Salt & Pepper review El Espino

Name: El Espino

Cuisines: Central American

Payment: Cash, Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover

Alcohol: Full Bar

Price: $

Address: 8446 Centerville Rd, Manassas Park

Hours of Operation: Sun-Sat 11 a.m. -1 a.m.

Salt's Take:

As I've probably said before, I'm not a huge fan of Latin food. When I found out I was going to El Espino, I was hoping against all hopes that this would be the restaurant that would make me fall in love. If anything, I think it might have turned me off all together.

Walking into the restaurant, it's easy to see it's a place you could bring your family. With three pool tables and two flat-screen TVs showing soccer matches, it's easy to see it's also a sports bar. The bar takes up a huge space in the back and while it claims to be full service, it seems a little lack luster. I think the two kitchen fridges might have thrown me off. For me, the whole restaurant had a 1970s rumpus room vibe to it, except the jukebox was pretty modern.

I didn't really know where to go when I first walked in the door so I headed straight for the bar. A “waitress,” for lack of a better word, was busy playing with her phone but eventually asked if she could help me. I opted for takeout since I was in a bit of a rush. It didn't take too long for the food to come, but while I was waiting I could smell something burning in the kitchen. And not just a normal, "the-food-is-slightly singed burn."  It was a deep, the-pan-and-whatever-is-cooking-has-been-melted type of burn that made the bar area smell so bad, I was glad I ordered to go.

I ordered the Burrito de Pollo, a chicken burrito served with rice, refried beans and a side salad

The rice was lightly salted and was cooked with frozen mixed vegetables. It tasted like something I could have cooked at home, but it was good, but sadly enough, it was the best part of the meal for me. The burrito was okay, a bit bland but nothing special. The salad was typical but very crispy.

The refried beans, on the other hand, was the answer to the mystery of what was burning in the kitchen. It was the most horrible thing I've ever eaten at a restaurant.  I'm just awed that the cook would serve that to someone.

I don't see myself coming back. The staff seemed incredibly disconnected, aside from my preoccupied waitress. It took her repeating the order about five or six times before the cook understood. It's very clean  and if you want to take your chances with burnt food, it could be an okay place to hang out with a group of people. My suggestion is to order a beer, it might make the food go down a little easier.

Pepper's Take:

For anyone that’s ever visited this shopping center, they know that it’s not all that impressive. El Espino is located near one end of the shopping center and seems to have lots of patrons.

This was my fourth visit to El Espino, and unfortunately, was not any better than the rest of the visits. The first time I visited was because a friend dragged me there after a long night and there wasn’t any other places open that late on a Tuesday. I only ordered papusas, which as I remember were pretty good, but I think anything would of tasted good after waiting that long to eat. I remember the karaoke singers of that night, in fact, I will never forget the torturous sounds they made under the guise of lyrics. And the next two visits were just papusa runs because I didn’t want to drive another two minutes to Mi Casita.

Since all I have ever tried there was the papusas, I decided to order the chicken quesadilla. Disappointingly, the quesadilla was served only with sour cream and guacamole, no rice or beans, or even pico de gallo. It was rather soggy  and the veggies were not very good, but the chicken was okay. All in all, I would rather have had the papusas, as  there is more meat served in a Taco Bell quesadilla. Also, the Taco Bell employees are much more friendly. On each and every visit to this place, the employees were rude and ill attentive, which led me to vow never to come back, and that was about 3 years ago.

Despite the poor appearance of the restaurant, I was more hopeful they would have good food since their papusas were good. Which goes to show, don’t judge a restaurant by their cheapest dish— it may be their only good one. I inquired about their drink prices and they informed me their lowest shot was $10! I also inquired about any special dishes and I got an answer of, “What do you want?” so many times, I gave up. In fact, anything I asked them did not prompt a response worth including in this story.

The ambiance was just as appealing as the shopping center itself. I definitely will not be returning again. Even if their food was good, it’s not worth the attitudes of the employees.

Cleanliness (1/5)

Atmosphere: 1/5