Tipicos Gloria Restaurant

This is a tiny restaurant with maybe 5 tables. The kitchen is visible from the front, and the hall is haphazardly packed with cooking supplies, take out boxes, etc.
We ordered the carne asada, and honestly, I’ve had better. The meat was tough and stringy, and the portion was small (but at $ 10 IDK what I expected). It’s a little out of the way for us — if I were in the area I would go back and try something different, but I would not drive 20 miles for their carne asada again.

Hole in the wall atmosphere. The staff is always very nice. Prices are about what you’d pay at chipotle for boring sub par food. The reason this place gets 5 stars is the food is amazing, haven’t tasted anything that is not delicious!
My favorites: tongue tacos, pasteles, tamale, chimichanga, baliadas… Really it’s probably all good.

Homely restaurant. Not too much space to seat. Chicken tacos and quesadilla were excellent. Kids enjoyed the different walkin restaurant for a change. They wanted to try something Mexican but not chipotle Mexican.
Chicken Tacos justified the visiting all the way from Fairfax.

An excellent hole in the wall!!! Food was awesome. Went there with my daughter, after she was insisting on going to bar taco… I persuaded (== strong armed) her to go to a hole in the wall place with me for Mexican food… Ordered tacos. 1 beef 1 chicken and 1 pork, also ordered plantains.
Food was amazing a really fresh taste to all the dishes. You could tell they cooked everything to order, no cutting corners.
During and after the meal my daughter kept complimenting how good and tasty the tacos were. Will try other dishes next time. Totally loved it.

this is a hole in the wall place that is deliciouso!
We came in and ordered at the counter where all the pictures were. it felt to hectic for me to choose on the spot. the captions were not in english.
but we saw some ppl come in later and take a seat and the server brings the menus to you which to me was much better. the food was amazing. I dont like chicken and I devoured their chicken tacos. will definitely be back.

Loved the fact that they have an extensive menu of cheap yummy food. I came for the lengua tacos and at $ 2.95 each its a steal. It was cooked to ordered, chopped up topped with avocado and pico de gallo on the side.
Not much seating area, around 5 tables .I shared a table with a stranger just to have a taste of this juicy beef lengua tacos. It didn’t disappoint.

Loved this place! I love this place so much i was hesitant making a review because i want to keep it for myself! Haha but seriously very authentic el Salvadorian food that is making me drool just thinking about.
This is a no trills place and very small, but has about 4 – 5 tables that sit 4ppl. Also id have patience on ordering and getting your food, its a bit of time but totally worth the wait! «Only good things come to those who wait.» They have pictures of all their food at the front counter, so this helps if your not sure what to get.
We got the liver and onions dish & the tacos (beef tounge & mixes meat). Really fresh and everything tastes homemade! Im not a refined bean kinda gal, and i was even about to lick the plate from how good these were! The mixed meat taco was my favorite. My boyfriend who has always thought District Taco in DC was the best and said that this place was a thousand times better, I’ve never had latin american food this good ever.
I cant wait to go back and try all the other yummy looking food! Like i said drooling just thinking about it!

It’s establishments such as Tipicos Glorias that makes you wonder why in the world you didn’t discover its magic sooner, especially when you live within walking distance of its doors. There is such a fun feeling about «discovering» a place and wanting to turn it into your own private neighborhood haunt, but then again, you want the restaurant to flourish, so you tell the Unilocal world about it! That’s how I feel about this little eatery, located in the back of the massive Kmart shopping center in downtown Herndon.
Please don’t come here with 15 of your closest amigos — you will overwhelm this little space. There are probably only 6 2-​and-​4 top tables, and there isn’t much room for a queue, especially when customers are waiting for their to-​go orders to be prepared. This is a spot you pop in for lunch or dinner by yourself or with a few others, max. Be prepared with your best Spanish, or know how to at least pronounce the items you like, or how to say the number of the picture that corresponds to the items you desire, smile, and be patient!
And, please, this isn’t Mexican food. Although Tipicos Glorias makes some very good double-​wrapped corn tortilla-​based tacos, most of what you’ll find on the menu is of Honduran and El Salvadoran persuasion, from hand-​formed, fresh-​made to order pupusas, to baldiadas, to lomo saltado, etc. The menu is punctuated with a killer-​looking order of nachos and a carne asada burrito, but I definitely come here for the pupusas, saltado, and other specialities. I did like the tacos, too — I opted for pork, lengua, and res (beef), since they were out of their in-​house marinated chicken. For pupusas, I like the cheese and bean and the loroco style, but they also have a plain cheese version. You’ll find plenty of delicious avocado, too, in many of the dishes!
The ladies who work behind the counter are so friendly, and prepare each item to order, with great care. To-​go items are packaged well and travel easily. Plus, it’s cheap! You’re definitely not getting nickel-​and-​dimed here for their décor or telenovelas, folks. This is legit. Brush up on your high school Spanish and get some good, hearty, authentic eats that would make your abuelita proud.

Wow, the food here is fantastic. Not a yuppie restaurant (Yaaaaay!) but the food was authentic and had a real kick to it. What a difference after eating at the various suburban-​mexican restaurants in the area!

It is a whole in the wall kind of restaurant. The place is very small with an open kitchen. The cooks are Mexican women. The food is very good, taste like home. I haven’t had such good fish anywhere else. The rice and beans are very tasty. From all the Mexican restaurants I have been, this place is the most authentic one. The food is good and inexpensive.

About to try for my first time upon Unilocaling something new and authentic not being in the mood for Jimmy Johns, Firehouse or Quiznos so here we are at the hole in the wall place! I lived in the Orlando area for 10 years and there were SOOO many chain restaurants so if you wanted great food you would go to your local hole in the wall hub for wings or mex. Period. Everyone knew that! This place here in Herndon is a gem! The aromas were intoxicating and hot sizzling platters coming out to one table put us over the edge– we had no breakfast lol.
So One order of the chicken quesadillas, a cheese pupas, and three steak tacos for the hubby later we were set!!!
The food was plentiful, the tortillas they use for the quesadilla was warm, no bad aftertaste which some torts have and the cheese was plentiful! Hubby loved the steak tacos and we also liked the Mexican coleslaw it came with in the side!
The only negative we can think of is don’t be in a rush when you enter! It’s all made from scratch food and will take some time. We will return!

Yeah. Yeah. I go to an authentic Salvadoran place and I get the MOST Tex-​Mex item on the menu.
This is one of those store front places most avoid. Every who walked past today made a terrible mistake! The food is very fresh tasting and has hearty pleasant smells. Nothing is greasy, even my fried chimichanga. The meat was of high quality and we’ll marinated.
There’s probably a reason Jamelyn and I were the only people who spoke English in here!
Little more expensive than similar places, but they make it up in quality. Great find in Herndon.

This is a small hole in the wall at the back of a plaza. I ordered mixtos tacos. I had 1 pork, 1 grilled chicken, and 1 tongue taco. They were all good but the chicken and tongue were the stand outs. Great tacos but I’ll return to try the soups.

Tipicos Gloria is dirty (the ceiling is mostly stained brown, I stepped in a tomato slice on my way in…) and cramped (I counted five tables in the entire place). The chairs are mismatched between fragile patio chairs and those old metal chairs with the black cushions. The menu is limited, but varied enough, although it’s all in Spanish (luckily I know enough to read it). The prices seem a little high for the amount of and quality of Mexican food. And, bleh, they don’t have a fountain soda machine. Did I mention the music was so loud you can’t hear yourself think?
But all that aside, when you boil everything down to the core food — it’s dang delicious. Seriously, the tacos (I got a pork, steak and chicken combo, one each) are amazing! The corn tortillas are bursting with flavor, and the meat is ridiculously well seasoned. There’s a super spicy tomatillo sauce that comes with them, and I really liked it a lot. The pork especially was perfectly seasoned, and I don’t even like pork that much… but it tasted like a Carolina barbecue rub or something. All topped with fresh avocado slices? Baller!
Unfortunately, not every dish is that good. I also tried the enchilada, which was just some meat folded in a tortilla and then smothered with what looked like slightly melted bagged/​shredded taco cheese blend. There was NO sauce! What?! How can an enchilada not have enchilada sauce?! Weird. The rice was pretty decent, but the refried beans were pureed or something… more like a bean soup.
I saw a few other dishes at nearby tables that looked outstanding. So I think the less-​than-​optimal experience mixed with the hit-​or-​miss food makes Tipicos Gloria a «maybe» in terms of recommending it. I would say it’s probably better as takeout, but I’ve never been very fond of how Mexican food holds up by the time you get it home after sitting in a foam box. So maybe, if you want to try some pretty authentic Mexican food and need a quick in-​and-​out bite, give ‘er a go. If you want a nicer, sit-​down style Mexican joint with a full menu, the traditional free chips and salsa, etc., I recommend Tequila Grande in Vienna or Plaza Azteca in Sterling.

I’m not quite sure how I’ve missed this place for these many years being a few minutes from my office, but I have.
It’s an unassuming and quaint little restaurant. As many have said, the employees grasp of the English language is sparse, so be prepared to point at pictures. I ordered 2 pork papusas that came with some sort of coleslaw and dipping soup (or was it a side soup?). Regardless, the papusas were warm, with a light outside and quite tasty, gooey inside. I next got 2 lengua tacos that were accompanied with like, salsa and green hot sauce. At these kinds of joints, I tend to judge their food by their butt cuts. The thing that a lot of diners don’t seem to get is that beef tongue, as disgusting as it sounds, has some of the beefiest flavors out there. Tipicos was delicious but I felt it needed more sear.
As testament to its authenticity, lots of South Americans were lined up for the food. All in all, a good little find when I wanna get my south of the border fix in the burbs of Herndon.

This place is SERIOUS eats. If you’re not ready for hearty, authentic food, look elsewhere. If you want to try something delicious, you are at the right spot.
The Pollo Saltado dish was HUGE. I’m talking 3 meals stretched from the plate of steaming chicken, onions, and a tomato salsa/​sauce over piping hot French fries. Probably not the healthiest, but was it amazing? You bet.
We also got 3 tacos: 2 lengua (cow tongue), and 1 mixos (pork, tongue, beef?). Lengua could have had more flavor, but these tacos were authentic, hot, and double corn tortilla wrapped (as it should be). I got full from just one. The pico de gallo and green sauce were good, and not spicy.
The yuca and chicharrón plate was a glorious fried appetizer. Fried pork with some of the skin-​on, resembling crispy pork rinds, and the yuca came in huge chunks, and fried to golden brown perfection.
(Reading all this, I realize why I probably gained like 2 lbs in one day… but it was SO GOOD. Come on your cheat day, or if you need some good ol’ comfort cooking. These ladies do it right).
You don’t come here for the service. You come for the food.
Overall verdict: Unassuming hole-​in-​the-​wall, with a ton of flavor. No frills, and one of Herndon’s best kept secrets (Maybe not for long)!

This place showed up in my email as a recommendation from Unilocal a few weeks back. I bookmarked it and said I’d get around to visiting. Today was the day!!! I am originally from Houston, Texas. Mexican food there is AMAZING! When I crave something from home, it’s usually Mexican food because it’s hard to find good places here. Well, that was until I happened upon this hidden treasure. OMG!
It likely would not be a place I’d walk in to have lunch because it is definitely a hole in the wall! But those are usually the best eats! I opted for the chicken quesadillas — they are absolutely delicious!!! I actually ordered take out so by the time I made it back to my office, they were cold. I ate them that way — still delicious! I cannot wait to try other items on the menu. Based on the pictures, looks like the pupusas are popular. I would like to try those as well as the tacos and enchiladas. Yum yum!
The reviews are accurate: 1) It is a mom and pop shop. 2) You will have to point to the item on the menu if you do not know how to say the number in Spanish. Luckily I knew what number four was :-). 3) They do not speak a ton of English but everyone was very kind. 4) Last but not least — the food is really good. Although a small place, it seemed relatively clean and they were quick at cleaning tables as guests finished up their lunch.
In short — I give it two thumbs up. And I cannot wait to visit again.

In search for authentic tamales in the Herndon area, we stumbled upon Gloria’s on the internet. After reading the Unilocal reviews we decided to try it. Great decision.
The place is as everyone has described… only a few tables but we had no trouble eating in for dinner at 7:00 on a weeknight. Two ladies in the behind the counter taking calls for take out orders and cooking.
Menu is above your head with pictures but hard to read since it’s not really in english. Woman trying to take our order not really in the mood to help us so we did the best we could with the questions we asked, and the information we had from the reviews.
We ended up with two delicious chicken tamales! We will definitely be back for more of these. Wonder if they come in pork — couldn’t figure that out but will try next time!
Also had two pork and cheese papusas. They were delicious and loved the sauce they were served with along with the spicy slaw/​cabbage on the side. Would totally try those again!
Finally we tried the beef burrito. Totally didn’t need it but were weren’t sure about the other food we ordered so we got it as a safety item. It came with salad, rice and beans. Quite a large plate of food and all was authentic and awesome.
Total bill was just at $ 20. Can’t get that much food for that price anywhere! Next time we’ll order less and enjoy it twice as much since we know what to expect!
Don’t let the location or menu scare you away — give it a try!!!

Isn’t it funny how the little holes in the wall often have the best food? It boggles my mind every single time.
I’m a sucker for Mexican food, I’m always on the hunt for yummy local places, especially after the tragic closing of the Tortilla Factory in Herndon. And now I have a great go-​to spot off Elden Street.
It’s unfortunate that the seating isn’t ideal; it’s more of a take out place — it’s even more obvious this is the case when your meal comes out in mismatched plates and plastic utensils. Also you can only fit like 4 couples in there at a time. I hope maybe they’ll become more popular and expand into a larger restaurant. The food is really traditional and amazing, and it’s much better than the Guapos in Herndon. If they expanded and started serving margaritas, they would become my favorite place in town!
My friend raved about the pupusas he ordered, and my bean and cheese quesadilla was the best I’ve ever had. And I’ve eaten more quesadillas in my life than I care to admit online. Check out the photo I posted — how good does that avocado wedge look?! I am so ready to go there again!

I love mom & pop places! Great way to support the community and down home good food! They location maybe seats 10 but when you walk in there a picture menu with short description under each photo.
I ordered 1 chicken & 1 steak taco & 1 cheese pupusas. The tacos were simply delish! They were served with 2 tortilla, sizzling meat, and a little onion with lime on the side. The pupusa was still hot off the stove. All the food was delicious and I will definitely be going back and trying something else. Great lunch place :)