Papusa Quest: El Salvador Restaurant

El Salvador Restaurant
2278 Mission St. (Between 18th & 19th)
Hours: Mon-Sun 8:30am-7pm

I began my Pupusa Quest yesterday on Thursday, April 5th.

One of my favorite things to do is to look up restaurants on Yelp and look at food porn or read all the really bad reviews. I started my pupusa search there.

My search criteria was that the restaurant be at least 3 stars, and in the Mission. 'El Salvador Restaurant' came up at the top of the list, had 4.5 stars, and looked good. Edher and I went there in the afternoon, around 3pm, on a sunny and windy day. Right between lunch and dinner time.

Me w/ Chicken at El Salvador Restaurant

It's small, with about 8 tables or so inside. The kitchen is surrounded by brick and looks like an enclosed little fort— it's cute. Nothing fancy, just casual off-the-street vibe. One waitress, who seated us and gave us menus. There were a few other people there who looked like regulars.

I ignored the rest of the menu and went straight for the pupusas. Two pupusas with rice and beans, one cheese, one zucchini. Done. Edher took a little longer with the menu. I started to worry about whether I was going to order in English, Spanish, or if Edher would just order for me. This always happens when we go to latino hole-in-the-wall places. Edher flat-out refused to help me, and I ended up blurting my whole order out in English. Embarrassing. Anyway...

Loroco

Edher got two pupusas with loroco. We didn't know what it was— turns out it's a kind of flower!

We waited maybe 15-20 minutes. We played Scrabble. We got served a tiny little cup of chips w/ salsa. The chips had no flavor and were stale, but whatever.

When the pupusas came out they were super hot and looked great. My cheese pupusa was tasty. Zucchini one was good, too. Yum yum yum. I tried Edher's loroco pupusa but didn't like it. (He did, but he likes everything.) I liked the rice, but the beans were just o.k., maybe a little more lard next time.

Loroco Pupusa

I'm totally going to come back to this place again. It's a nice little place to hang out, which is a super bonus for me. Waitress was nice. Pupusas were like $2.25 each, and $6.75 for two pupusas w/ beans and rice.

I knew from the first bite that these weren't going to be 'the one' pupusas, but then again, that wouldn't be fun if I found the perfect place on the first try! I'm just happy to find a good alternative.

Next on Pupusa Quest: Elsy's Restaurant. 

Loroco Photo by Luis Mario Morales