Pupuseria El Tazumal

Pupusas! Pupusas! Pupusas!
Now ain’t that a fun word to say over and over again? What’s even better is enjoying a deliciously made pupusa!
I began my fondness for pupusas (A pupusa is a traditional Salvadoran dish made of a thick, handmade corn tortilla that is usually filled with a blend of the following: cheese cooked and seasoned pork meat ground to a paste consistency refried beans, or queso con loroco. Wikipedia) some years ago when my awesome co-​worker and her mother started selling them to us at work. Her and her mom made the curtido extra spicy, made especially for us! Hubby and I then «found» a great pupusa place at a South Bay farmers market, where their salsa and their curtido made me break out in a sweat. Spicy goodness that I couldn’t resist!
For some time, I’ve been trying to find a more local place, somewhere where it’s on my way home. We’ve found that place at Pupuseria El Tazumal! This place is pretty close to home, literally on my way home, if I take the right streets.
Side note: there is another pupusa place in Bellflower that is on my way home, as well. I did manage to drive up in front of the business, only to back up again and drive home. I honestly wasn’t feeling the vibe of that place. The reviews were hit or miss, too.
Side note, part two: I went to a local and very popular Mexican supermarket and decided to try a pupusa they had at the deli. I asked if they had curtido, because what are pupusas without the curtido? They offered me pico de gallo instead. Um, no… Lesson learned? Don’t buy pupusas from a Mexican market, no offense…
I told hubby about this place, since it’s close by to the mechanic we go to. After picking up some rice and beans at a popular chain Mexican place, hubby decided to give this place a try. If y’all have read my reviews before, you’d know that my hubby is my back seat Unilocal*er, my co-​reviewer… Anywho… He got a good vibe from the place: easy parking, clean restaurant, open early (7am!), and he took notice that everything is made to order. That’s the nice way of saying it’ll take a while longer for your food to be made, but it’s definitely worth the while! He also took notice that the lady making the pupusas that morning looked like she just woke up, but did make an effort to to not look like she just woke up. Working mothers will understand what I just wrote… Hubby didn’t know that there’d be a wait for the food, but he was impressed when he started hearing the sound that is made when you’re working with fresh masa, that hand-​slappy sound… He ordered 2 queso and 4 revueltas (chicharron, beans, and cheese). It was about $ 13, cash or card (with no extra charge to use the card). The curtido we received with our first order had visual pieces of jalapeño in it. My picky older son completely devoured his cheese pupusa, and my daughter and my husband were fighting over who’d have the last revuelta pupusa.
Our second time trying this place, we called the order in. I was greeted with a pleasant «Buenos Dias!», where I replied back «Good Morning!» Imagine my relief when the voice on the other line recognized my lack of speaking Spanish and we continued our conversation in English. I mentioned that I’d like to place an order for pick up: 8 pupusas total, 4 cheese and 4 combo (I couldn’t recall the real name of the chicharron, beans, and cheese mix at the time). She knew what I was talking about and told me it’d be 15 minutes for the order to be ready. She took my name and number, and a few moments after that I sent hubby away to pick up our pupusas. He spent about $ 17 for the 8 pupusas, btw…
The business cards reads, in Spanish, something like «order 15 minutes ahead of time», btw…
I can appreciate a smaller-​run business like this. Not that I’d know how to run a place as such, but its nice to see places like Pupuseria El Tazumal do well. Hubby mentioned that there was always a steady flow of customers coming in for pupusas. I’ve not stepped foot into this buisness, but their food is great, it’s hubby and family approved.
The pupusas are packaged with a piece of wax or parchment paper separating each pupusa. It’s a well made pupusa with the filling reaching out to the very edges of the pupusa. We were given generous amounts of curtido and salsa. The curtido is nice and light and crunchy and spicy. The salsa adds great flavor to everything, although I haven’t noticed any kick or spice to it. The cheese pupusa, I’m guessing, has a queso fresco kind of cheese in it. It’s kind of squeaky like a queso fresco and it not a heavy or greasy kind of cheese. The revuelta pupusa has a great flavor and texture. I’m not a pupusa expert, obviously, but it’s pretty awesome food here.

This place is really good! It’s Central America cuisine! Tired of burritos and tacos? Then come to this place!!! Try the «pupusas» they are super goood! It’s a typical famous dish from El Salvador! Staff is friendly! Great place! Reasonable prices!

Las mejores pupusas y comida salvadoreña