El Azteca

Pretty good authentic Mexican food.  Great specials.

This will be my first review for El Azteca, but I've been here a few times. Over all every time I've been here that service and the food has been equally good. We had a party of 12 and the host staff were great in trying to get us seated in a timely fashion. Once we were seated I ordered the Camarones(shrimp) a la Mexicana. I wasn't sure about the combination of shrimp broccoli,mushrooms but I think the garlic-cilantro butter pulls it all together. The shrimp were well coooked and flavors work well together. This was definitely one the best dishes I've had here and I would recommend anyone looking for some mexican food to try it.

Does MD have any decent Mexican food?  I'm about to find out.

Since being in MD and when I lived here previously I found that good Mexican food was almost unheard of in this area.  A few people have recommended El Azteca with the caveat "It's not what your'e used to in California"

I'd have to agree with that.

I'm giving El Azteca a solid 3-ish.  Okay, especially since there's basically no other Mexican food around.  I don't think these guys would do very well in Southern California, but we're not in So Cal are we.

First the good.  The margaritas were cheap and VERY strong!  The servers were super nice, albeit a bit slow for my taste.  We were seated quickly despite the place being packed (always a bonus when you show up hungry on a Friday night).  It was also very munchkin friendly.

Now, the not so good.

The food was just okay.  The munchkins had enchiladas and burritos and seemed to be okay with them.  The SO had soft tacos.  Unfortunately, the beef in the tacos was ground beef.  I don't mean to be a jerk here, but I took a bit and I would rather have had taco bell.  I say that with no hyperbole.  I had an enchilada with all the trimmings.  It was okay.  Basically okay, but the cheese was a little off.

Let's be clear.  This place is far and away the best Mexican food we've had....in Maryland.

I'll be back and try some of the higher end stuff on the menu and probably a few of those smokin' margaritas.