Gringos & Mariachis — Restaurant in Bethesda

The food was good and drinks were great, but I’m rating it 3 stars because the hostess was very rude to me.

So Gringos and Mariachis does not take reservations, however on their website there is a contact form and phone number if you have a larger party. I called around 11 am this morning and a women picked up and I told her that I noticed on their website that they don’t do reservations but may be able to for larger parties and asked if I could make one for tonight. She proceeded to ask how many people would be coming and I told her 7. She asked me what time which I responded 6 pm and then she asked me if I wanted inside or outside seating and I said outside then I gave her my name. Later when my family arrived at the resturant I spoke to a hostess different from the women I spoke to on the phone (she had long black hair) and she told me they don’t take reservations. I told her that I saw on the website that for larger parties they’ll take reservations if you call and she continued to tell me that she was there when I called and she remembered hearing that the women I spoke to told me that they cannot take reservations. This really confused me because not once did the women I spoke to on the phone say anything about not being able to do a reservation. Like I said before the women on the phone asked me how many people, what time, indoor or outdoor, etc., so it was extremely confusing. I continued to insist that I spoke to someone who confirmed the reservation and the girl I spoke to denied saying no. This was really embarrassing for me because it was my moms birthday and I wanted to do something nice for her because our whole family is never together anymore and suddenly I thought that I had ruined our dinner plans. Then another hostess interjects saying that they can still seat us without a reservation and then she shows us to a table. The situation was just so odd to me because I don’t understand why the hostess with black hair would try to make a big deal over me thinking we had a reservation when they could still seat us regardless. Like I said the food was fine and the waitress we had (good stacked hoops) was amazing but the one hostess just rubbed me the wrong way when there shouldn’t have been an issue in the...

My family and I are big fans of the Pietrobono brothers. We've been patrons of their Italian restaurant, Olazzo, Silver Spring location for years. So it pains me to only give 2 stars to their new restaurant, Gringos & Mariachis.

I was disappointed in my recent lunch experience at G&M. There was a large piece of cartilage in the tamal which gave me a quesy feeling. Well that and seeing the man who earlier had been cleaning the women's restroom without gloves and then to see him expediting food to other tables made me feel more ill.

Appearance is everything. Gloves should be worn when cleaning a restroom. Yet they were not.

My shrimp tacos looked good but the corn tacos were cold. So cold they cracked while folding to eat them.

Some of the vegetables were very noticeably old too. They did not taste fresh either. The shrimp were warm, tasty and nicely seasoned. The ice tea was refreshing.

If not for the chunk of cartilage in the tamal - I would have rated it highly on both taste and presentation.

While eating I noticed tables and a chair blocking the emergency exit in the dining room.

I had to change tables because they were wobbly. Second table was unbalanced as well.

Service was friendly and fast.

Decor was fun. Inviting bar. Looks like they have a very good happy hour.

Yet my lunch experience wasn't remarkable in a positive way. In my opinion, there were several signs from cold tacos, to chicken cartilage, to unhygienic practice of at least 1 employee, to a blocked emergency exit that there is a lack of concern for patrons by employees/management and very little attention to detail in various aspects of managing this particular restaurant.

All of this was disappointing. I doubt...

I've been to Gringos about 4 times now (3x for happy hour, 1x for dinner) and I've overall had a great experience!

Highlights: -$6 drinks at HH 3-6pm on weekdays -$6 apps at HH (my favorite are the Sopes) -Ceviche for dinner app -Torta de milanesa for dinner -great mixed drink selection -some good beers on tap ( I stick to basic Blue Moon)

I'll start off with saying my favorite part of the restuarant are the vibes. It's a romantic and lively setting on the inside, with a bit more of a friendly and talkative atmosphere on their patio outside. The music is also great with lots of Bad Bunny and a few throwbacks. If you come for HH, I recommend sitting outside! If you come for a date, do inside! I've also always have had great servers here that check on us frequently.

I came just yesterday for dinner for the first time. I was amazed by the Chicken Milanesa Torta. It's a very traditional Mexican sandwhich that you can't find just anywhere. The black beans with the breaded chicken was the perfect combo to end my night. My only small complaint is that they used the wrong bread. It's supposed to be made with bolillo bread or pan francés. Also, it was a little pricey but that's typical for the DMV.

I will definitely continue to come back to Gringos as much...