A new Mexican restaurant with an emphasis on authenticity is the latest business to arrive at the ground floor of Amazon’s HQ2.
Taqueria Xochi (pronounced “so-chee”) plans to host a grand opening on Tuesday (Nov. 19) at 1450 S. Eads Street in Crystal City. With its entire menu coming from family recipes by co-founders Geraldine Mendoza and Teresa Padilla, the restaurant aims for truly Mexican cuisine — not Tex-Mex.
“We wanted to make it very colorful, but at the same time, keep it within how it would be if we go to, let’s say, a restaurant in Mexico,” Mendoza said.
The founders highlighted dishes including handmade tortillas, eight- to 10-hour braised birria and small batches of smooth — not chunky — guacamole. The restaurant also serves nine varieties of tacos, loaded fries and nachos, tortas, and esquites.
Xochi’s signature dish, meanwhile, is the cemita — a torta-like sandwich stuffed to the brim with Oaxaca cheese, chipotle peppers, beans, avocado, onions, tomato and mayonnaise. The dish can be ordered with crispy chicken, beef or eggplant milanese inside.
“Those put us on the map,” Mendoza said, referencing several local articles and positive reviews after the restaurant opened as a D.C. takeout place in October 2020.
The opening marks the pandemic-born business’s first standalone, sit-down restaurant and first location outside of D.C., Mendoza told ARLnow.
“We’re very grateful,” she said. “We’ve planned it for about two years from when we first got reached out, so it’s been a long time coming. We’re super excited to be in Virginia.”
The founders plan to start happy hours at the new spot and possibly expand the restaurant’s offerings over time. Mendoza said a fourth location is now in the works in D.C.’s Navy Yard neighborhood.
Taqueria Xochi’s grand opening party, with live music and giveaways, is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. on Tuesday. A $100 gift card will be given to the first person in line, and the next 20 people in line will receive a $25 gift card.
“We’re very excited to be in this neighborhood, in the Amazon headquarters, I think that’s going to be great,” Mendoza said. “We’re excited to share our food as well as our history.”
