It was the end of a really bad, really long day. It was about 9:15 PM, and I hadn’t had a bite of food – I needed sustenance, and found myself driving through Wheaton.
I wasn’t in the mood for Full Key or Pho Hiep Hoa which were both open, but across the street was Matamoros, a Salvadoran-Tex Mex restaurant which I’d never before tried.
The restaurant was empty, save for about five people, one of whom was watching a Spanish-language soccer match on TV. Needing comfort food in the worst possible way, I ordered a Beef Burrito ($11.95) to go, and had a Dos XX ($3.00) while I waited (Matamoros listed several other, more interesting, South American beers, but was out of them). The two ladies working the bar area (really, just hanging out and waiting to close) were as nice as can be.
Not surprisingly, the burrito was huge, and stuffed with rice, beans, and a meat resembling super-tough highly seasoned skirt steak. It was extremely salty, and the rice on the bottom had a “dirty rice” aspect to it (while the rice on top was more plain).
So this meal was quantity over quality, and bulk over comfort, but of course a beef burrito does not a Salvadoran restaurant make. Next time (and yes, I’d try it again because the service was friendly) I would eat in, and order a pupusa, or pescado frito, or maybe a sopa de mondongo.