- Personally, I don't eat Mexican food other than spaghetti.
Or lasagna.
- I'm Kimberly Kong
and I'm your DC host for "5 Buck Lunch."
I spent the last 14 years eating my way through the capital
and documenting it all on my food blog Nomtastic Foods.
So let me take you to the best spots in the capital
for cheap eats that are five bucks or less.
What's up guys?
I hope you're hungry 'cause we're back in The District
for another episode of "5 Buck Lunch."
This time we're in Columbia Heights,
an area that's known for its diverse food scene.
So if you're big into ethnic cuisines
like Laotian, Filipino, or Salvadorian
then this spot is for you.
I'm in the mood for some tacos right now,
but not just any regular tacos.
I'm taking you guys to my favorite place in the capital.
But first let's see what Washingtonians
have to say about tacos.
It's five bucks somewhere.
Let's go.
Do you think there's authentic Mexican food in DC?
- Definitely Mezcalero, El Sol downtown.
- How spicy do you take your tacos?
- Spiciest I ever had was ghost peppers
and I cannot do them.
- Oh my God, you tried ghost peppers?
That's insane!
- I tried one.
- I love everything spicy.
- Spicy? Like how spicy?
- I wanna try like the four-level spice.
- What if I told you
that there's an amazing Mexican restaurant
that has the best tacos you'll ever taste down the street?
- I love tacos.
- Oh you love tacos?
- I do love tacos.
- Yeah, so that's Mexican food, right?
So we all love tacos.
How many tacos have you killed in one sitting?
Have you eaten--
- Six.
- Six? OK, that's a lot, yeah.
Do you like hard or soft-shell tacos?
- Hard shell.
- Hard shells, OK .
- Soft tacos are the best.
- Oh yeah, absolutely.
If you had to say something to the people
who eat hard-shell tacos on the regular,
what would you say?
- Drop the hard shell eat a soft one a day.
- Yeah.
Welcome to Mezcalero.
If you didn't know about this place before
then you are welcome in advance.
Chef Solis and his sister Jessica opened up this place
in Columbia Heights to bring authentic,
but affordable Mexican food to the area
and they are killing the game.
All their tacos are $2.50 to $3 a pop
so you are getting serious bang for your buck.
Could you tell us a little bit about Mezcalero?
- Everything is made from scratch you know
the tortillas and all the meats, salsas.
- If you had to choose,
what are your top three favorite tacos?
- That's tough.
Well I love the chorizo taco, tinga taco,
and the shrimp taco.
I grew up with those kinda tacos, you know?
- So I have five dollars up my sleeve.
What should I get?
- Chorizo taco and a tinga taco, my favorite ones.
- OK, all right sounds like a plan.
Let's do it.
- Perfect, all right.
Here you go.
You have your chicken tinga taco and a chorizo taco.
OK, enjoy.
- Oh I can really smell that ancho pepper
which is dried poblano.
There's like a smokiness to it, like a smoky tomato sauce
and I have a feeling this one's gonna be
even spicer than the chorizo, oh my gosh.
So why don't we start with this chorizo one right now?
I'm gonna take a bite of this baby.
The chorizo is really special.
It's like tender, but really chewy,
in the best way possible.
Each bite it's like a flavor party in my mouth right now
it's like crazy.
And I really love how there's diced onion in there
'cause that elevates the texture tenfold
and creates a really nice contrast
to the chewiness of the chorizo.
Let's pick this baby up.
That chicken, it looks like it's gonna
just melt in my mouth.
And we have the two different kinds of cheeses,
the queso fresco and then we have sour cream
and cilantro on top.
Oh yeah, that has a kick to it.
That smoky tomato flavor that I was talking about
is really coming through strong.
This chicken coupled with this coolness
of the sour cream and the cheese is just phenomenal.
They have 15 different kinds of tacos here
so basically that means you have to get here every day
and try something new.
The best part?
They're all under five bucks
so they fit perfectly within my budget.
They also have 60 kinds of mezcal
so if you wanna get turnt,
you know where to come with all your friends.
I wanna destroy this and it's not gonna be pretty
so ya'll need to just get down here,
eat your tacos, and get out.
I hope you enjoyed this episode of "5 Buck Lunch."
Let me know what you thought of Mezcalero
by leaving a comment below
and make sure to subscribe, follow, share, and like.
Bye!