El Primero Bar & Grill

El Primero Bar & Grill is a somewhat new addition to the Van Dorn Plaza, situated in the back corner behind Taco Bell. The hubs has been super curious about this place and has been wanting to check it out for quite some time. We came here for a later dinner, and I was super surprised when I walked in — the main dining area was pretty chic and sophisticated, with a separate dining room to the left through French doors, and the rest with white table cloth and nice lighting. We were greeted right away and were able to choose a table. The menu itslf isn’t that extensive, offering lunch and dinner options, including items such as Smoked Salmon, ceviche, and grilled NY steak. A complimentary basket of warm crispy tortilla chips are solved with a housemade salsa (this was a bit too watery for my taste); however, as an appetizer, I tried their Chile con Queso — this was literally one of the best chile con queso dip I’ve had! It was creamy, cheesy, and had the right consistency, and just totally delicious with the tortilla chips! Yum! I could have eaten just jugs of this dip! For our main entrees, I had the Chimichanga, which came with your choice of a meat filling (I opted for beef), a side of small mixed greens, sour cream, rice, and refried beans. The chimichanga itself was a nice generous size, but the filling was more tomato-​based; it tasted like a beef chili of some sort. It definitely tasted better with the guacamole and the sour cream. The rice was forgettable, and the beans were okay. The hubs had an order of the Fajitas, San Antonio-​style (this came with tail-​on deveined shrimp, beef, and chicken. The shrimp was pretty tasty, as they were simple and seasoned well. I also enjoyed the strips of steak with the sauteed onions and peppers. Mr. Carlos, the owner, was very sweet and accommodating, and Ricardo, the server, had a great sense of humor and made sure that everything was satisfying. I’d love to come back and try out their other entrees, such as the Smoked Salmon, the Taco Salad, as well as their desserts. They seem to have HH as well with a well-​stocked bar. Great little find in the Landmark area!
+best chile con queso dip!
+complimentary chips and salsa
+friendly service: D
+located in the Van Dorn Plaza

Great food! Clean place, parking is not crowded. Everything is great!!! I’ll recommend this restaurant to my friends!!!

FANTASTIC!!!
This place is amazing my daughter, my God daughter and I wanted to grab a bite and not wait in a long line this place is amazing the chips and homemade salsa excellent!!!
The queso dips an chip are incredible we each ordered a toco salad yummy!
We will be here again!!! I can’t wait!!!

Just bad all around. I went because of the reviews. Margarita was crappy (too sweet), spinach dip was cold, and the service was slow even though there were only three tables with people in the entire place. Maybe the food is good. I didn’t have an entrée. But why would I based on the appetizer?

This place is a little gem in a haystack. I found this place because it was only 5 minutes from my hotel and let me tell u! I am so glad I came ! When I first walked in it was slightly dead at about 6pm on a Tuesday but the staff welcomed me regardless. Sat at the bar and was happy to hear I walked in at happy hour ! I ordered a lemon drop and Delmy at the bar made it to perfection meaning lots of vodka !! I also got the ceviche which I was very very impressed. My Peruvian grandma used to make me ceviche all the time and this is so damn close I almost teared up ! Oh my lanta I almost ordered another round for 6 $! Also got the tacos and tortilla
Soup. Both very good. I will definitely return. The best part about having great food is it being served by great people. Carlos and Delmy are the best !

We were here for dinner two days ago before I left to go back home. I usually use Unilocal to help me find great places to eat and it usually never disappoints! We went to Safeway in the same shopping center to do some grocery shopping. In the car it was my turn to Unilocal a place for dinner and this place caught my eye with its ratings and reviews. Briefly read over it and showed pics to my boyfriend and he said it sounded great to him. Directions were 3 minute walk and I didn’t see it anywhere. My boyfriend turned around and saw that it was behind where we parked so we just got out and walked lol.
We were greeted and sat down right away. It wasn’t too busy but it was busy for only having one person run the place out front. Service was great. Order was taken and food came out in a timely matter. Water was always refilled and we were checked up on here and there. At that moment there was 5 other full tables that were having dinner or just placed their orders too. Again it was just one person working out front by themselves and we weren’t disappointed with the service at all! He did a great job and food was good. We were definitely full and had some left overs to take home due to shareable portions. Definitely will come back there again next time I visit.

Great food and service! Had the guacamole and chicken enchiladas. Food was fresh and full of flavor!!! Impressive list of beers and wine. Great décor, cool and relaxed ambiance. A hidden gem and definitely one of my new fav spots that I’ll be headed back to!

Stopped in for lunch after a work meeting in the area and got the soft chicken taco on flour tortilla. It was excellent, three tacos piled high with juicy, delicious chicken. The salsa with the chips is excellent as well.

This is the best place in Alexandria great food and excellent service they have very and very good happy hour they have good appetizer for half price and mix drink to. the happy hour are 4 to 7 p.m.

El Primero is a charming new local restaurant with great Mexican food and an impressive wine list. The owner is wonderful and has put a lot of care and hard work into making this a wonderful neighborhood establishment. Great quality, the guac is the best around and the prices are very reasonable!

The service was top shelf. Everything my husband and I had was excellent… great flavor, cooked right, nice portions and presentation. This has become top spot for dining when we are in the area

Great atmosphere and music, good service. Food very fresh and tasty. Tortilla soup and shrimp appt excellent!

The place was clean, the food was delicious and the waiter was on point! I don’t remember his name, but I was there on Sat, May 3 around 5p. It was just one waiter, ask for that guy. LOL I would def go again when I’m on that side of town.

It’s about time West End Alexandria got a nice little place like this! The 4 of us stopped in Sunday for lunch and sadly, we were the only people there.
Husband and I had Fajitas and the other couple had Chicken Enchiladas. Wow! Yummy and fresh. The guacamole was phenomenal. The menu is lovely, not too big and not too small.
We had the Flan for dessert and it was the best I’ve ever had.
We had thought this was a Mexican place but it’s not. It has lots of American food, some Bistro food, etc.
Going back!

Foodies, Veggie people, Countrymen BEWARE!
Read the five star reviews very carefully. I only give one star reviews and five star. There were a few good points, but in the end a miserable experience. This is most likely another ethnic restaurant MASQUERADING as a Latin or Mexican restaurant /​American Grille. It’s wrong on almost every level. With so many excellent restaurants in the area WHY OH WHY would you come here… Before I share my utter disappointment with this brand spanking new restaurant, let me mention the (few) positives first.
1. Food is very FRESH. Guacamole, chips, grilled veggies (oh yeah, we are Vegan)
2. Service was EXCELLENT and we had our pick of the tables. (Nearly Empty)
3. Décor is MODERN as with a new restaurant.
4. The bar looks nice. It was deserted too.
Here’s how this place went from an unrated (by me) three star down to a one star. Remember I only give five and one star reviews. The humanity…
1. We arrived at 6:30 pm with the outside temp 12 degrees and windy. Not a misprint, this is «that week» of cold temps. The inside temperature from the single entrance door made us nearly keep our coats on. Had to be 45 degrees with gusts from the front door opening and closing. Leaky from the outside.
2. Noisy. Health club and kickboxing located upstairs (NO PARKING anywhere). SOUNDS LIKE A BOWLING ALLEY IS UPSTAIRS. NO KIDDING. Barbells dropping every sixty seconds. Boompa. Boom. Boom. Boomba. Bump Bump. Barely tolerable. Even if the food was inspirational.
3. Watery salsa in a huge bowl with few chips. Unfortunately, made by a chef who has NEVER tasted Latin or Mexican food. Consistency of soup, right out of the fridge, and impossible to eat on chips. I dripped it on my sleeves and shirt.
4. The expensive guacamole dip appetizer was also spiced and made by a person who has NEVER tasted guacamole from any Mexican or Latin restaurant. This cannot be a recipe by a Latin person. Presentation looked good though.
5. The AVERAGE price for an entrée is OVER $ 20 Dollars. The menu features seafood, beef and other meats. Salads etc. Nothing interesting or innovative. They had Caesar salad. This is boring grille food. Priced at DOUBLE the value. Not an exaggeration.
6. We ordered veggie fajitas with no cheese and sour cream. The hot skillet contained colorful yellow peppers, squash, CARROTS? and onions. No spicing at all. Just grilled veggies and a strange aftertaste from the grill or plate. DO NOT ORDER THIS. We paid $ 16 each for two orders… (I hate myself now for being suckered.) Carrots in a fajita is a CRIME. Tortilla was decent.
7. This gets a separate listing. The fajita condiments were beans (like an Indian cook tried to make refried beans) WRONG spicing. Rice was not Latin rice. The guacamole (see above) Pico de gallo looked right, spiced wrong. YOU“VE NEVER TASTED LATIN FOOD LIKE THIS. Wrong wrong wrong. On so many levels. (BUT FRESH.)
8. My wife’s tea was cold. The whole place was freezing so… Good selections of teas though… hmmm. (Perhaps because it’s an Indian or other ethnic restaurant masquerading as a latin restaurant?)
9. OVERPRICED. By a factor of 50% based on value. If you go on basis of food it’s more like 65%. I would have paid HALF and felt ripped off.
I really wanted to like this place after reading the glowing reviews. They are questionable and BOGUS in my mind. There isn’t a latin or a mexican person within TWO MILES of this place.
Foodies will RUN NOT WALK away from El Primero. I give the place an over under of less than six months before it closes. It depends on how much the owners need the tax write offs. They have new plates, tables, décor and a full bar. Other places in this shopping center and nearby with fantastic food are sitting empty. Savios is a five star restaurant with Zagat ratings with nicer décor and a great reputation. They sit three quarters empty and their food is to DIE FOR.
So…
If you want Latin food drive to La Tolteca on Duke Street or the Mexican place next to Total Wine. Save your money and dip into real Mexican food. My only interest is saving real foodies from this disgrace. Gordon Ramsey would smash all the tables and scream at the cooks. Trust me. If I’m wrong then I want to read a review by a foodie that can honestly refute me. I’m really bothered by this place. They are probably nice people, but that and $ 50 dollars gets me my wasted money back. Rats.
Given the other wonderful restaurants in the area that went out of business in the past several years. Don’t hold your breath. Wait… hold your breath, you won’t be waiting long. ZERO chance of survival. Go to the Kick Boxing place upstairs, Better food probably. Or Landmark Deli on Whiting in the apartment building. The Chinese lady there is a great cook and it will cost ten bucks for the entire meal tip included. Seriously.

Well if I could give zero stars I would. Was seated quickly, however it was almost 10 minutes before we were offered anything to drink even water. Once we finally ordered our drinks, the diet coke had a full lipstick print on the rim. When I asked to speak to the manager, it was another 10 minutes before he came out. It was then I realized the guy who got us our drinks WAS the manager. He also didn’t act the least bit worried about the glass. If this is how they serve their drinks… In dirty glasses… Then I wasn’t gonna stick around for the overpriced food. We got up and left. Stay away from this place unless hepatitis or herpes is something you’re interested in…

Service and space:
Very Clean! The utensils were shiny and of good quality. The service was on point, they were there to wipe the table and ask if we need more water. However, they wasn’t on us too much that they became ignoring. We walked in at random and was told we can sit where ever we what. I like the music they played, it made it a little romantic for my Husband and I with the «Here and Now» song.
Food:
I wasn’t expecting Mexican food, I thought it was going to be Puerto Rican till I looked at the menu. I tried the food anyway and it was «ok». The nachos were good and the guacamole was very fresh. I really think they messed up a little bit with the lamb because the flavor didn’t fit the lamb. However, it was cooked very well :)
To conclude, I wanted to do a review for them because it’s hard being a new restaurant and building a good reputation out of nothing. I think they are doing a great job and the manager seems eager to hear feedback on how they are doing.

Stuffed avocado is so fresh, light and a plethora of flavors. Must order! The grilled calamari is unlike anything I’ve had so good! Ceviche is so good. Great portions for the price! Tell Manny and Carlos that Erika sent you! Truly great people. So excited for this place.

It’s really more like 2 ½ stars. Great service! Very beautiful and modern layout. However, my BF and I had 2 Mexican plates and it was fair. That’s it, just fair. The prices are very steep also be prepared to pay.
It will be interesting to see how this business pans out and how the menu will change with time due to the side of town it’s on.

This is a great little find. They just opened and have a good selection of food. The salsa is fresh and had great taste. I had the rib eye and omg it was cooked perfect. They had a really good sauce on it. The steak was served with mashed potatoes and veggies. My wife had the fajitas and the chicken had good flavor. My dad had the chicken enchiladas he said they were really good, however I didn’t try them. After dinner we had chocolate mouse and flan and neither was a disappointment. The service was great, they are very attentive and friendly. They really go out of their way to make your meal enjoyable. The only downfall is that there is no diaper changing station in the men’s restroom.