Vicky’s Restaurant

I come here for their al pastor super nachos and spicy orange sauce. This is one of those places that can easily be overlooked, I had lived down the street from this place for years but never been.
The food sometimes takes a little bit longer to get to you, but I think it is worth it because everything I have had has been so good! They have really big portions and it is totally worth the price. They also have cool every day specials.

Come here on Mondays for their specials! They have daily specials, and Pupusas are Mondays!
3.5 solid stars, but I gave it an extra 0.5 star b/​c the food here is so cheap!
We ordered 4 pupusas and 1 taco, and the final cost with taxes was under $ 11!
I didn’t get a chance to try the taco, but the pupusas were 3.5 solid stars.
We ordered two types of pupusas (although, their menu is confusing… the waitress helped us out)
1) Carne asada with cheese
2) Cheese
Hmm, the area is kind of sketchy and the ambiance is kinda eh too. This RATING is solely based on the quality, taste, and price.

I’ve been here 5 – 6 times, and the food is generally very good. I just get cheese pupusas, with some chicharrón on the side. The curtido that comes with the pupusas is excellent.
Of course, the one time the food seemed below par was when I introduced several friends to it. The kitchen just seemed off that day.
If the food has been very good every time but once, I can’t say the same for the service. They’re very friendly, but there’s usually just one waitress working, and it can often take time just to get your order in. And then time to get your food. And to get your bill. A couple of times I just went up to the cash register to pay without waiting for the bill — the waitress is also the cashier.
Never the less, I’ll still go back if I’m in the area.

Just moved to the neighborhood, and a friend was visiting, so I thought we’d try something close. Well, for the number of good Unilocal reviews, I was surprised at the lack of business (at around 7:30p). It was empty, except for some of the staff having dinner.
The aesthetics were standard hole-​in-​the-​wall fare. I was slightly skeptic, though kept an open mind.
With a super nice smile and pleasant demeanor, the server reminded me of someone/anyone’s Latino mother. I thought that she probably was the owner/​proprietor, though I wasn’t sure.
The chips were thin, crisp, fresh, and good. The salsa that came with it had a decent kick, and was good, also.
I couldn’t decide. Since they advertise as ElSalvadorean/​Mexican, and since I’m a Mexican food fanatic, I was kind of skeptical, nor was I in the mood for a pupusa.
I decided to be «different,» and tried the Carne al Jalapeño — beef with jalapeño. Surprisingly, we waited quite awhile (20 min or so), and as a result, this set my expectations high. I thought that perhaps, we had ordered something so spectacular that they cooked everything to order.
It was just OK. The beef was cooked kind of stew-​like, and came with rice and beams. The beef tasted over-​done; I didn’t taste any jalapeño’s; and all I saw were bell peppers. The corn tortillas were thick and soft (and good), and there was also a little bit of salad.
I didn’t eat much of the beef, so I asked for a to-​go box. The server asked me what was wrong with the food! I know that she meant well, and I didn’t want to complain.
I might come back and try their papusas, though not sure I would come back for anything else.

Horrible Horrible Horrible! If I could give it less then a star I would!
The first time I came here I thought it was a pretty normal Mexican/​Salvadorian place and I tried my first papusa and thought it was pretty alright!
So when I arrived today alone and figured I’d just take it to go boy I wish I had stayed so I could shove the food back over the counter for a refund!
Firstly I tried to order what was on the wall as the «Daily specials» ‘Vickys Burrito’ for 5.99 the lady told me ‘Oh no we don’t have that special today, every other day but today’ …Whats so different about a monday?! Anyways so I just say fine, I’ll take your super burrito, the total came up to 7.46 I was hungry so I just paid and sat down (Also she seen me looking at the drinks but didn’t even ask if I wanted one so I opted out). I get the burrito and it’s HALF the size of the burritos I get in San Francisco for 6 bucks! If I’m paying 7 I want a burrito that will ‘give me diabetes’ for jokes sake. But really, not even any chips, just an extra napkin, thanks for the extra napkin by the way, the high light of the place -.- fail.
So I’m eating my burrito and it’s OKAY but I’m pumping Saracha sauce into it, I get to the last four bites and I see a hair sticking out, I pulled it out from the folds. The way it was in there, there was NO WAY they didn’t see it! NASTY! Never again! I threw it away and have since told all my friends not to eat here!

My first Papusa experience!
But first… the lunchtime service is slow and not at ALL ideal for a large group. Our orders were severely messed up. For instance, I ordered pork and received chicken and beans. The food took about 30 minutes to come out, way too long for a work lunch. The refills were non-​existent and the (only) waitress did not look happy. Perhaps since she was the only server during lunch time!
Onto the papusa… Although I did not receive my pork, the cheesy pan toasted cakes were rich and muy delicioso. I can see how people are nuts about them. However, as much as I wanted to love them I found a chicken bone in mine. BOO!
I’m hoping my next papusa-​experience is a better one.

Vicky’s recently has gotten some new owners, so they’ve fixed the décor problem, but the food is not longer good.
The tacos are now on small corn tortillas 3 inches in diameter, so it looks like they gave me some mini-​tacos. The cartinas was in large chuncks with lot of fat. I had to remove the fat and break up the hard blocks of carnitas.
The curtido for the papusas appears to be fresher, but tastes horrible. The hot sauce for the papusas is spicey ketchup that doesn’t taste good.
I went with two other people and my two friends order a plates with rice and beans. The rice was uneven and some parts tasted good while other parts were bland.
The beans were just okay.
One friend had a ordered fried shirmp, that came over battered (large clumpy batter) and over cooked (almost burnt).
All in all, I don’t think we can go back here again unless they get a better cook.

A hidden gem in West San Jose.
My roomies and I moved in an apartment complex right next to Vicky’s. We always saw how they advertised pupusa specials on Monday, and decided to try it one day.
The sweet lady, kinda reminds me of my mom, served us and treated us like her own kids. Pupusas are yummy, along with the red sauce and lettuce it comes with. Mondays are a must, since you pretty much get a two pupusas for the price of one. You can also takeout, and they accept debit/​credit cards.
Weird thing is, no one is ever there. There is plenty of place to sit, which makes me believe not much people know about this joint. Five stars all the way.

3.5 stars.
I’ve been wanting to try a pupusa for the past couple of years and finally got the chance. It’s like a Salvadorian pancake with meaty goodness filled inside. YUM! I liked the pork a lot better than the beef only because the beef was a little over done.
The enchilada plate I got was just ok. It did taste better the day after, but maybe because I was hungry.
They also provided this pickled cabbage topping that was akin to Salvadorian sauerkraut. It was a love hate thing. I didn’t really care for it, but I couldn’t stop eating it for some wierd reason. It went well with the pupusa or enchilada and that red sauce thing they gave us.
I would probably come back just for the pupusa because you can find better Mexican food somewhere else.

So i’ve been trying to find a really good pupusa place and when I passed this restaurant, I thought i’d give it a shot. My partner had been here way back in the day and said it was good so we thought «why not»?
The restaurant was completely empty, no one at all. I ordered a steak pupusa and a chicken one with a side of rice and beans. Sadly I was dissappointed. The steak inside the pupusa was SOOO hard and dry. I had a lot of trouble chewing it and had to spit some pieces out cause they were just that tough. The chicken one was Ok but I wish it was marinated in something. anything… it was just so plain. The rice was VERY dry and hard. The flavor was nice but it’s kinda annoying when you take a chomp and there’s dry and hard pieces of rice in it. I like my spanish rice to be fluffy at least! Beans were pretty good though.
For desert I ordered flan… which was kinda gross. I did not like the consistency of it. it was a bit too runny in my opinion. I guess I like dense flan and this one seemed too airy.
I have heard that this place used to be really good. And maybe it still is and I came on an off night… but I definitely will be looking for another puspusa restaurant thats for sure. Oh and it’s pretty cheap too so maybe I should have expected it to be subpar.

Refered by a friend that told me to check it out. Never even heard of pupusas prior to that. I have to say I’m a huge fan now! Went there two days in a row we liked them so much! Lots of other dishes to try so I’ll keep coming back every week!
Price — cheap
Food — awesome!
décor — needs a face lift
Staff — very nice
With a place that has such great food for such a great price I don’t know why it isn’t jammed at lunch time! Both days we went around noon we were almost the only people in the resturant!

I am so happy I found Vicky’s via
. I recently moved to the Midtown area and being able to call in an order for chicken papusas has been divine! Not to mention you can’t FIND chicken papusas anywhere else. And they are not stingy with the meat or cabbage.
I also highly recommend the fried plantains drizzled in whatever sauce. I ordered this one night on a whim and was surprised at how much dessert came with my order!
The Spanish rice was pretty good, not as stellar as my former brother in laws… but it held up in a pinch!
Anyway, if you are having a papusa craving in the South Bay stop into Vickys! Oh, and you can’t be the 2 for $ 3 papusa nites on Mondays! Their prices are excellent!

This is my friend’s favorite place for pupusas so I finally got to try it out…
There were six of us. three adults and three kids… the bill came out to less that $ 60… cheap eats? I’m all for it!
Each of us had the bean and cheese pupusas which were actually really big and yummy of course… we shared the sope appetizer, the chicken ones, I thought the sopes were good minus the chicken I’m far too picky with my chicken but the sope itself was great… sour cream, lettuce, onions, guacamole… fried goodness…
I got the horchata which wasn’t as good as I’ve experienced elsewhere but she said is was «Salvadorean Horchata» I didn’t realize they had a special variety? I don’t know, I’ll skip it next time though…
We tried three of the desserts the empanadas which had banana and custard but totally tasted like banana baby food fried with cinnamon… no good…
The fried plantains were good with a caramel sauce over them…
Their flan was wonderful, extremely creamy custardy goodness… definitely a fan of that!
Down side?
The server had a look of death in her eyes… there was a hair in the salsa… and the chips were nothing to write home about…
Seriously, I would come back here… might avoid the salsa… but they have a combo that sounds like a good time with a pupusa, enchilada, and casamiento that might need a try…

I don’t know what’s taken me so long to get here, but lord knows I will be coming here again, and again, and again (you get the picture). I don’t know how I have managed to miss out on Pupusas for all this time, but I intend on making up for lost time. Delicious I tell you.
Now I am a carb-​a-​holic, so if you are not the same, then perhaps this is not the food for you. But for me, chicken and cheese filled little pockets of goodness (or some of their other varieties that I have every intention of trying) with a side of ride and beans, or maybe even a tamale to share with your dinner partner makes for an excellent, not to mention cheap meal.
The food is good, the price is right, and I’ve been in twice now and the place is almost empty, so you really don’t have to worry about waiting. What’s not to like?

People! Frequent Vicky’s!
We were in there on Tuesday to get take-​out and it was dead dead dead. I was so sad to see it so quiet in here, esp during a slow economic time.
This place is a cheap alternative to cooking at home, we got a combo meal with tamal, pupusa, beans and rice and curtido along with a free drink for something like $ 8.00 out the door, I kid you not! Plus you don’t have to do anything but call and drive to get it. Easy easy.
They re-​organized it inside too so it seems a better layout than before. and they have Karaōke on Fridays… woot. GO HERE. GET FOOD. NOW.

I’m reviewing just for the pupusas + karaōke.
They offer a range of different pupusas including just cheese for the veggie folks. I thought they were pretty good. I’m not exactly sure how it’s eaten but they bring hot sauce and some type of cabbage sourkourt so naturally, I put everything together and it was pretty good. Without the cabbage stuff, it’s fine that way as well.
They have a large selection of spanish/​mexican songs and a small/​decent size for american songs. It seems like they’re lacking on recent songs.
The space is large and can accommodate pretty large groups.

You can’t go wrong with Salvadorian food. Even if it sucks, you never spend more than $ 10, so the impact on your wallet is minimal.
Vicky’s was ac cool little spot that Flor invited us to.
I liked that they had soccer on the TV. Any Salvadorian place with baseball or anything but soccer on the TV should be stripped of its license.
I had the pan con pavo and it was tasty. It fell apart on me, but I still ate it up.
Their licuado (smoothie) was good.
I’m glad they had parking and took atm cards (something a lot of the salvy places I have been to lack).
I would go back if I lived in the neighborhood.

My first pupusa experience provided to me by the lovely Flor D… and Vicky of Vicky’s of course. ;-) Loved it!
Highlights:
— Got to try yummy new food that I have never had before: El Salvadorian. :-) I can’t think of the last time I got to try a brand new type of food so it was really exciting.
— Pupusas in general: liked them a lot. To me it’s a hapa kid of a mexican flour tortilla and a mediterranean fluffy pita.
– Pork, bean, and cheese (revuelta): my fave. Great blend of savory flavors mixed all together. Super duper tasty!
– Cheese: great but more plain quesadilla ordinary to me inside compared to the meat one. Big perk here is the crusty cheese you get on top of parts of it. Yum!
– Ranchera: like red enchilada sauce but with fresh chunks of tomatoes and peppers. My 2^nd favorite. This is great with the cheese one to add flavor.
–Rice flour: like having this option. It was heavier and a bit crispier than the corn, but I think I prefer the original corn.
— Ensalada drink: like spa water but bit sweeter and more lettuce-​y. ;-)
— Price: I got 2 for under $ 10 and it filled me up.
— Owners: seemed very nice, friendly, and happy to have us there. Felt like we were at their dinner table while they were in their kitchen cooking for us.
Lowlights (my flip side to highlights):
— Kola champan: super sweet orange drink. To me was a mix bubblegum and mango with carbonation. Flavor was interesting but not my favorite just cause I’m not into super syrupy sweet drinks.
— It took a long time to get our orders – but I assume they were pumping them all out in back and were definitely fresh when they hit our table.
— Pretty empty: more people should know about and patronize the place!
— Not sure if I’d be intimidated to go back without A trusty native speaker. :-O
Flor, thanks for the introduction! I’m on the pupusa lovin train now and I“ll be back for more!

I was surprised when I realized this was the place on the reviews because a few years ago, I was going to come and try their pupusas, but I guess the sign with the 2 pupusas for $ 3 seemed too much like KFC or some other chain, so I had refrained.
Fast forward about 2 – 3 years later and low and behold, I find this place with pretty good reviews. The pupusas were good, very cheesy, and their salsa has a pretty nice flavor and is thicker and more flavorful than most Salvadorean salsas that are made for pupusas. All in all… I may still like the flavor at Sabor Salvadoreno off of Lawrence better, but these definitely hit the spot and were on par enough that I would choose this place if I happen to be in the area…
*I really liked the combo deal with a taco, pupusa, casimiento (beans and rice) and a soda for under 7 bucks. Chips were blah. but the pupusas are where its at!

43 008 update– UYE was great. Met Vicky herself who was wonderful and very nice. I was happy to find out that they serve rice pupusas. Moreover, glad this little mom and pop shop has karaōke and love for Unilocalers!
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30 408 update OH YEAH… AND IT’S CURTIDO…
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Went with Beth and Mara. They loved it and I was happy. I had a cheese pupusa, and it was still solid. I even grabbed a Kola Champan again and had some sweets. Great solid place.
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If you have not had «ensalada» or Pan Dulce… then go grab some! Many choices… even if you are not into food from El Salvador. I could swear that on Mondays they have $ 1.25 pupusas and karaōke. Don’t be scared, and if you are not into beef, you could get a cheese pupusa-​like a quesadilla but just fatter and better (key word fatter). Support the cuisine from my native land, because pupusas are all the rage… just make sure you order Kolashampan for a drink. It’s like fanta… but so much better! Gotta love the café con leche and the fact that you could go to the counter and just get Pan Dulce. So glad it’s by my house!