Taqueria El Festival

Standard Taqueria prices, lower than standard Taqueria quality. Their small, open kitchen (which is located in the front by the window) is basically used for heating and assembling prepackaged ingredients into whatever the customer orders. It is very evident that little of what they have to offer is made from scratch; even their enchilada sauce has an overwhelming metallic flavor from the can it came out of. Too many artificial/​canned ingredients here, even down to the red and GREEN colored tortilla chips. I’ll add one star for having fresh grilled jalapenos at the salsa bar, though.
Also, to their credit, they are quick with putting together orders and the place is usually never crowded, which isn’t so great for them but it could be useful to those needing to grab lunch in a hurry.

I was excited to find a place with carne asada fries in the area, but will not be ordering them again. The fries were not fried long enough and were on the light and soggy side. I wasn’t expecting crunchy fries, but it could’ve used some extra fryer time.
During my second visit, we ordered the wet super burrito, one with green sauce and one with red sauce. The red sauce was not very good at all. Halfway through my burrito, I noticed a light strand of hair between my burrito and plate. That wasn’t a good sight. I would suggest they be more cautious when plating or cooking food. It is highly unlikely that I will return. Hopefully, they get it together.

Good, BAD, Good, BAD, take your pick… Depends on what day you go to El Festival. Some days they have great chips and everything on the menu. Others like today 12÷1÷11 they have stale chips, no soup, no seafood. I want to love them but they just are not consistent enough to recommend anyone to go there. I really wish the owner would just stay there and run the place and make it amazing. Once the owner leaves the quality goes down hill…

Their carnitas tacos are awesome and cheap! My favorite combination. The staff is always friendly and the free salsa bar is much appreciated. They have a great selection of Hispanic drink options, I just wish they would sell some cervesas. My only complaint is that they are not open on the weekends. I know that it’s because they mostly carter to the 9 – 5 people but I’m pretty sure I could single handedly make it worth their while to be open on the weekends.

OHHH El Festival you have one of the best Carnita burritos I have ever had! Your Salsa bar is amazing and the chips are rock-​in. I come here often with coworkers and I get a burrito every time. There burritos are big enough that I can cut in half and save for dinner. Price is reasonable about $ 6 for a burrito, pretty authentic, unlimited chips, outside seating, and lots of parking. Only annoying part is sometimes during lunch time, you can wait up to 15 minutes for your food, which makes it hard when you are limited on time. There horchata is pretty bomb and they advertise happy hour and Mariachi on Tuesday or Thursdays can’t remember. Overall this is a great little spot tones of food options and always fresh.

Finding ourselves downtown and in need of lunch, my work companion and I made our way over to the legendary La Bonne Soup Café… only to find that it was closed (it wasn’t supposed to be… what the hell?!). Hungry, angry and a little cold, we stormed our way down the street in search of another option, with our Unilocal app guiding the way. We stumbled upon Taqueria el Festival, and being that I love taquerias (and festivals!), I figured we can’t go wrong.
And sure enough, this place delivered. I saddled up with a wet veggie burrito, and it was huge! They don’t skimp one bit. Swimming in enchilada sauce and cheese, I surprised even myself when I finished it off and wanted more, even though I was stuffed. El Coworker got two tacos, which came with a healthy portion of rice and beans on the side, and it got equally positive reviews.
The salsa bar, as always, was appreciated, and the multi-​colored chips really helped create the advertised «festival» atmosphere. The place was a little dingy and some of the tables weren’t wiped down, but the staff was surprisingly friendly and accommodating.
Reasonably priced and delicious, I’d be happy to hit this place up next time I’m downtown and in need of food. Soup Café… I’ve lost interest.

Loooovvveee this place!!! Me and my girl Giggles go here ATLEAST once a week! Great food, great service at a decent price! Prolly tried almost everything on the menu… used to go to the Mexican restaurant across from K street mall, on Taco Tuesdays for the falsely advertised «1.00» tacos (you must buy 3) But since finding El Festival we have yet to turn back, or try anywhere else. :) Even on a «bad» day, this is still the best Mexican food downtown!

Went back today and ordered a carnitas burrito bowl. For whatever reason, it just did not taste right. The beans, rice and sour cream didn’t taste fresh. Even the chips seemed a little off. I guess every restaurant is entitled to a bad day. I’ll give them a pass today and hope this isn’t an indication that the quality has gone south.

I am not completely sold on this place, especially since Alejandros Taqueria is seriously around the corner. I found the food at Taqueria el festival to be lack a lot of flavor and a bit expensive for what you get. Like I do at most Mexican restaurants, I get 3 carne asada tacos. It was around 7 bucks for my order which is a little more expensive than other places but we move on. The tacos arrived looking somewhat dry and the steak meat looking a little on the weird gray side. The order took a little long to arrive and at the time I was there by myself at about 2pm.
All and all, the food was under par for my liking I just had a huge issue with the color of my meat and the aroma that it had. Both were very different that what I am use to when it comes to carne asada at a Mexican restaurant. That and the slightly higher prices made this place not as attractive as other Mexican Restaurants in the neighborhood. Salsa bar and chips were ok, but really… how do you mess up on those things.

LOVE THIS PLACE! Its right across from Ceaser Chavez park. The food is similar to what you would find at Aldabertos, but since there isn’t one near Natomas, this is a second close. I’ve been here twice and both times I got the carne asada burrito surpreme. Beef is well seasoned and the accompaning inner-​stuff is equally good.
This place as a salsa bar and complimentary chips so that is a big plus for me. If you’re looking to spend about $ 6 bucks on a big burrito that is sooooo not like taco bell, try this place.