El Papaturro
Salvadoran · Houston
About El Papaturro
El Papaturro in Houston is a beloved destination for authentic Salvadorian cuisine, celebrated for its fresh, hot food made to order. Guests rave about the delicious tamales and pupusas, which are perfectly cooked without being greasy. The menu also features comforting beef soups, hen soup with frie...
El Papaturro in Houston is a beloved destination for authentic Salvadorian cuisine, celebrated for its fresh, hot food made to order. Guests rave about the delicious tamales and pupusas, which are perfectly cooked without being greasy. The menu also features comforting beef soups, hen soup with fried chicken, and refreshing fruit salad drinks that balance sweetness beautifully. Beyond the flavorful dishes, the restaurant offers great coffee and friendly service in an accessible setting perfect for solo dining or family gatherings. Whether grabbing a quick lunch, enjoying dinner, or picking up takeout, El Papaturro provides a warm experience that serves local specialties with consistent quality and care every day.
What Customers Say About El Papaturro
El Papaturro is known for its authentic Salvadorian food, especially the pupusas, which many reviewers claim are the best in Houston. However, slow service, cleanliness issues, and automatic gratuity charges are recurring complaints.
Popular Dishes
Best For
Tip: Order pupusas and be prepared for a wait. Consider calling in advance, but note that they may not answer the phone.
Features
Frequently asked questions about El Papaturro
El Papaturro Houston Reviews
Clutch Automotive loves El Papaturro! If you want the best Pupusas in Houston made with love and CONSISTANCY at any Papaturros, COME HERE!
THE BEST SALVADOREAN FOOD!!!! Its so hard to find real authentic and delicious food but when I tell you this is it! This is it! Their pupusas are the BEST I’ve ever had and can’t be compared. I almost cried just enjoying every bite. I had the pupusas, tamal de elote frito, and platanitos fritos. My go to place from now on, loved the balada music playing in the background 😌
This place is #1 in authentic Salvadorian food in all of Houston. The seafood soups and pupusas are my favorite to go plates every time I go. The food is made fresh hot out the oven every single time with high quality ingredients trust me you’ll taste the difference coming here. The waitresses are very attentive and friendly.
Delicious pupusas! Their beef soups is delicious, their hen soup with the fried chicken! Everything in this place is delicious!
Was very tasty and good portion sizes
These are the best tasting Popusas ever. No lie. I live almost an hour away. When I do show up I never buy less than 15 so that I can eat them for 2 or 3 days. I have tried different spots but nothing compares. I've been coming here for over 10 years. Since they were across the street at the smaller place. Do yourself a favor and try them. Trust me.
Food was delicious. The salvadorian tamales are very tasty, tamale made of corn was also good. We went again because my wife loved the chicken tamales salvadorian and this time I got plantains bananas with cream salvadorian style and blended beans. Its was delicious if I may say. Here are some pictures of it. I would recommend this place if you want to eat something foreign and good....this is the spot. #TrueRatings Please Like and Share.
First timer. Good pupusas revueltas. Good pan de pollo, (although im used to cabbage instead of lettuce & no steamed type veggies on top). I will return soon for the breakfast plate and seafood soup w crema.
I was in the area and wanted to eat a pupusa. I began with a fruit salad drink. It's quite refreshing and not too sweet. I had a cheese and loroco pupusa. It was quite good and not greasy. But it could have been cheesier. The cabbage (curtido) is a bit spicy. Once I got my pupusa the waitress never returned. I ordered a corn tamal to go. I proceeded to go pay at cash register as didn't get my check. I received my tamal at the cash register. It comes with cream. The cream could have been tastier. I'd give the pupusa another chance.
Please fix up your daik phone please take phone phone orders again thanks
Food is great but the service is terrible. There is only 2 customers in the whole restaurant and it takes 1 hour and then the food cold. It use to be great but now it’s just not good. The waiters seems to be the problem because there use to great waiters idk what happened but service is important Also side note they have terrible service but will make you pay a gratuity for a table for 2
Food delicious, takes forever. Needs management. My complain is that their menu dish "Papas salvadoreñas" has been downgraded to a small box to go. They used to have the larger box for 6 dollars. Which is good. Asking you guys to go back to that, that small box has almost no fries. Thats why my rating is low. Pupusas are delicious.
Very good food I came to eat here twice and loved it but they never answer their phone so I literally can never place an order….. I can only leave my job a few minutes to pick up lunch so my only option is to call and place order….. I’ve called 4 different days several times and no answer….
Be aware they think they have the right to automatically charge gratuity and we were only a group of 3!!!!! So a $39 bill went to $51 !! Absolutely ridiculous I'm guessing because people tip based on service and there terrible so they don't get tips. They also charge to use a card which is illegal look up the durbin act.They will be reported to the texas attorney general's for breaking the law.
It's unbelievable that a place offering delicious food has such terrible customer service. Now I understand why I was alone when I visited. I traveled almost an hour for this awful service. The waitress didn't even attend to my table and handed over her shift, leaving an absurd bill because she added a tip for two people. From a $64 bill, I ended up paying $80.43. I absolutely do not recommend this place.
The pupusas are drowned in grease and the the curtido & salsa taste terrible.
The pupusas were not good, the curtido was served to us, and it seems like the same container goes around different tables, which is nasty because you use the same fork you are eating with to serve it. The place was not too clean. We did not touch the curtido. If we could, i would give it a ZERO. Never going back again.
I absolutely hate going to this place! And the only reason I ever do go is because of my elderly mother. She likes this particular dish called, yucca. The service is slow. The wait for the food is even worse. Unfortunately, I have convinced my mom from from dinning in and I have since started calling in the order for her to avoid ever having to dine in and even then, placing a take out order is just as frustrating, you are lucky if you get them to answer the phone! Because of the lack of changes to this restaurant I have even convinced my mom to patronize other restaurants. It is not worth the hassle. And frankly, with the gratuity already included on your bill, why would they even care to make positive changes to the wait staff. It's my guess that this is why the business owner doesn't bother to improve its staff.
Sign in to leave a review
Sign inRemove ads and manage your menu
Explore Your Area
Taqueria 3 Estados
Acapulco Taqueria
D & T Drive Inn
Wokker Underground
Barbecue Inn
Lei Low Rum & Tiki Bar
Trash Panda Drinking Club
JŪN
Connie's Seafood Restaurant
Pad Thai
29 Photos
Explore El Papaturro's photos
About El Papaturro
How to get there
241 E Crosstimbers St, Houston, TX 77022
Highlights
Services
Dining Options
Restaurant Info
Amenities
The Neighborhood
Location
241 E Crosstimbers St, Houston, TX 77022
📍 Explore the Neighborhood
Upcoming Events
Earlybirds Club
11 Jul. 2026, 18:00
White Oak Music Hall - Downstairs
DL Hughley
11 Jul. 2026, 19:00
Houston Improv
FIFA WC Fan Festival Hospitality/Quarter-Final Match @8:00 PM
11 Jul. 2026, 19:00
East Downtown Houston
Man Man
11 Jul. 2026, 19:00
White Oak Music Hall - Upstairs
Gaming
🎮 Earn Points While You Explore!
Play Find Me and redeem points for discounts at El Papaturro and other restaurants
Earn Points at El Papaturro!
Play Find Me and redeem rewards here
Earn extra points and redeem them for rewards at El Papaturro
🏆 Rewards at El Papaturro
10% Discount
At El Papaturro
Free Appetizer
On your next visit
VIP Table
Premium experience
to redeem rewards and earn points
📋 How Do Rewards Work?
Play Find Me
Every 100 score points = 1 reward point
Collect Points
Workers earn 2x points per game
Redeem Rewards
Discounts, free food and VIP experiences
Is it yours? Claim it FREE!
Remove ads and manage your menu