheese in a bowl), was not necessary but hard to stop eating. That was surprising because it really wasn’t that interesting of a queso dish and seemed rather low budget, but tasty none the less. A Kelly favorite.

I was immediately drawn to the fajitas, and so Jed and I decided to split a large mixed fajita for two (chicken and steak) that comes with beans, rice, fixings and plenty of sizzling peppers. The portions are generous especially if you are determined to eat all of the sides. The combination of meat, peppers, rice and guacamole was very very good. It has the mark of authenticity and plenty of delicious flavors to keep you coming back for more even after you should have stopped. I thought the steak had a little more flavor than the chicken, but both were tasty.

That was all we ordered, besides another round of drinks. No unnecessary sides, starters or dessert. I’m sure other items are just as tasty, and if there was any doubt just take a look around the place to see how many large groups were gathered to celebrate birthdays, engagements and the like.  There might be better Mexican in the city with a less hectic environment, but the food is solid and the price is right for a good time.