ABOUT US

Raul Sanchez and chef Luis Reyes are the proprietors of Lauriol Plaza, a restaurant that offers affordable, consistently good Tex-Mex cooking in a sophisticated and urbane atmosphere. The unique building that houses the restaurant was designed by Singletary Rueda Architects, and has won critical acclaim from Washington Post architecture critic Benjamin Forgey. It features sidewalk tables, a two-tiered dining room, and a rooftop deck. Windows cover one whole wall, and facing them is a large mural of a Spanish fiesta.

In a 1999 Washington Post article, Phyllis Richman had this to say about Lauriol Plaza:

"From the street Lauriol Plaza looks nothing like a Spanish or Tex-Mex restaurant. When the sidewalk tables are gone and the blue umbrellas furled, you might not notice this giant brick box is a restaurant at all.

"Inside, though, it looks like a restaurant and more. A mural of a Spanish fiesta covers one wall of the bar; the interior beyond is cool and urbane, all matte-black metal and white walls, with woods in four tones forming the curved ceiling and stair rails. The expanse is magnified by windows as tall as most of the neighborhood's entire buildings.

"Sit on the balcony, and you'll see 18th Street from a new perspective. Sit on the street level, and you'll feel keenly that you are in a modern capital, where space is lavish and understatement is art. A small bouquet of flowers and a tiny flickering red glass globe are enough to decorate the white linen tablecloths.

"Lauriol Plaza is a Tex-Mex restaurant where you wouldn't feel out of place wearing a little black dress and a string of pearls. It's immense and intimate, sophisticated and casual, with a Rube Goldberg sort of tortilla maker adding a touch of industrial charm."