Restaurant Judy

Pupusas revueltas were amazing. Loved the cheese melted all over. Also ordered the ceviche combinado which was really well done. The bistec a caballo was pretty good but the steak was a little over cooked. fries are awesome here. Come here hungry. Oh yah, the queso. Get the queso.

Picture this: a cheese pupusa so generously stuffed that delicious crusts have formed where the cheese oozed out of the sides onto the grill. Just enough char to give it a light smokey taste, and a delicious slaw on the side to cut through and compliment the richness of the cheese. A perfect, filling mid afternoon snack for less than $ 3. I’m happy about it.

One of the few long-​time family-​owned restaurants in the 14^th and U St area. Good I’d great and with many relatively hard-​to-​find dishes from Central America. Highly recommended.

I have never tried Pupusas before so I don’t know how it should taste. But, their version is now my standard. They were delicious. I had Judy’s combination that included enchilada, tamal and taco. Serving was big and price is relatively cheap based on DC’s standard. I am not a big fan of tamales but Judy’s chicken tamal was good. It was well cooked and seasoned. I also enjoyed the tender lengua.
Caution on asking for Habanero sauce– that was really really spicy.
I do agree with other people that service here is below average. But It is a gem for affordable food in NW DC.

This is not a real Mexican taqueria or restaurant… both the food and service were terrible. I ordered tacos al pastor and they brought me some flavorless pulled pork slop on store bought tortillas. I wouldn’t have been upset if the place was cheap but $ 14 for three lousy tacos? Really? I became suspect the minute they brought us chips and salsa #1 indication you’re not in a legit taqueria. I must say finding tacos near downtown DC is out of the question.

I don’t ask for a pupusa restaurant to be better than every other pupusa restaurant. I just expect them to try. That’s what character is: It’s in the try.
Judy’s has character. Nothing flashy here. Just good drink deals and an authentic menu. I trust any establishment that prides itself on that.
Judy’s isn’t here to impress; Judy’s is here to win.

I’m so disappointed! I live really close to this restaurant and kept forgetting to try it out. We finally decided to come here for dinner and I don’t think we will be coming back. The food was fine, nothing bad, nothing exceptional. But the service was pretty bad. The restaurant was fairly crowded and there was only one waiter. He clearly couldn’t handle the crowd. (Which may not be his fault, there should have been more than one server.) My boyfriend asked 3 times for a margarita and it never came. Our food came quickly but our waiter never came by to ask how it was or if we needed anything. We also sat waiting for our check for at least 10 minutes before we could get a hold of our waiter.

Restaurant Judy has great food. I’ve had amazing tacos and pupusa’s several times. The service, on the other hand, is lacking. I’ve even had to fill my own water cup because I was tired of waiting for 40 minutes for water. Besides the mediocre service, the food is cheap, plentiful, and tasty. All of their steak dishes are really well priced and it’s a fun place to have a margarita.

My first time here but we had great food and service. I recommend to try their flan for dessert, really good. For sure we will be back ;)

Grungy, friendly (if sometimes slow) service, strong margaritas and very delicious, reasonably priced food. A welcome island of unpretentiousness on 14^th Street. Love it.

So I need to update my first review from way back. This place is awesome! We first went on a very slow and off weekday. The food is always on point. You can’t get an authentic ethnic fix anywhere else in DC, and we know Latin food since we’re from Miami. The pork Pupusas are heaven. Family owned. Judy and her brother run the restaurant. Love hearing their stories of the neighborhood and how much they’ve seen it changed throughout the years. Restaurant Judy definitely became one of my favorite late night spots in DC.

This is the best place I’ve ever been in my entire life. I am not really exaggerating.
Don’t come here if you have a stick up your butt. It will ruin the mood.
Got the seafood soup with egg and cream because Judy described it as hearty and I love hearty soup. My significant other got the enchiladas and they were the best he’s ever had. Ever.
We also got pupusas because we wanted to do the whole «when in El Salvador» thing. They ruled. So hard.

Five stars to Judys!
After a boisterous (OK, not too boisterous, we’re getting old) evening with friends at a hip, happening (loud) downtown scene, my wife and I ducked into Restaurant Judy on a whim for a drink and to quietly debrief. We could not have been more pleasantly surprised than with what we encountered at Restaurant Judy.
Being professional nomads and recent arrivals to DC — we’ve had years of experience in the SW and south of the border — as we do each time we’re dislocated, we’ve struggled to find a restaurant that caters to our particular palette set. We found it.
The queso (cheese dip for the non-​initiated), which is inevitably any restaurant’s first rite of passage for us, was stupendous!!! Our shared plate of Tres Enchiladas was the best I’ve had this side of Costa Rica. Finished off with good STRONG coffee (black with lots of sugar) and (I’m told) the most authentic, no frills margarita this side of Texas, Restaurant Judy made for the perfect ending to a wonderful night. We’ll be back!

This place it’s so good. And they also have amazing salvadorian Food and the pupusas authentic.!!

Judy’s is my go-​to for affordable drinks and pupusas with a casual vibe. Having grown up in the area, Judy’s feels like the last real neighborhood bar on 14^th st. It’s so nice to be able to grab some margaritas after work and have to feel like I need to dress up and empty my bank account. DC is ever changing and getting bigger all the time. Judy’s feels like a cozy little throwback to when everyone knew each other and you didn’t have to blow $ 10 on one drink.
Additionally, Judy and the rest of the staff have always been kind and welcoming. I love this place so much I have traditionally done a happy hour there on my birthday for the past four years. If you haven’t been there before, I encourage you to check it out and support one of the last local family owned businesses on 14^th st NW.

La sopa de res deliciosa igual a la que prepara mi mami, los tacos de lengua absolutamente perfectos, buena porción de carne y cosida jugosa, me encantó .El lugar es muy sencillo nada pretencioso pero la comida muy rica y lo mejor perfecto para personas como yo q buscan sopa a las 12 pm lol

Restaurant Judy is our go-​to spot for drinks/​food after soccer games at nearby Cardozo. An important thing to remember at Judy is you get what you pay for; i.e. super cheap food/​drink with sub-​par service and awkward ambiance.
I think their beer prices went up in the last year, but still cheaper than any other place on 14^th street! I love the pork papusas (a deal at $ 2.50/pop) and any of the other ‘latin american’ greasy fare. Theres some salvadorian and some mexican and some Caribbean on the menu.
Dont expect to get in and out quickly, any time ive been there is is only 1 waiter, sometimes he doubles as the bartender, and things take forever. But no complaints here, love me some Judy and I hope these recent intermittent closures arent foreshadowing whats to come!

We were only here after hours, but the food that did come out to those still dining has me eager to go back and try this place out!
At night they have a ‘DJ’. I use quotations because he liked to play about 10 seconds of a sing and then just switch. The bar is open late night, and people do actually dance some. Not overcrowded at all.

After going to this place a few times, my co workers and I finally met Judy in the flesh. Judy is the daughter of the owners, who named the place after her. The love she has for her parents and people in general shows in the food. She was very modest and was an excellent server. Now let’s get to the actual restaurant itself:
Ambiance: nice roomy space. You can eat at the bar area or be with a big group in the tables of the other room. Our party of 12 came last minute and they sat us all! Nice undertone of music in the background, but just enough that you can still listen to people!
The food: I order way too much every time I go here!
The pupusas: for 2.50 these pupusas are really huge and hit the spot. Just wish they served more cortido (cabbage mixture) but you can always ask for more. Personally love the loroco!
Burrito: I got the Azteca burrito and did not like it so I got the carne burrito and thought it was pretty average but had a lot of stuff for 8 dollars. Beans, rice, sour cream, you sold me!!!
El typico: a combination of one pupusa, tamale, and an enchillada! I loved this combination for about 9 dollars! It was totally worth it and it is so good for indecisive people bc you get the best of all worlds!
Drinks: I would definitely suggest getting a drink to pair with your meal!
The helado: I would not suggest this, it doesn’t taste like Any other one I have ordered before. Tastes like a Bloody Mary gone wrong.
Margarita: I got the margarita individually and as a pitcher. Make sure you mix the pitcher so it isn’t syruppy. I also ordered the margarita by itself and thought it needed mixing. Overall I would suggest getting this over all other drinks. Beers are a safe bet too!
Overall, I love Judys and admire that they are open late and great for good groups! Thanks Judy for everything!!!

This is everything I’ve been looking for in DC. Super cheap, but amazing food.
The restaurant looks a little sketchy on the inside, but don’t let it deter you. It’s a gem. The lighting where we were sitting was half off, so you couldn’t see the other side of the restaurant which is why it was sketchy.
This was my first time having pupusas, and I am impressed (and full). We had 3 pupusas revueltas (like pork? Also 3 of these is all you need), and 2 tamales de pollo each. It was an insane amazing of food, but I have lunch for tomorrow! The pupusas were light and Kinda crispy. The tamales de pollo were fantastic. I’m half Mexican, from Texas, but these were honestly the best tamales I’ve had in my life. They were moist, SO FLAVORFUL, and just an all around great deal. Pupusas were $ 2.5 each and tamales were $ 3 each. I would come back here in a heartbeat.
My only other problem was that the waitress didn’t come around that often, but she made up for it in the end. We also had guacamole as an appetizer, that was also good.

We came here on a friday night at about 10 or 11 for some late dinner. The place was pretty packed with lots of people at the bar and in the other room (where there was a band playing.) Beers were about $ 5 and we saw the service was sometimes super slow so we ordered pretty quickly. The rest of the prices are reasonable ($ 2.50 pupusas.)
Pupusas were 5 star for sure. I tried the pork, cheese and loroca and the loroca were definitely my favorite. It’s like a broccoli cheese pupusa. All of them were delicious though. They were hot with burnt cheese on the ends. mmmm.
Lengua taco was tasty and had tons of lengua in it. If I just had pupusas, lengua and a beer this review would be 5 stars.
The ceviche was big with a lot of seafood, but it was pretty salty (and I have a pretty high tolerance for salt!) It’s too bad because it would have been good otherwise.
My boyfriend’s combo also came with an enchilada and a tamale and he said those were about 3 stars good. He doesn’t normally like tamales at all though and thought that one was pretty good.
Service was slow as others have said. We didn’t mind too much because we weren’t in a hurry and it was a Friday night.
Not sure if I’d come back here for dinner dinner, but I’d come back to hang out at the bar and get a giant margarita and some pupusas.

Yo vivi en Honduras y Salvador por 19 anios y para ser sincera nadie me puede decir que hay mejores pupusas en DC que las que sirven en este restaurante — que calidad! Y los bartenders son bastante atentos. Definitivamente regreso por mas. Exquisito!