Photos: Julie Wiatt

by Ivy Farguhesen

Walking into El Gavilan Restaurant, I found myself looking forward to a good Central American meal.  The atmosphere is inviting with nicely painted walls, clean floors and room for music and dancing in the back.  I’d noticed the place packed when I’d driven by on other nights, despite it’s low-key location on Flower Avenue just past Piney Branch Road in Silver Spring.  The vibe inside was great but the food was not Central American adventure I’d hoped for.

Truth be told, El Gavilan advertises itself as a Salvadoran/Tex-Mex Restaurant and that may be part of the problem.   Like many Latino eateries in the area, the specialty food is of a Central American flavor.  The Tex-Mex additions only seem to water down the flavor of El Gavilan’s Salvadoran menu.

Don’t get me wrong, the food at El Gavilan is good.  The pupusas that come with cheese, pork or pork and cheese are perfect.  The serving size is just right; it’s enough to curb that grumpy hungry feeling but not so much that I feel stuffed.  The same is true of the platanos.  They’re ripe and soft and amazingly sweet.  In true Tex-Mex fashion, however, you’ll also be served chips and salsa.  The chips are crisp with just the right amount of salt but the salsa it more like a hot sauce.  Take my advice and order the guacamole.  It has the fresh, home-made taste that brought to mind a grandmother making fresh batches from garden fresh avacados. 

Sopa de Mariscos

Be warned that such hearty appetizers will leave little room for the heavy entrees that follow.  There is something for everyone, though, and that is the sign of a good restaurant.  For seafood lovers, there are shrimp and crab enchiladas. These more closely resemble quesadillas as they seem to made using only cheese to hold the tortillas together.  The Sopa de Mariscos (Seafood Soup) at El Gavilan is just what a sopa is supposed to be: a meal, not an appetizer.  For non-seafood lovers, there’s a Santa Fe burrito and Enchiladas Verdes, served with a tomatillo sauce.  Both are heavy due to the meat selections, but worth tasting.

El Gavilan is clearly a meat-eaters’ paradise.  With large portions of beef and pork in their entrees, including their taco salads, any carnivore would be in heaven.  Unfortunately, El Gavilan seems to equate salty with flavor and I found myself gulping down more water than usual.  Also, many of the dishes lacked enough vegetables to balance them.  The fajitas would have benefited from more peppers and onions and the quesadillas from some tomatoes or carrots.  And forget about it if you’re a vegetarian.  Not much for you at all.
Those issues aside, there is a reason that El Gavilan has been in business since 1990.  The staff is incredibly friendly and live music and dancing offer a fun weekend night out.  El Gavilan’s ambiance is authentic.  The flat-screen television in the background aired a telenovela or a futbol game.  The Diego Rivera prints on the wall with labels in Spanish and English lets visitors know that  the people who own El Gavilan are proud of their culture and who they are.  It’s these touches that lent some of that Central American flavor I’d longed for.

Warm and inviting interior of El Gavilan

8805 Flower Avenue, Silver Spring, Maryland 20901-4038,  ph: 301.587.4197, Hours of Operation: Sun 11a-11:30p, Mon-Thu 11a-11p, Fri & Sat 11a-12:30a, children welcome, wheelchair accessible and free-parking provided.

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