Twelve Black Code Monkeys

I was trying to find an interesting place to have dinner the other night in Silver Spring, MD. I ended up deciding on a Salvadoran/Mexican Restaurant on Flowers Avenue called El Gavilan, even though I’m not a big fan of Mexican – at least not the Americanized stuff like tacos, burritos, etc. Not that I don’t like it, but since I don’t eat non-veggie carbs anymore, it’s sometimes difficult to find something to eat at a Mexican restaurant that’s not of the more “authentic” type.

However, one of the reasons I picked El Gavilan was because of a review I read in the Washingtonian. That was the only review I could find so it was basically ignored by both Zagats and The Washington Post. There are truly a vast number of restaurants in the DC area and I’m sure ones are closing and popping up continuously. And what is around here I’m sure is dwarfed by New York City. It seems that to have a adequate chance of actually having reviews of every restaurant in the area you would need a team of 50 full-time critics eating out every meal of the day at least Monday through Friday! I’d of course be happy to be act as one of those critics…

In any case, one of the dishes the Reviewer from the Washingtonian like a lot was the ribs, which is also a favorite of mine. That’s what I ended up getting. They were some of the best ribs I’ve had in a long time. They are basically spare ribs marinated in something sweet, but not cloyingly sweet. I didn’t get to sample the dishes of the other people I was with, but they all said theirs were good as well. We did have some guacamole that I was not too thrilled with. Then again, I’ve been somewhat spoiled by good guacamole, the archetype of which I first had at a restaurant in NYC called Rosa Mexicana, where they make it right in front of you with large chunks of avocado, tomato, onion, and lots of cilantro.

The other nice thing about El Gavilan is that on the weekends after 8, they have live (Latin) music, and it’s free of charge, so if you like this type of music, it’s an extra treat. Prices are very reasonable as well!