Esmeralda’s Cafe

Waited an hour for a burrito and pupusas, waitress said it would take another 15 minutes. Began to walk out when the owner asked us to stay for a few more minutes and said she’d give us a discount. It was a $ 3 discount.

I really enjoyed this place! We came here for pupusas so I cannot comment on the Mexican food. I ordered one cheese and one chicken pupusa and they were delicious! My boyfriend ordered the pork and he really loved it. We also got a side of fried yuca which was awesome, and a side of plantains, crema, and beans — the mix of this was great. I’m not sure if I’d like beans alone though. I enjoyed the food enough to say I will come here again. We left very satisfied!

We had an amazing meal and a wonderful experience here! The food is authentic and delicious. The owners and staff are super friendly and eager to have you enjoy your meal. And the price is so reasonable.

Love this place. Very authentic. Soups are excellent. Been here several times.
Hidden in a strip mall. Don’t be fooled by location.

Came here for the first time looking for authentic pupusas and was definitely not disappointed! We got the pupusas de revueltas and the platano with crema and frijoles. Everything tasted delicious. Great customer service and prices!

Amazing food very delicious. The customer service is top notch the waitress is always on top of everything. Thank you the wonderful service.

I would be in denial If I would say, this sucks and should go die in a hole. BUT, I’m not. So I have to say that this place is OKAY. But I would not recommend it to anybody! ³⁄₁₀ #sorrynotsorry

I ordered pupusas mixed with cheese and camarones al diablo, Camarones come with beans and rice. best pupusas in town.
Service was ok.
Coming back for pupusas:)

Best pupusas in vegas hands down! Also friendly service and family owned. Been eating there for 10 years, I was getting a tattoo across the street at Precious Slut Tattoos when the artist told me to try these amazing little pancake looking things. Been addicted ever since

I still remember going to Esmeralda’s as a little girl. My mothers boyfriend at the time was Salvadorian so we would frequent it a lot back in the late nineties, early two thousands. Not a lot has changed since then.
I still come from time to time, sometimes I call in an order and pick it up for lunch. I don’t work too far so it’s a cheap, convenient meal. The pupusas are really good and a steal at $ 1.50 each, although I do prefer the revueltas versus the other filling options they offer, they come with a red salsa and curtido (chopped cabbage in vinegar). The platanos fritos con crema y frijol are also really good, I love dipping the plantains in the beans, it’s mix of sweetness and saltiness that I can tolerate without being grossed out. To wash your meal down, I recommend an ensalada. It’s a homemade fruit drink with little chunks of apple.
I’ve never had a problem with service, there is normally a sweet older lady that hands me my order, other times, a younger woman replaces her, let’s just say she’s not the friendliest, she’s very cold in comparison, doesn’t smile, and just seems miserable, but she is never rude.

Pupusas are the best! Love them

I’ve dined at this place a few times, and after my latest experience I thought I’d write a review.
The service is hit or miss, mostly miss. The waitresses just don’t check up on tables. And your left on your own to guess where to pay.
Now on to the food. My latest dish I tried was the grilled steak topped with onions and some type of red sauce. It was absolutely delicious, and it was a good portion. The red sauce was not spicy and it had an interesting flavor. I was surprised. It was $ 9.99, and came with rice and refried beans, and a small portion of lettuce tomato and cucumber.
In the past, I have had the shredded beef burrito served enchilada style (awesome), the shrimp soup (not really filling), and the machaca – seasoned shredded beef over fried eggs. The beef was good.
I noticed they started serving chips and salsa. I wonder if they have been reading the reviews. Also, diet soda comes in a can with a side cup of ice. They have the coke in a bottle ad well.
Haven’t tried the pupusas yet. The beans are not remarkable but the rice is pretty good. My friend always says the portions aren’t big enough, but he’s a guy, so go figure.
This place is slowly getting better. It’s never really busy so food doesn’t take that long

My husband and I decided to have lunch near his office and opted to try something different. I figured some of the best ethnic food comes from the hole in the wall places anyway. We walked into the restaurant and were greeted by the hostess and promptly seated. The interior looked classy and was quite spacious. We decided to try several of their pupusas ($ 1.50 ea), in addition I had the chicken enchiladas and my husband had their carne asada burrito. The pupusas were very good, and a steal for the price. The rest of the food was not anything special that would warrant coming back.
The service was non existent after our food came out. I ran out of water and pushing my cup damn near off the edge of the table I guess was not enough of a hint that I would like a refill. There were no signs posted that you’re suppose to pay at the register anywhere in the restaurant, and maybe that’s not the standard procedure, but we ended up going up to the register to pay. It was a fairly inexpensive lunch with solid pupusas and non existent service. I would not go back.

Love, they’re pupusas I’ve been going here 10+ years would recommend it to all who love latin foods

Loves us some pupusas! Seriously super good food at a super cheap price. We don’t ever get anything else, so I’m not sure how the rest of the food tastes… But the pupusas… Mmmmm hmmm. Good. Bean and cheese is a personal favorite. Definitely recommend!

Prefect price, attentive service, delicious food.
We are visiting from out of town and wanted Mexican. Found this restaurant on Unilocal and thought it was worth a look.
So glad we came! Our waitress talked us into a salvadorean pupusa revuelta, and we loved it with the tomato sauce and the curtido (cabbage similar to vinegar slaw).
Enchilada and burritos were very good. No chips or salsa are served here.

Its actually a Salvadorean restaurant and not Mexican food. Its family owned and it offers a no frills dining experience. However the service is fast and friendly. In and out quick dining. Everything is prepared by a mom and her daughters in the kitchen and it has the feeling of a restaurant in a small Salvadorean town. Their Pupusas are the best in the city hands down. I constantly order them to go when ever I am in the area and their Tamarindo drink is made fresh everyday. The pricing is fantastic: easily feed four people for about $ 20. If nothing else the pricing, Pupusas, tamarind and speed of service makes me a fan.

Longtime downtown spot on 10^th and Charleston. Salvadoran and Mexican. Nice, big place inside with comfortable seating and good service. We had all the pupupas, cheese, pork, been with cheese and a combo of beans, cheese and pork. Really sumptuous pockets of corn based dough. Be careful, the fillings are hot. Served with a vinegar slaw and tomato sauce. Mammon, good. Did I mention they were $ 1.50. That’s no typo. Tamales are a buck fifty too. The Elote tamale is a sweet, light bundle of yum. Beef burrito, enchilada style with rice and beans all tasting great — $ 6.50. Beautiful shrimp enchilada with tons of decent sized shrimp. We ended our meal with Fried plantains that were served with a sweet cream sauce — so good. Highly recommend for downtown eating.

I don’t know where to start, I’m just glad it ended. WORST Mexican food I have had in a while and the service was atrocious.
Now, most place Mexican places have a little chips and salsa to get you started, but this place didn’t. That was OK though, because it was lunch and I didn’t want much. It should have been an indicator of what was to come.
After about 10 minutes a waitress finally came over and I ordered a three item combo because I wanted to try a sampling of their fare. I’m glad I did because I don’t think I could have eaten a whole plate of one food item. The enchilada had terrible sauce (possibly previously frozen), the carne asada taco was the smallest ever and the tamale was as bland as can be. Beans were awful, but I can say that the rice was OK, but that’s about it. Oh, the tomato was great though!
So, I finished what I could manage to and started to finish reading the CityLife mag I got on the way in while I waited for the check to come. Well, I read the WHOLE THING and never saw anyone! I got up and went up to the counter to pay. I saw why my check never came. The WHOLE staff was standing around laughing and texting. No wonder!
I paid the bill and left without a tip and I ALWAYS tip at least 15%, sometimes 10% if the service is really bad. Ouch!
Needless to say I won’t be back because there are plenty of great Mexican food establishments in the area.

Found this place by accident while looking for somewhere to eat after The Color Run. The shopping mall where it’s located has much to be desired but we were willing to brave it in exchange for authenticity. We were afraid they wouldn’t allow us in because we were covered in color but were glad they let us stay and wash up a bit.
At first we were not impressed when they brought us our complimentary chips and salsa. The chips were thick and hard and the salsa was very watery. I ordered the shrimp enchiladas and my husband ordered the carne asada burrito. We shared 2 cheese pupusas. The enchilada was the best I ever had! The shrimp were abundant and so flavorful. The rice and beans were perfect! I barely had room to eat the pupusa but it was delicious, too. My husband said his meal was also surprisingly good. And the best part was that it cost just over $ 20 WITH tip!
We will definitely be going back frequently for some good, authentic Mexican/​Salvadorean food,