Listed as one of Washingtonian Magazine’s 100 Best Restaurants, a visit to Surfside was hardly a gamble. But as is the way with some highly recommended spots, I wasn’t sure how hard it would be to snag a table, if the service would be in line with the demand and if it could really live up to the hype. Surfside delivered on all fronts.
I visited Surfside on a Saturday night along with my sister, who was in town for a visit. She’s on her way to a post-grad trip around Europe and money’s a little tight. Knowing this, Surfside seemed like a good pick if for nothing else than its reputation for good food at reasonable prices.
To dine at Surfside, you grab a table when you walk in – either inside or up on the roof deck – and then order at the front of the restaurant, where the food prep is taking place. Diners tick off what they want on order sheets, hand them over to the cashier and pay up front. You get a buzzer that’ll go off when everything’s ready to grab.
In the meantime, there’s a bar at the back where patrons can grab a drink or two. My sister and I each started off the evening with a frozen margarita. I’m pretty fussy about my margaritas and this was excellent. Nice and strong but still full of lime flavor and refreshing.
We placed our order – one order of pork carnita tacos and one order of shrimp tacos. We also split a small order of guac and chips, which was dished out and handed right over for us to snack on while we waited for the rest of our order to be filled. It was full of big chunks of avocado and the chips were warm and very crispy – perfect scoops for a heavy dip.
We didn’t wait long; the food came out almost right away nice and hot. The corn tortillas were warm and soft and the filling, including an excellent pineapple jalapeño salsa, was all very fresh and complimentary. The star of the meal was absolutely the lime sour cream on top which was cool, crisp and creamy.
Surfside is a fun, funky hideaway in Glover Park that didn’t disappoint. I was searching for good food at a reasonable price and found exactly what I was looking for. No matter where you’re coming from in DC – it’s worth the trek!
