2504 Ennalls Ave. Wheaton, MD 20902
Rob and I were out running errands last night and decided to grab dinner while we were out. Our original plan was to go to either El Puente de Oro or Granja de Oro (I have no idea if they’re affiliated, but they are about a half block from each other, so I assume so). However, as we were driving down Ennalls Avenue, I noticed that there was a new Salvadoran place where Sebang used to be. We tried Sebang, an Indonesian restaurant, once and it was very tasty and they made Rob’s dish really spicy. We never did make it back, and they have since closed down due to the increased rent on the location. Anyway, we decided to go ahead and try Intipuqueño and save the Oros for later.
The outside of the restaurant looked pretty much the same as it did when it was Sebang, however the new owners added some red and green neon to the main window. There is now a large bar area toward the right of the entrance, which was about half full. Other than that, there was only one other table seated and they were some kids from the band that was playing later that night. It looked like there were still some Asian decorations on the wall left from the previous owner, and there were the ubiquitous beer posters en Español. Our hostess/waitress didn’t speak any English which I thought might pose a problem, but she just brought the manager over to talk to us when we needed anything.
When we started looking over the menu I immediately noticed that it was much smaller than the other Salvadoran restaurants we’ve been to, and that it skewed more toward Tex-Mex than authentic Salvadoran dishes. The salsa we were served with our chips reminded me a bit of the Rojos brand that you can buy in grocery stores with some hot sauce added to it. It was much chunkier and spicier than the salsa we’ve gotten at most other restaurants, but I enjoyed it. I ordered grilled chicken and Rob got his usual carne asada (I took the picture above with my cell phone – it looked much more appetizing in person). Our meals were served with black beans, seasoned white rice, an avocado half, pico de gallo, and tortillas. Rob’s also came with a few fried plantain chips and a small block of crumbly white cheese. The portions were generous and my grilled chicken was marinated and tasty. I ate most of my chicken off the plate, but did make a little fajita-esque rollup with one of the tortillas. Rob didn’t bother with the tortillas but did mix up his rice, beans, and this time meat.
As we were finishing up our meal, the band members started setting up their instruments on the stage behind me and playing really loud Latin pop over the sound system, making it hard to hear our conversation. Although I wasn’t disappointed with our meal, we have definitely been to better Salvadoran/Tex-Mex places in Wheaton and there are still plenty more to try, so we probably won’t be back to Intipuqueño any time soon.
We also went to Fajita Coast in Four Corners (and technically Silver Spring) over the weekend with some friends. Maybe I’ll write about that later this week. We go there a lot so I don’t really know where to begin, but I definitely have plenty to say!
Rob and I were out running errands last night and decided to grab dinner while we were out. Our original plan was to go to either El Puente de Oro or Granja de Oro (I have no idea if they’re affiliated, but they are about a half block from each other, so I assume so). However, as we were driving down Ennalls Avenue, I noticed that there was a new Salvadoran place where Sebang used to be. We tried Sebang, an Indonesian restaurant, once and it was very tasty and they made Rob’s dish really spicy. We never did make it back, and they have since closed down due to the increased rent on the location. Anyway, we decided to go ahead and try Intipuqueño and save the Oros for later.
The outside of the restaurant looked pretty much the same as it did when it was Sebang, however the new owners added some red and green neon to the main window. There is now a large bar area toward the right of the entrance, which was about half full. Other than that, there was only one other table seated and they were some kids from the band that was playing later that night. It looked like there were still some Asian decorations on the wall left from the previous owner, and there were the ubiquitous beer posters en Español. Our hostess/waitress didn’t speak any English which I thought might pose a problem, but she just brought the manager over to talk to us when we needed anything.
When we started looking over the menu I immediately noticed that it was much smaller than the other Salvadoran restaurants we’ve been to, and that it skewed more toward Tex-Mex than authentic Salvadoran dishes. The salsa we were served with our chips reminded me a bit of the Rojos brand that you can buy in grocery stores with some hot sauce added to it. It was much chunkier and spicier than the salsa we’ve gotten at most other restaurants, but I enjoyed it. I ordered grilled chicken and Rob got his usual carne asada (I took the picture above with my cell phone – it looked much more appetizing in person). Our meals were served with black beans, seasoned white rice, an avocado half, pico de gallo, and tortillas. Rob’s also came with a few fried plantain chips and a small block of crumbly white cheese. The portions were generous and my grilled chicken was marinated and tasty. I ate most of my chicken off the plate, but did make a little fajita-esque rollup with one of the tortillas. Rob didn’t bother with the tortillas but did mix up his rice, beans, and this time meat.
As we were finishing up our meal, the band members started setting up their instruments on the stage behind me and playing really loud Latin pop over the sound system, making it hard to hear our conversation. Although I wasn’t disappointed with our meal, we have definitely been to better Salvadoran/Tex-Mex places in Wheaton and there are still plenty more to try, so we probably won’t be back to Intipuqueño any time soon.
We also went to Fajita Coast in Four Corners (and technically Silver Spring) over the weekend with some friends. Maybe I’ll write about that later this week. We go there a lot so I don’t really know where to begin, but I definitely have plenty to say!
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