Ever since I was a kid, I would always pass by Don Goyo’s Mexican and Salvadorian restaurants in Columbia Heights, and I would notice how they didn’t have many visitors. Because of this, I would never ask my family to visit. Now that much time has passed since I was a kid, I decided to go and try it out.
My dad and sisters decided to accompany me too as they had never tried it before either. My older sister had been to the restaurant before and said the food was really good. When we first arrived at the restaurant, located conveniently in the strip mall across the street from The Dive Sports Bar & Gill, I noticed that we were the only people there. It was around dinner time too, so I was surprised to see barely any customers. We were greeted by an employee who took us to a table. She then gave us a menu to look at with a variety of food offerings ranging from tacos, tortas, burritos, seafood and so much more.
We were given tortilla chips with salsa as we were choosing what to order. As all of us were curious about the most popular dish, which according to the staff was the birria tacos, we ordered them to see what the hype was about. My older sister ordered Desayuno Salvodorien. The wait time was about 15 minutes which is decent, but considering that we were the only ones in the restaurant, it felt like longer.
While we waited, we observed the restaurant’s interior, which has an old-school look with brick tiles and wooden chairs and tables. There are also Salvadorian and Mexican flags hung up on the ceilings and a speaker playing traditional music. There is a big Salvadorian painting on one of the walls too, which is particularly pretty. In addition, one of the walls is painted like the Salvadorian flag, and another like the Mexican flag.
When the food finally came out, we were given tips on how to eat the birria tacos: put some lime on the taco and the rhubarb before dipping either in a chile-based sauce. It came with three tacos filled with shredded meat and onions, and cilantro as a garnish. Overall the tacos were a decent size and the dip and lime accompaniments were a highlight.
As someone with a low spice tolerance, the spice of the dip and taco was a perfect amount. It wasn’t spicy enough to need water but wasn’t spiceless either. The rhubarb and lime complemented the tacos well too. Everything together was such a good blend of flavor. As I was eating, I was afraid of the taco falling apart, but honestly, I had no problem with it. The taco shell didn’t leak any of the dips and, most importantly, didn’t break. One of the best things about Don Goyo’s birria tacos is that they have a variety of different flavors combined within it. I would say that the only downside of it is that they went a bit overboard with the cilantro. Overall, I would rate the taco an 8.5/10. I can see why this is the most popular dish, but there was much more to try on the table still.
“It was delicious and worth the mess on my hands!” Danchau Le (10) said. “The sweet plantains could’ve been sweeter, but overall I think the plate was delicious!”
Our server Angie Castro reported that, despite appearances during our particular visit, the business was going well and that there were quite an amount of people that came in per day. She said that on average the restaurant would get 135 customers that dine in per day and 30 to 35 customers that order take-out.
Overall, while residents of Heights often speak of La Casita, which is also good, I’d recommend trying out the local business Don Goyo. The restaurant is rated 4.7/5 stars on Google, which I agree with. Next time when you or your family are thinking about eating some Mexican/Salvadorian food, consider Don Goyo Mexican and Salvadorian restaurant at 2301 37th Pl NE in Columbia Heights.
