El Pulgarcito de America Restaurant

R.I.P.

Went in and got two pupusas and shared a meal of chicken, rice and beans with my boyfriend. Very impressed by this place! Pupusas were sooo sooo good, nice and cheesy, and the meal was big enough to fill us both. The service was quick and the food was satisfying.
Must go again!

Food is authentic and delicious… Nate C. is right, makes Red Iguana look like a taco stand. Fare is from El Salvador and you need to try the Yucca with anchovies… or just the Yucca if you don’t like anchovies! Lots of food for little bucks!
Go to Pulgarcito’s if…
A) You want to stray from Mexican fare…
B) You are expanding your horizons…
C) Are of a fan of «little hole in the wall places.» Not sure if this qualifies, but you’ll like it if you like those kind of spots.

Makes Red Igauna look like a taco stand! Carlos is the best server. You shouldn’t miss this place

With friends from El Salvador, and having visited there myself once, I am a longtime fan of pupusas. These corn-​based, flat tortilla-​like items are one of El Salvador’s national dishes. They are thicker than tortillas (but not as thick as the Venezuelan arepa), and most commonly made with cheese, pork, cheese with locoro (a flower that adds a special something to the cheese) and/​or beans cooked within. They are traditionally served with a chopped cabbage salad and a tomato-​based sauce.
The pupusas at El Pulgarcito were authentic and very tasty. You could hear the cooks in the back patting out the masa. There were lots of other items on the menu as well, from breakfast foods to soups to tamales, meat and fish entrees, etc. In addition to several pupusas each, we ordered yuca frita (fried yuca) with curtido and baby fried sardines (also available with pork). This was amazing! The yuca was flavorful, not greasy, not stringy… all yuca frita should be. The spicy cabbage and salty sardines are the perfect accompaniment.
There are lots of beverage choices as well. We had a tamarind juice and a maracuya (passion fruit). The coffee could have been more exciting, since El Salvador has good stuff to offer in that department.
Our server/​the manager/​guy in charge was Carlos. He was super friendly, and quick to answer any questions guests who’d never tried this cuisine came up with. I would imagine they do a good lunch business, but it was fairly quiet on a Tuesday night. Don’t be put off by El Pulgacito’s location in front of a less than appealing motel. It’s clean, nicely decorated, and struggling to get the word out. Show your Unilocaly support and give ‘em a try!

I work by the airport, and often get a little frustrated with the lack of non-​fast food take out options around here. But things have been getting better lately, especially now with this Salvadorean restaurant.
My first experience with the food was when a co-​worker brought some in for us to try one day. He had overheard another co-​worker and me talking about how we were excited that this place was about to open because we’d never tried Salvadorean food before. So we got to try a few different kinds of papusa, along with a roast chicken and rice dish. The papusas were addictive, and the chicken was tender and well-​spiced.
So I decided to order take out the other night, which was an adventure because the English of the lady who took my order was about as good as my Spanish (that is, muy malo). I ordered liver and onions and a papusa, but ended up with the beef steak and onions (I guess they thought the gringo wouldn’t be into the liver. I’ll make sure they get it right next time). Anyway, even though they didn’t get my order right, the steak was very good and they were very generous with the onions.
The prices weren’t half bad either. Overall, this is a very welcome addition to the «up over by the airport» area, and I’m looking forward to trying some more of their dishes (especially the soups on the weekends!)