Guapo's - Bethesda, MD

The bf and I haven't had Tex Mex (he likes to call it Texican) food in a while, so we decided to check out Guapo's since a friend recommended it. We've seen it many times driving by since it has an entrance on Wisconsin Ave and Woodmont Ave. There is metered street parking on Wisconsin and a metered garage across from the entrance on Woodmont Ave. The closest metro stop is Bethesda on the red line.

The restaurant is LITERALLY part of the Double Tree hotel. See the hotel rooms? You can see the swimming pool and rooms if you enter from Woodmont Ave, which we did. The entrance from Wisconsin Ave looks like a house!

On your way to the main dining room is their sun room area for dining.

This place is huge! You could never tell from the outside. There is another room for the bar area and another whole dining room. The decor is simple but warm.

I love fresh chips and salsa. The homemade salsa is chunkier than most I've tried at other restaurants.

The bf ordered the 'Combination Fajitas (Steak & Chicken with Mexican butter, guacamole, lettuce, pico de gallo, and sour cream)' for $15.95. It was a lot of food! He enjoyed it a lot because the meats were tender and flavorful. He wasn't sure what to do with the Mexican butter, so he didn't use it.

Mexican rice, a la charra beans and tortillas also came with the Combination Fajitas.

I ordered the 'Guapo's Combinations (Beef Enchilada, Chicken Tamal with Mexican rice, refried beans, guacamole, sour cream and pico de gallo)' for $10.95. You could actually see the meat and the sauces weren't too heavy. It was a delicious dish, though I thought the tamal was a bit mushier than I prefer.

We had a good time there as the food came out fast and the staff was nice. We found the food to be tasty, and maybe only a tiny step better than other local Tex-Mex places we've tried because nothing was overly greasy and appeared fresh. Our dinner was at a random hour, hence the empty dining room picture. Plenty of space for large parties of people. For weekday lunch, this location offers AYCE buffet 11:30am-2pm.

8130 Wisconsin Ave.
Bethesda, MD 20814
(301) 656-0888
www.guaposrestaurant.com/

Mi Rancho- Rockville, MD

The other week the bf and I were in the mood for some Tex Mex food and decided to hit up Mi Rancho in Rockville. We've been to their original location in Silver Spring, but since they opened another location in Rockville we figured we would check it out. This location doesn't seem to have outdoor seating whereas the Silver Spring location does.
It inhabits the former 'On The Border' building and has free parking on the front and side of the restaurant. The side is where Joe's Noodle House is located. If you were to take the metro, the closest stop would be Twinbrook on the Red Line.
As you can see there's a huge neon sign in front of the place, so you can't miss it from the road.

When you walk in there's a bar, and then the coolest thing ever, which is their tortilla machine! Some lady got really excited and asked one of the workers there if she could work the machine herself =) Basically a ball of dough is dropped into one side and it goes through and gets flattened and put through its oven and comes out ready to eat.

The place is big with lots of tables to accommodate large groups of people. The chandeliers were kinda cool, and overall it looked like a festive, but not over the top place.

Here is the other side of the restaurant with booths on the perimeter of the restaurant.

We were served salsa and chips as we waited for our meal. The salsa was mild and had a smoother consistency without many chunks of vegetables.

I'm a huge fan of really thin tortilla chips that are freshly made, so these were really good.

We didn't order an appetizer since we loaded up on the chips. What I didn't realize is we pretty much ordered the same dish, just with slight variations from the Platos Combinados part of the menu.

I ordered the 'Jalisco Platter- 2 Beef Enchiladas, 1 Chicken Taco, 1 Pork Tamale. Served with sour cream, lettuce and tomatoes' for $12.95. Everything was really good, however if I had to choose my favorite, it would be the enchiladas. Great filling of beef, onion and spices, and the melted cheese and sauce made it really good. Not to mention the tortilla it was made in wasn't mushy and still kept a great texture and flavor. I love pork tamales, however it was mostly corn meal without much meat, but it was still good.

The bf ordered the 'Laredo Platter- 2 Chicken Enchiladas, 1 Beef Taco, 1 Pork Tamale. Served with sour cream, lettuce and tomatoes' for $12.95. His enchiladas had a white cheese on top that went better with the chicken. He enjoyed his meal a lot and ate the entire thing! I took 1/2 mine back since they really give you large portions.

Our dishes came with a side of beans, which were really good when you added in the rice from the platter.

The service was super fast, which is great when you're starving, and the portions are huge! It's a great place for kids to come and be intrigued by the tortilla machine (every kid in there was standing and watching it work) and the prices are fair. It is a large space and we didn't have to wait to be seated.

Aside from the delicious food, "Mi Rancho Restaurant is a family operated restaurant that has been serving our customers since 1990, " which I think is great since I love it when small businesses can flourish in the day and age of national chains.

1488 Rockville Pike
Rockville, MD 20852
Website