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The Official Recession has enveloped us for fifteen official months. It’s still no reason we can’t enjoy life. This is LA -- we have a ton of inexpensive options! A Recession Obsession is somewhere fantastic, whether times are good or not, because it's that damn good. We last loved on some no-cook take-home Korean and wood-fired Peruvian chicken. Today, we...
Argentina has the empanada. Venezuela has the arepa. Rural Pennsylvania has the deep-fried Twinkie. Various locales feature their own celebrated dishes which pack sustenance and regional style. El Salvador’s is the pupusa.
Pupusas are less than $2 each. Thanks to a sizable-enough local El Salvadorean population, you can find them cooked up all around Los Angeles. The pupusa is small enough that a second is demanded. Two and an icey glass of horchata runs about $5-$6. That’s why El Salvador’s thick corn tortilla-stuffed delight is LAist’s latest Recession Obsession.
The pupusa looks simple yet tastes delicious, especially when warm. It tastes like the result of an unsweetened pancake mating with a quesadilla. That's a good thing. Often made from corn, flour, or a corn-flour-masa mix, this dish is stuffed various ways. The stuffing's more secondary than primary as the cheese and dough take center stage. There’s often refried beans or meat in on the fun (chicken, or pork typically.) Squash and pumpkin make for excellent vegetarian-friendly options.
Always served alongside this piece of El Salvadorean pride is curtido, a pickled cabbage, carrot, and onion condiment and a tomato-based red sauce (which I’ve not often found to be spicy.) The pupusa dares you to decorate it with this delicious lubrication.
Polarizing Pupusa
Not everyone likes the pupusa. Some don't like to be reminded of a game of frisbee while dining. The good news is that this rather tame dish is the cheapest gamble in town, and it's a hard dish to get wrong. In these hard times if you want a free burrito, it's yours, but if you can pony up $2 for a a Central American experience I suggest a trip to Sarita's or Lempira.
- Lempira Restaurant | Los Feliz | 4848 Hollywood Blvd | Los Angeles 90027 |(323) 662-2927
- Inside Downtown’s Grand Central Market you’ll find Sarita’s (wonderful) Pupuseria. (We’ve happened by before.)
- La Pupusa Loca | Hollywood | 5716 Santa Monica Blvd (@ Wilton St) | Los Angeles 90038 |(323) 957-2967
Where do you get your pupusas? Comment below!
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I get 'decent' pupusas from my favorite Westside Mexican recession-buster, Cinco de Mayo, at Washington Place and Sepulveda Blvd. in Culver City.
The pupusa stand at the Hollywood Farmer's Market is great. The vegetarian options are around $2, and the meat-based ones are about $3, but they are damn tasty.
There's a bunch of pupuserias on Western between Santa Monica and Melrose, though I've only tried 1-2. There's literally 4 or 5 around that area.
El Baron (Crenshaw / Pico) does it up right. But I must tip my hat to Sarita's, because that place does it RIGHT.
Atlacatl on Berendo and Beverly. Good stuff!
http://www.yelp.com/biz/atlacatl-restaurant-los-angeles
LAist is a fan of Atlacatl -- http://laist.com/2009/01/22/recession_obsession_eating_on_the_r.php -- that whole stretch of Beverly is pretty special. Look for more on that in the future.
Yea pupusas rock! I like the Salvadorian tamale more than the Mexican variety too.
+1
I second the pupusas at the Hollywood Farmer's Market because of the excellent fillings. I also love the pupusas at La Caravana on North Lake in Pasadena.
There's a place on the Venice Boardwalk that rocks it
I love the pupusas at Nuvia's in Echo Park.
my favorites are "con loroco" at Metapan in Van Nuys on Sherman Way near Hazeltine. Almost no anglos too!
It's kind of a schlep from the Westside, but we like the papusas from Panaderia Mexico at Woodman and Vanowen. And the desserts are great, too.
mmmmmm....pupusas...they always bring back fond memories of home. I used to have a pseudo tradition that whenever I'd get back into town from a business trip, my first meal out was always pupusas.
+1 on El Baron and tamales. El Buen Gusto in Glendale is also quite good.
My favorite place is El Migueleño on Vermont and 28th - 30th (can't remember exact cross street). It has gone down a notch though because they remodeled it. Part of what made it "the" place for me was the tackyness of the prior decor which, due to the lack of dirt floors and a stray dog roaming around from table to table, it felt like you were sitting in a pupuseria on a corner in San Salvador. My fellow guanacos know what I am talking about re: dog...LOL
Anyway, a dish not often served, but also very good is "salpicon". If you are a meat eater, give it a try some time. It is minced meat with onion and mint. Mix it up with the white rice they serve on the side and put some lemon on it. It is great.
Los Cobanos in Silverlake, near Silversun Liquor has great pupusas and other El Salvadorian food. Look for the big sign that says "Pupusas"
the place on Venice Boardwalk is called Lidia's Pupusas and it's on westminster ave. they are quite good and always prepared fresh for you. the jalapeno pupusa is good and spicy
Con Sabor Restaurant at 5105 Venice Blvd (x La Brea) has delicious pupusas. Their pollo asado is delicious too. It's mom's favorite so you know it's good.
my choice: Ilopango on Venice (just West of Vermont). $2 pupusas (con loroco! is my fave), and horchatas that taste like hazelnut. But the best part--neon multi-colored booths make the ambience just the right amount of ridiculous.
nuvia's seconded--plus they have fantastic juice (try the "vampiro") and are really nice. i was told that they are getting both an espresso machine and a beer license soon; i am going to be there a lot if that is the case.
el nuevo rincon in silver lake (next to pazzo) is also decent.