97. Surfside
I have to confess something: I eat at Surfside all the time. Like, every other week. Yes, it’s in my neighborhood, but it is so worthwhile that I would drive across town and even parallel park for it. I’d even pay to park. And that’s saying something since I regularly take the bus for $1.25 and 40 minutes so I don’t have to pay $2 to park. And on that note, I have an announcement:
Cheapskates of D.C., I am one of you! Don’t hide behind your extra value meals any longer, for Monday night at Surfside is free seven layer dip night. As long as you get one alcoholic drink (a domestic beer will cost you $4), you get FREE DIP. I repeat: NO COST. Seven layers, no dollars! (Awesome slogan alert!) The D.C. Chapter of Cheapskates Anonymous will now hold their meetings at Surfside on Monday nights. Spread it around.
The truth is, the dip isn’t awesome but it is free so whatevers. And it’s got a big ol’ dollop of their wonderful lime sour cream on top, which was enough to make me happy. I went all out on this occasion and ordered more than just the free food, lucky for you. The worst part about Surfside is that there is just too damned much that I want to order. I am a huge fan of the shrimp tacos, so that was an obvious choice (more on that later), I also browbeat my friends in to ordering the pork tacos and the veggie quesadilla (since it came with guacamole and the aforementioned lime sour cream). I also forced them to order a side of guacamole, since you can’t be my friend if you can’t eat your way through half of Mexico. Here comes the tricky part—eating, nay ordering, at Surfside on a busy weeknight is not for the faint of heart. They make it as easy as humanly possible with the little cards you fill out with all the details on your order, but still, it’s busy and loud and the food just smells so good. So here’s the truth: I choked.
When I ordered (using the handy fill-in sheets) I ordered the fish tacos instead of the shrimp tacos. I got nervous! And the truth is, all that is on the fill-in sheets are the names of the tacos, not the explanations. So I ordered the Maui, which in actuality, is the fish. Well I can say from experience that the shrimp tacos are not to be missed. I was glad to try the fish though—I’ve been meaning to for a while. The fish is great but the truth is, if I’m feeling seafoody, I’m sticking with the shrimp. The fish aired on the side of bland, and had it not been for the corn salsa on top, I might not have liked it as much as I did. I do give them credit for having grilled fish instead of fried though. My tight(er) pants thank you. Next was the veggie quesadilla. This was definitely good (again, the lime sour cream and guac were great) but there are plenty of more exciting things on the menu. Usually, in my experience, veggie quesadillas can get pretty soggy with all the water from the spinach and mushrooms but these are nice and light and crispy. Finally, we got an order of the pork tacos which were (as my teen magazine editor friend likes to describe things) amazeballs! Amazeballs means good in case you don’t follow Miley Cyrus’ Twitter. The pork was tender and incredibly flavorful, and was served with a tangy pineapple salsa. Sad but true, shrimp tacos, I may have found a new love.
Does a counter service Mexican restaurant deserve to be one of the best restaurants in Washington? Who knows. But I can’t think of a much better way to spend a casual meal than sitting on the roof deck at Surfside with a drink, some tacos and some friends. Speaking of drinks, there are a plethora of Mexican food friendly beers down at the bar, but I decided this time to have a margarita to go with the sunny weather. That, sadly, was a disappointment. Stick with a Corona and stay a happy camper. Ole!
