El Salvadoreno
Regional · San Diego
Savor El Salvador, one pupusa at a time.
El Salvadoreno Opening Hours
About El Salvadoreno
Homey restaurant with ranch-style decor serving up pupusas & other classic fare from El Salvador.
What Customers Say About El Salvadoreno
El Salvadoreno is a popular spot for authentic Salvadoran food, especially the pupusas. Customers consistently praise the fresh, flavorful food and friendly service. It can get busy, especially on weekends, so plan accordingly.
Popular Dishes
Best For
Tip: The restaurant can get very busy, especially on weekends after church. Be prepared for a wait, as the food is prepared fresh.
What to see nearby
Data from Wikidata
Explore the area around El Salvadoreno
El Salvadoreno is located in San Diego, surrounded by cultural and historical points of interest. Here are some of the most notable places nearby.
Religious Buildings
- Kidane Meheret Eritrean Church, San Diego (A 588m) — church in San Diego
Parks & Gardens
- Grant Hill Park (A 595m) — park in San Diego County, California, United States of America
- Memorial Park Recreation Center (A 746m) — park in San Diego County, California, United States of America
- Memorial Community Park (A 914m) — park in San Diego County, California, United States of America; geonames ID = 5372117
Data from Wikidata
Frequently asked questions about El Salvadoreno
El Salvadoreno San Diego Reviews
Really good food and the staff is really friendly. I personally had three different pupusas. I asked for three of their favorites and they were all super good. I also tried a tamale which was made proportionately. I would definitely recommend trying this place. Also, they have the good sprite and coke from Mexico. 🤤
Food never disappoints. We have been coming here for the past 30 years. It’s a Togo spot for sure. I always get Caldo de Res. Pupusas revuelta are also delicious. Their style of enchiladas may surprise most people. Siempre muy delicioso..
The food was INSANELY good, especially the pupusas. We got seated immediately and the service was great! would recommend.
As a Salvaroña I can truly recommend this restaurant! The pupusas here are super good! But I especially love their casamiento 🤤(arroz con frijoles)
Had pupusas, platanos fritos con cream, and horchata here and really loved it! Best salvadorean food I've had from a restaurant! So clean and everyone was so nice, will definitely be coming back!
This place is amazing, I have been going for years! The service and the food quality has stayed the same. The staff is amazing and so king. The atmosphere is lovely and welcoming. Their homemade salsa is the best!! I love taking my friends here.
Food is excellent! Service is typical of a Salvadorean locale… once your food is served, the server won’t check on you. You’ll need to ask for your check, pay and go. I’ll still eat at this place because the food is delicious.
First time here and I loved it. I had popusas, envalada and to drink Atol and a fruit drink. Everything was 5 stars. First time trying Salvadorian food, I have to go back and expand my review later on this year. My apologies for not taking pictures of the food... I attacked it as soon as I saw it. Update: back again many times, still a great place for popusas. Finally took a picture of my last bite . Atol is still the best drink here!
The pupusas and curtido here are delicious. From the revueltas con todo to the loroco with cheese, we tried them all, and they are all delicious! Their horchata is different, it reminds me of a drink in Mexico we call agua de cebada. The ensalada drink is a mix of different fruits, mainly tastes like pinapple juice with a hint of apple juice, it's very refreshing. The atole de elote is ok, it's more of a micena with elote (corn). Overall this place is very good, I'll definitely be trying more dishes!
El salvadoreño is definitely one of my favorite restaurants in San Diego. The food is absolutely delicious! My favorite are the popusas and the aguas frescas! Everything we try from this place is really really good!!! The place is very cozy and the service is really good, everyone is so attentive.
This place is always busy ( esp. weekends after church) with large groups, big togo orders, and all the walk-ins. The staff always does their best to accommodate groups of all sizes and provide speedy service. Don't come here if you're looking for a quick meal. The food is prepared fresh and takes time. The popusas are always hot and delicious and usually not TOO greasy. I always ask for extra curtido aka the delicious cabbage salad that comes on the side. Homemade food takes time so don't be a rude A-hole. The corn atole is TO DIE FOR, please don't skip this yummy, hot, creamy, drink topped off with cinnamon. The coffee and aguas frescas are good too. My family is from central America and this place does it right.
We were a party of 6 and it was our first time eating in this restaurant. We went Friday night at 7 pm, and it wasn’t busy. It is a casual restaurant with several tables. Our server was very attentive and friendly. The menu items were reasonably priced & the portions were good. Everyone enjoyed our meal.
Pupusas were made perfect. Some of the best I've had so far. Workers were nice and polite. Hard to find a parking space tho
I've been coming here since 1997. (It started in the smaller restaurant a few doors down). The food is amazing!!! On this visit I got 2 pupusas revueltas c/todo & a tamal de elote (frito). I spent under $20 + tip without a drink. Service was quick on a Friday @ 3pm. FYI: when it's busy/full house, once you get your food, servers normally don't come back to see if you need something. But don't be shy & ask. It does get loud but you can have a conversation.
TASTY MIXED PUPUSAS! My family and I stumbled upon this place near Grant Hill after craving something warm to eat all-day, we were definitely impressed! We ordered a variety of different pupusas ranging from mushroom, vegan, revueltas (mixed - beans, pork, and cheese) and chicharrón. Each pupusa was about $5.50 EACH. My order included the chicharrón and revueltas. The clear winner was the revueltas as the pork was absolutely delicious and flavorful. The chicharrón was also good, but it didn’t blow my mind like the other pupusa. El Salvadoreño also serves refreshing fruit drinks called Ensaladas (not to be confused w/ a Salad) which include chunks of fruit. My Mom particularly liked these and informed me that it tasted pretty authentic! Service was great, our waitress was polite and refilled our drinks quickly! The dining room is sizable and fits both small and large groups. Restrooms are available! I’ll definitely return to this place and suggest it to my Yelp friends.
Came here on a Sunday noon. We were acknowledged by staff right away, had another couple ahead of us, and had to wait about 5-10 minutes to get a table (the waiting area is a bit small and there was a 2-3 person bench available). The service was very good as they kept checking on us and bringing whatever was requested pretty quickly. Single occupancy restrooms (1 labeled for men and 1 for women) were clean. The place itself has some old-timey character. We very much enjoyed the "Yuca con Chicharrón" (fried root with juicy seared pork meat) dish, as well as the "curtido" (pickled cole slaw) and sauces. The pupusas felt a very doughty and not as tasty as in other places. Would come back to try other dishes.
The pupusas are not good, trust me as my wife is from El Salvador, this place looks nice but it is really pricey for the poor quality food they sell. The service is super slow as well, we struggled to get coffee (not good either), salsa for the pupusas, and even waited to get our check at the end... I can tell you for sure this is the first and last time that we will visit this place.
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About El Salvadoreno
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2845 Imperial Ave
San Diego, CA 92102
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