*** An updated post can be found here. El Salvadoreno has moved one building over.
I originally heard of this little establishment from fellow Ex-Pat Kama’aina Howard, who mentioned the chicken here. He was kind enough to email me the address, and I ended up taking a drive down here on a recent Sunday.
Located on Imperial Avenue in Logan Heights, it’s not a neighborhood that I’m very familiar with. Needless to say, trying to find this place was a bit of an adventure. I’m so thankful for Mapquest. I decided to come here on a Sunday morning to avoid crowds. I entered the bright and clean interior. This little establishment has but 7 tables.
You see, I know next to nothing about Salvadoran food, so please excuse any inaccuracies, and I welcome any corrections. The only thing I’ve ever had that was called a pupusa was in a little "Latin American" restaurant in Atlanta, it was like a little tortilla sandwich. So I was in for a big surprise. Instead of the recommended Chicken dish, I ordered some pupusas, the Gentleman running the place (Erasmo?) was invaluable in helping me make some decisions.
I asked him how many I should order, and he said "big guy like you, need probably four." Big guy like me???? But I ordered 2 chicken and cheese($1.75) and 2 combination($2.00). I could immediately hear a pat-pat-pat, pat-pat-pat. I could see the Lady behind the counter making my pupusas. About that time this arrived at my table:
So soon it looked my pupusa lesson was about to start. When they arrived, hot, fragrant, tortilla shaped, looking almost like a Da-Bing (Chinese flatbread). So my first lesson was to place the refreshing slaw (sort of like a refreshing coleslaw) called curtido on top of the pupusa and then sprinkling some of the hot sauce on top.
Oh talk about tasty, with a crusty exterior, nice soft chicken and gooey cheese, with the nice refreshing slaw, and hot sauce. This was such a new experience to me! Delici-yoso!!!! The four pupusas were much too filling for me, a family having breakfast had a really good laugh at my leaning back in my chair and letting out a "sigh…". Everybody here was so friendly, and the food so good, I knew that I’d be back. I had brought back the two leftover pupusas, and the Missus chowed them like there was no tomorrow! She even forgot about the slaw and hot sauce.
So this evening we decided to make our way back down to El Salvadoreno. And the same Gentleman was again running the place, and he greeted me with a handshake, and a "welcome back". I guess I stand out in this crowd! Again I timed our visit with the early evening, because I knew that we’d need some help, and again it was gladly given. The Missus went down the menu asking question after question, and getting descriptions of almost all the dishes. We ended up ordering a Jalapeno Pupusa and a chicken tamale, among other things. While waiting the above mentioned "condiments" arrived, and the Missus couldn’t wait; she was taking portions of the slaw, placing them on a napkin, and starting to "chow".
The tamale was alot different
from those I’ve had before, the masa was soooo soft and almost sponge-like, and the chicken very moist and tender. The pupusa, was good, though I’d recommend the squash blossom, or another, there was just too much cheese in the jalapeno-cheese pupusa. I had asked about the "chicken" dish and was told that maybe I’d like the special "soup and chicken"($8.99).
First of all a nice Chicken Soup and a bowl of onions, cliantro, and lime was delivered. A basket of hand made corn tortillas was also delivered. The corn tortillas were great, I’ve never had anything like this, really great stuff. The chicken soup was smooth and very "clean" tasting, with nice pieces of vegetables. The pieces of squash in the soup were especially delicious. The next part of the dish consisted of the Fried Chicken.
The fried chicken leg was the closest I’ve had to "broasted" in taste here in San Diego. Nice and crunchy skin, moist and flavorful. Delici-yoso!!! The rice was almost like "pilaf", and the salad was well dressed. All this for $8.99! We also ordered the Shrimp combination ($8.99):
This plate was not as good as the chicken. The shrimp were over cooked and rubbery, and the rice, while very flavorful (I believe cooked in seafood stock) was on the salty side. What was really good here were the beans. Now both the Missus and I pretty much, well let me say, we hate most(all) refried beans. Mushy, gloppy, sometimes watery, yuck! But we couldn’t get enough of these! With a piece of the tortilla, oh man, this was awesome. In fact, I’d go back for the hand made tortilla, a piece of chicken, and beans! We devoured everything, no leftovers! The price, about 24 bucks, in total.
So the "skinny" on El Salvadorena? Good food and great service (if you’re not familiar try to time for slower periods). Don’t be afraid of the neighborhood. Only street parking is available and is limited. The restaurant is moving to the larger building next door next month. I guess demand is increasing, good for them!
We’ll add this to our rotation after a few more visits. This was a great change of pace from the usual Mexican food for us! Howard I owe you one.
El Salvadoreno
2851 Imperial Ave
San Diego, CA 92102
Open 9am to 9pm Daily – Our main man here, I believe his name is Erasmo handles everything from Monday to Friday eves, and all day on Sat/Sunday .