Flores Family Restaurant

So delicious! Get the Salvadoran enchiladas. They look like what we think of as tostadas, but are so flavorful! We like the chicken Salvadoran enchiladas. The pupusas are wonderful. Not too greasy and very tasty. Tamales are wrapped in the leaves in the s. American style (not the corn husks) and are always moist and yummy.

I’m glad i made the trip out here! I had a craving for cheese papusas and coming from downstate there are no papusas spots upstate (syracuse & rochester) areas at ALL! I had a conference in Saratoga Springs and decided to make a B line here, so glad I did!!! The papusas were so cheesyyyy and good. The salsa was nice and mild, the fried pork was greasy and juicy. We ordered a bunch of food and ate bits of it. big portions, lots of leftovers. Good food! I was sad they ran out of yuca but everything else was good. If you’re not hung up on fancy and can ignore the bright colors, lime green walls, huge speakers and blasting musica and just chill and enjoy a good meal… you’re in for a treat! so good.

The food is delicious but the décor and overall «feel» of the place leaves a lot to be desired. Next time we will stick with take out!

Really delicious food, cheese papusas are especially delicious. Pork lovers should get the chicharron con yuca. Personal favorite was the rellena potate, super crispy potato surrounding a savory beef mixture. Don’t pass on the chips and beans either. Great food, good price, friendly server. Will be back.

Love there food but don’t expect good service!!! Rude staff so good for take out…

Maybe we got here too close to opening on a Sunday but this place was a HUGE let down. The food was mediocre — the crema was watered down, i mean it was super runny. No sign of any café con leche… I think the stuff was instant coffee — again, tasted like coffee flavored water. The beans were also ridiculously runny. I was hopeful that we had found a place for our much beloved Central American breakfast but this place did not at all hit the spot. The topper was the amount of filth everywhere. There were dead flies on the window sill and floors, a ton of dirt and debris everywhere. Seeing this just triggered my OCD, particularly when we sat down to tables with heavy table clothes — who knows how long they had been sitting there.
OH and for the love of all that is holy it is PUPUSA NOT PaPusa

Get the chicharrones and yuca… really nice plate of fried yet not over-​greasy satisfaction. Unlike in Mexico where it means fried pork skin, here chcarrones are morsels of meaty pork that are nicely counterbalanced by the starchy yuca chunks. You also get a tiny cup of the house curtido which is more complex than what I am familiar with from Salvador, like a ceviche without the fish.
Pupusas disappointed (tried the revuelto and loroco). Not enough filling and here the small amount of curtido became a serious problem and I had to add my own from home. There’s also an odd tomato «salsa» that would be more at home as dipping for mozz sticks.
The décor is bare bones which some find charming, but I find like a thousand other places in Mexico or the southwest. Menu is tiny and service is by a couple of teenagers who are more interested in their electronics. I was there at noon on Sunday (only day they serve lunch) and was the only customer. Well, sort of. A gluten-​free couple came in and asked if they use wheat. The cook said «No. Just corn flour and regular flour.» The couple left without ordering.

Really good food in a really bad area. The place needs some updates

Well, I lived in El Salvador in 1990s, about 2 years I was there, I had many pupusas. I know that the one I had in San Salvador and Santa Ana were better than theirs. Maybe, Curtido made the difference. Overall Flores pupusas are one of the best in Albany area, I would try it again. Two things, they didn’t have Pilsner and Gallo when I visited. I miss those beers.

Authentic Peruvian and salvadorian dishes. Delicious. The papa rellena is to die for. I also love the pupusas. Don’t come if you need fancy décor. Do come if you want great food from a family run restaurant with telemundo playing in the background.

Holy cow the food was awesome. Really good. Pork chops were awesome.
The papa rellena was one of the best things I have eaten in a long, long time.
Will be going back for sure.

A super find but you really have to look past the cosmetics here, which are all «colorful», starting with the piles of discarded beer bottle tops and empty cigarette packs in the parking lot to the bathroom that was last cleaned when Duran Duran was at the top of the charts. Stay the course and enter! You will be glad.
The interior is a small and homey mélange of decorations from El Salvador and Peru (the guide to new El Salvador currency from about 25 years ago was especially useful) and as earlier reviewers noted, you will get a chance to practice your Spanish or your pointing. But, the menus have pictures and reasonable translations to go with the odd stains, all of which give you a pretty good guide.
Very friendly staff and «regulars», who regaled our birthday celebrant with a chorus of ‘Happy Birthday’ and were attentive without being intrusive. It seemed half the things we asked for were out (seemingly the Peruvian half) but that’s a sort of nice guarantee that what they do cook is fresh. The pupusas and empanadillas lived up to the billing, and we enjoyed the pickled cabbage salad and home made salsas quite a bit.
We are very fond of hole in the wall restaurants where you go in and get somebody else’s home cooking you can’t do yourself, and Flores is muy autentico, muy saboroso, and muy economico. ¡Hay que ir!

Ok let’s see! Am from south Florida so I eat a lot Peruvian and salvadorian food! This place is good! In the kitchen you have 100% salvadorian and Peruvian people making the food!
This place is really a hole on the wall nothing fancy! You have Christmas, hollowing, thanksgiving and everything betwin for decoration! And about 15 small flags from south and Central America. Bathrooms need also some help!
However the Food is really good! I have the pupusas revueltas and one tostada! Next day I had Mondongo (only on Sunday) then I went back on Monday and I have Lomo Saltado! Yea I went 3 days back to back! And all was done fresh so you do wait a bit! And I have to go as well! All meals always under 15 bucks with drinks!
If you have a date don’t come here is not pretty! But if you already have a lady then yes come and eat some really good food! By the way am Puertorican! So I know Spanish food and eat anything!

It’s authentic homemade Latin American food! I’d love to eat here more often, though it means driving all the way from Troy to Schenectady :)

Authentic Mexican Food. Excellent, and great service!

«Peru by Way of El Salvador»
by Josh K.
Most people would be off put when you enter a restaurant and are greeted solely in Spanish and see the walls decorated with gaudy and unsophisticated posters, international flags, ribbons, and colored paper advertising random food items such as «steak», «flan», «taco», and «cervesa».
Not me. I welcomed this refreshing change.
Getting to practice Spanish with the friendly lone operator and eating some authentic Latin food in a restaurant that looks like it came right out of a Lima barrio, is a privilege I don’t often get to revel in, especially in the Capital Region.
And the thought of having my much beloved Central American staple, Papusas, which sustained me cheaply, yet deliciously for months in 2009 whilst traveling the region, but haven’t had since, was excitement magnified.
And before we get too far along — yes, I know papusas (cornmeal pancakes filled with re-​fried beans and cheese, accompanied by slaw and tomato sauce) are El Salvadorian (Central America) and this restaurant is Peruvian (South America). But there are other items on the menu that are also from El Salvador (see Enchiladas). I will have to find out how this came to be. Perhaps it’s to appeal to the growing El Salvadorian population living in Schenectady…
In any event with a party of four, we decided to sample a lot of different appetizers and entrees from the expansive menu.
We ordered:
— Papusas con frijoles and queso
— Chicharron and fried yucca
— Tilapia cooked with peppers and onions and accompanied with beans and rice
— Sopa de Pollo (standard chicken soup) with a healthy bowl of white rice
— Carne relleno (fried potato stuffed with seasoned ground beef accompanied by a slaw of onions, carrots, and cilantro)
— Chicken Tamale (in banana leaf)
— Enchiladas (served open-​faced, El-​Salvadorian style)
Although the slaw, tomato sauce and cheese were different from the ones I had in El Salvador, the papusas at Flores were awesome. Perfectly cooked, I really thought I was back in Turialba.
The chicharron was meaty and tender, almost like a fried pork chop. It could have used more skin for that fatty flavor to be more reminiscent of the real pork rind, but I couldn’t help to love it in all its artery-​clogging goodness. The accompanied fried yucca was also delicious; scarfed down quickly like hand-​cut, thick French fries would when accompanied with a juicy burger.
The fish was also very tasty and surprisingly fresh. This was a real hit, as was the ground beef stuffed fried potato. That was awesome.
The only miss of the night was the tamale, which was softer, mealier, and blander than a Mexican version (cooked in a corn husk) or my favorite Nicaraguan Nocatamale (normally served during breakfast).
For a little over 10 bucks a person, Flores warmly invited us into their «home» serving us some authentic Central and South American cuisine.
We really need to get over to Schenectady more often. There is a lot of great culinary wonders awaiting exploration in the Electric City.

Average food but a large selection of Latin dishes.

First of all, thanks Francesca C. for calling out on my order mumbling!
ANYWAY, I was randomly hit with a pretty hard pupusa craving. I typed pupusa into the Unilocal search field really not expecting anything to come up but suprise! Daniel B’s review popped up. (Thanks!)
Unfortunately, it was in Schenectady. I do have a hatred of Schenectady which is kind of like my hatred of Jersey because every time I go to either of those places I get lost. I hate getting lost.
However, I needed to visit Francesca in that place and they had pupusas so I decided to give it another chance.
I’m so glad I did.
While the place is not «nice» in anyway it reminded me of home. Small hole in the wall where the staff speaks little English and the food is bangin. Yup, I said bangin. The decorations look like they went to a restaurant store and bought the whole clearance section. The blinking race-​car sign and the Italian chef framed pictures surrounded by paper cutouts of fish were a couple of my favorites but I wasn’t here for the ambiance. The food is what’s important and everything we ordered was delicious. Unlike F I rather enjoyed the cream and it played well off of the plantains and the tamale. Which tasted less like a traditional tamale and more like corn bread but either way it was yummy.
While I was expecting bean and cheese pupusas, the cheese was great as well. I did bring two bean and cheese pupusas back for the boy and by two I mean one. (The bean and cheese was definitely better.)
The salsa they bought out in a little Tupperware container DID taste store bought and the Louisiana hot sauce on our table was not reminiscent of restaurants at home but you can’t win em all.
After this experience, I shall be returning to Schenectady for this place and all of the other places that I’ve always wanted to try here. Oh, and I guess to visit my friend.

When my friend/​fellow Unilocaler, Amber F, said she wanted to check out the Flores Family Restaurant, I was skeptical for a few reasons. First, because this would be the first time Amber would drive «all the way to Schenectady» since I moved here (and left her in Troy) so I didn’t believe she would actually show up. Second, it’s on the not-​so-​great part of State Street that I wouldn’t imagine a delicious restaurant would be. Lastly, I’ve never had Peruvian food.
As skeptical as I was, the fact that Amber DID show up made me excited to try new food despite it’s location. As a vegetarian, I was pleased with my options but later discovered that more than half of what we ordered wasn’t Peruvian anyways, but regardless, it was tasty. We ordered bean & cheese pupusas (although the waitress’ misunderstanding of English combined with Amber’s mumbling got her just cheese pupusas), platanos maduros (plantains) and a corn tamale which were all super delicious. The tamale and plantains were accompanied by plastic ramekins containing what the menu identified as «cream». To me, it tasted like mayonnaise so I didn’t care for it even with the sweetness of the plantains.
The bill came to just under $ 20 and that was for two people + 2 pupusas to take home. I still can’t get over how incredibly inexpensive this place was considering how delicious it was.
The «cheapness» definitely shows in the décor but I honestly didn’t mind it because the food was that good. What I did mind was how loud the music was and how obnoxious reggaeton is but other than that, the place was great and I will eat here again!

I am so happy that I may very well eat myself into oblivion.
There are not a lot of authentic ethnic restaurants in the area, much less ones that offer authentic regional cuisine. Sure we have a few Latin restaurants, but never would I have imagined there would be a Peruvian restaurant in Schenectady.
Pupusas are here.
They’ve got the trifecta: Cheese filled, bean & cheese filled, and pork & cheese filled. They’ve got Peruvian tamales, wrapped in a banana instead of the traditional Mexican cornhusk. They’ve got plantains served with cream. They have fried yuca. They have fried yuca that comes with fried pork, with generous amounts of unctuous pork fat.
Don’t be the ugly American and trim the fat, only to leave it uneaten on the side of the plate. I’ve been told by a trusted source, it’s very good for the complexion.
Plus they have regional beverages: Sodas, beers and purple corn based soft drinks.
The prices are very reasonable. I don’t think anything was over $ 12 and they have several items that are less than $ 3. The service is friendly and English speaking (although I was greeted in Spanish and very much appreciated it). The menu has loose English translations, but the hand written specials do not.
It’s a small place, probably fewer than 10 tables, and a counter that at one time used to be a bar. It’s only open for lunch on Sunday. And when I went at 1 p.m. this past weekend, the place was busy, but I had no problem getting a seat.
In all honesty, this isn’t really a 5* Peruvian restaurant. The food is certainly solid, but probably between 3* and 4*. The bonus comes from a combination of value and authenticity, and the giddy excitement of finding pupusas in Schenectady.