Sopas — Mariscos, Res & Lima Yucateca in Silver Spring, MD

El Golfo sits at 8739 Flower Avenue in the Long Branch end of Silver Spring, five minutes east of the Ellsworth Drive crowds downtown. Flower Avenue is the quieter restaurant row — El Gavilan is two doors up at 8805 — and the lot beside the building holds 30 to 40 cars, which downtown Silver Spring cannot say about anything.

From Silver Spring we're 5 min · 1.6 mi from downtown, which makes soups a short trip rather than a whole day's errand.

Sopas — Mariscos, Res & Lima Yucateca done properly

Three serious soups, each in two sizes. Sopa de Res is the Salvadoran beef broth with bone-in short ribs, cabbage, yucca, plantain and corn on the cob ($15/$20, GF). Sopa de Mariscos loads shrimp, scallops, squid and mussels into a seafood broth ($15/$20). Sopa de Lima Yucateca is the lighter one — chicken broth brightened with fresh lime ($10/$15, GF). One reviewer called the chicken soup simply “authentic.”

What's included

• Sopa de Res — short rib, yucca, plantain, corn — $15 / $20 (GF)
• Sopa de Mariscos — shrimp, scallops, squid, mussels — $15 / $20
• Sopa de Lima Yucateca — lime & shredded chicken — $10 / $15 (GF)
• Two sizes of each