District Taco (Washington, D.C.)

District Taco's al pastor taco with guacamole, cheese and onions

I'm a die-hard Chipotle fan, but I welcome a little variety to satisfy my lunchtime Mexican cravings.

I'm pleased to add District Taco to my regular rotation. What started as a food truck 3 years ago now has two brick-and-mortar locations, one in Arlington, Va., and the downtown D.C. location, which opened in the spring.

Like Chipotle, District Taco lets you customize your tacos (or burritos) with whatever meat, vegetable and dairy fillings you're interested in, but provides a few more options, such as Al Pastor, carved rotisserie pork with pineapple. I ordered that, along with carnitas (slow-cooked pork) and pollo asado (grilled chicken). I had all my tacos filled with guacamole (delicious), shredded cheese and red onion, and helped myself to chiltomate salsa, cilantro and lime wedges from the gratis salsa bar.

Although you can get your tacos in flour tortillas, I highly recommend District Taco's corn tortillas. They tasted like they'd been made fresh and, smartly, they provide two, so that even if the inner one gets sogged by salsa and juicy meat, you can still eat it with your hands without making a mess.

I'm looking forward to trying their burritos and steak options.

District Taco, 1309 F Street NW (between 13th and 14th Streets), Washington, D.C. (Metro Center). (202) 347-7359.