Pupuseria Doña Azucena

I remember coming here back when I went to University of Maryland. I know what you are wondering how come I have never reviewed any places in College Park? Well, I hardly ever ate in College Park. The food in College Park cater to College pricks so I would always venture for the surrounding ethnic cuisine. College Park establishments DO NOT need my money; they are making plenty enough from drunken college lards.
The surrounding neighborhoods: Langley Park, Riverdale, Adelphi, Berwyn Heights, New Carrollton do not receive the same infrastructure and care that College Park gets. Why do cities and counties believe it is okay to marginalize neighborhoods? It is not okay for government to let places go to crumble because they do not wield as much power or leverage to enact change. You truly believe the College Park students are going to stay in the College Park area or surrounding neighborhoods giving back to the area. That is a load of malarkey. Students are looking to graduate and gtfo and become yuppies. PG County can care about the money makers: Central and Southern PG and College Park.
At any rate, Pupuseria Dona Azucena is great. The food is incredible. They are a factory of Salvadorean food. They get incredible business from the locals which make parking extremely tight and difficult. There is an employee whose job is to direct traffic in its modest parking area. The worker would make you wait in the parking lot until a car leaves, which often leave when a dine-​in patron is finished eating which can take upwards of twenty minutes. Try avoid coming here during peak lunch hours and after 6pm.
I usually get pupusa de revueltas y platanos con crema y frijoles. They give a hearty amount of curtidos and salsa. One of the best pupuseria in the area as can be inferred from the lack of English spoken here.

I absolutely loooooove their steaks. It’s always so juicy and the serving portions are phenomenal! The best part about it is that it’s only $ 9! Can you imagine that! I get a large steak, rice and beans with a salad for the low price of $ 9. No wonder I come here so often!

it took them 45 mines to get my pupusas but the place was packed I understand. dont go on a sunday hungry the service is slow too many people there.

Spanish language skills are a real plus. Pupusas revueltas are great and come with a healthy amount of cabbage salad. The horchata is not the sweet Mexican variety, rather ii is the healthier Salvadoran version. Sundays can be absurdly crowded. Weekdays and weeknights are the better choice. Would both repeat and recommend.

This is a no– frills pupuseria. It a good place to practice your Spanish– pretty sure no one really spoke English. I got a little bit of everything since there aren’t any near me. Friend 1 got the pupusa loca and thought it was very good. The sauce that came with it had a kick with it. She said it was good enough she would go back. Friend 2 got pupusas (pork and the other was bean) and platanos. Really good and she thought it was a good portion. You definitely could get one or two pupusas with a side and be full. I got the tamale con gallina (chicken tamale) and pupusa de maiz and arroz. I preferred the maiz but both were good :) we came a little late and they had no problem closing our tab early and cleaning around us. Although pine-​sol filled the air, we did get free empanadas since they had leftovers. Food is delicious (about a 4) but the lack of customer service and presentation bring it to a 3.

This is my second time. First time was that good i had to come back. Some of the best pupusas i have had.

I’ve been coming here since 1996 when it was just a small hallway and packed with customers on a non-​stop basis. I’m happy to see it still in business even though it isn’t as good as it was before. It’s still good though, don’t get me wrong, especially considering all the other pupuserias in the area.
I always order the carne asada ($ 10) and pupusas (~$ 1.50/ea).
You won’t be disappointed if you’re not picky

This has been my go to Pupuseria since the late 80s! My parents remember when she started in her house doing pupusas. To this day I still get excited going and waiting for hot pupusas out of the griddle!

The price is good and food is good and friendly nice steak and good appetite The drink is the best. The rice with popkin seed

I give 5 starts for their food and pupusas and 3 starts for customer service
Their food is very traditional, menu has considerable food options, and everything is delicious.
Parking: you can park by the Dentist’s office parking next to this place.
The things I didn’t like about this place even though, they have space they don’t use the entire place and makes people to wait and bathrooms need more attention.

I had a very good experience. A friend and I tried out papusas for the first time and it was pretty yummy. Also tried the plantain empanadas. Tasted as you would expect them to. The staff (at least that we encountered) do not speak English but it was okay, still easy enough to talk to them. Very obvious that el Salvadorians eat here, as we were the only English speaking Americans in there. That’s a good indicator you are getting good authentic food. The silverware and utensils are plastic, but my friend and I both ate for a grand total of $ 10 so that must be why they do it.
If you’re looking for a new experience and to try other cultures’ food, then I recommend giving this place a try.

I was so excited to come here after looking at the reviews. I expected fresh and flavorful food. Unfortunately what I got was terrible service and a lot of disappointing food. I got 2 pupusas locas, and my friend got a chicken pupusa and carne asada. The melon-​piña juice had more pulp than juice which made that distasteful. But the real issue here was the presentation and the food itself. Served with plastic utensils on a piece of wax paper over a plastic plate with holes throughout, it was impossible to cut nicely. The pupusa itself was very bland and ingredients tasted old and not fresh. They put one on top of the other and It was so soggy it fell apart when you tried to move one… Some bites were bland and others were saltier than the ocean. The Curtido had no taste and the salsa tasted straight from the can. Very unpleasant. My friend did not enjoy his food either. The carne asada wasn’t bad but it wasn’t good he said. On top of everything it was bring your screaming kids to the restaurant day and that also made for a very unpleasant dinner. Flies were present, and I asked why my yuca frita was charged more than was on the menu and the guy behind the counter argued with me telling me I was wrong when the menu was right next to and above him. Completely disrespectful and the staff as a whole looked unhappy to be there too. Never going back.

The service sucks but the food is awesome. That’s why you always call ahead and get it to go. I’ve been coming here since I was a little girl and I haven’t found a place yet that has better pupusas.
Always. ALWAYS. Get the Carne Asada. You will not be disappointed. Put a little lime on it and it’s perfect. Also, get an Horchata. When you do all this you have the best meal. Eat slowly because it’s filling. Make sure to enjoy every bite :)

While visiting friends in Silver Springs my husband wanted to have salvadorian food. I called and ordered food from here for take out and it was ready when we arrived. I had cheese pupusas, my son had chicken tamales, and my husband had steak. The food was very good and the prices were very reasonable. My husband is from El Salvador and he stated that the food is very authentic and much better than the only salvadorian restaurant near us in Schenectady, NY.

I ordered 10 pupusas they said it will be 45 mins to make 10 pupusas but that’s not the worst part I get there and I’ve got to wait 15 mins cause no one was at the register to help me and once they do they tell me that no one took my order and that it will be another 45 min wait
Horrible service DONT GO THERE!!!
I wrote this acouple weeks ago and it never got sent in
So I said you know what maybe I was just having a bad day so I was in the mood for pupusas and that’s the closest place to me so I called about an hour and 20 mins ago and they said it would take 45 mins for the food to be done I got here 40 mins after I called when I got here my pupusas were done and the waitress said she couldn’t find my carne asada and they said I had to wait because they just put another one on the grill
This place is so un organized and unprofessional

I gave it a one star Because it is not what it use too be
I went yesterday and the food they gave me wasn’t even cook well
I rather go to el comalito which is up the street from this place and it so much better

Brought my parents that visited from Texas. We had a pretty big table. (15) we had to wait for our table. Once we sat down our waitress looked like she was not having it. I asked questions about certain plates and would roll her eyes at me. Then she had some orders wrong. It was 6 popusas. And came back with 3 cheese and the other 3 different ones. The other half took 20 mins to come out. Took forever. The popusas were dry and cold. Not the best experience I had.

Very delicious pupusas but do try the fried fish and the steak platters. They are fantastic and reasonably priced. The service is also very friendly and they take the time to explain the menu.

Cheap, delicious food with friendly service. It’s worth the drive — currently my favorite spot for pupusa!
5 stars

Absolutely the best! I’ve been coming here since I was a child. The food is amazing. They have a variety of authentic cuisine like the sopa de mondongo (not everyone serves this in the area). The pupusas are the staple dish to go for and they have many different kinds so go ahead and order one of each, they’re delicious! If not, order the carne asada. Whatever you decide to order you will never be disappointed.

Great pupusas nice atmosphere love the horchata. But the service is very slow. Our waitress for got my drink I ask her again for a horchata and for got it again. I ask her for more curtido for my pupusas 15 minutes later I got it. Is a slow monday night. I get that people like this place but a good service is very important to me. I don’t think I will be going to azusena’s place again unless I order my food for pick up.

The carne asada is the best I have ever tasted as well as the pupusas. This place is extremely affordable and you get a good amount of food.
I would recommend it to anyone.

Great! The pupusas are terrific. We had a variety of pupusas– corn and rice — chayote & queso, bean, and plain queso. We also had the platanos con frijoles y crema, nuegados, and horchata. All was delicious. One reviewer commented that there wasn’t enough salsa, but they brought us an enormous soup bowl full of salsa and a similar sized bowl of slaw. Plenty of vegetarian options too. And, contrary to some of the other reviews, our service was excellent. Our waiter came to the table right away, was friendly, and attentive. We will be back!

This place has the best rice pupusas that I have had!
Stopped by here because I was unfortunately unable to satisfy my craving for pupusa elsewhere. Service was ok, typical of a pupusa place. You walkin and sit down at your leisure, and the waitress will attend to you if she notices. Other than that this place is the best pupuseria I have found in this area. The revueltas (pork, beans, and cheese) here are unmatched!!! I had the fried plantains with 2 rice revueltas pupusas on the side, and I crushed everything even though I thought I couldn’t eat anymore. I even ordered 4 to go so I can bring them to work and share them with my friends. As long as I live in this area, I will only get pupusas from here. Boss
Este es el mejor lugar para las pupusas de arroz que yo he encontrado en este ciudad.
Hay que probar las revueltas de aqui, son las mejores que yo he comido. Este lugar no es tan ocupado, y no va a esperar mucho tiempo por la comida. Las pupusas de otros lugares no se pueden comparar de este restaurante. Recomiendo que llama la tienda cuando uno esta en camino para que tengan las pupusas listas cuando llegue. Hasta que yo me muevo del cuidad, siempre voy a este lugar para comprar pupusas.

I will seriously disagree with other reviews about the pupusas here. Had the revuelta and the main difference is that they cook it longer so that it is slightly crispy, which I really like. However, there is not much cheese and the dough is a lot thicker then any other place I have been to. There is a good amount of meet inside, they don’t skimp on that.
Overall it is a decent pupusa, better then La Casita but still pales in comparison to Samantha’s right around the corner. The quality, taste, and overall goodness cannot be beat. (At Samantha’s). Plus at Dona they don’t give you adequate salsa for the pupusas!!!
This place makes a run at it but cannot match up.
I also tried the chicken and was disappointed. Slightly dry and really really really lacked flavor. Barely any seasoning and fell really short of what in was hoping for based purely on smell.

If I had a child I would sell them for these papusas. They are that good. What are papusas? Well if you are asking I am truly sorry you do not know yet. I am however excited for you and your taste buds. Papusas are delicious tortilla like circles filled with your choice of cheese, bean, pork, and a mixture thereof. I have had a lot of different papusas, but these take the cake.
Pair your papusas with one of their Horchata drinks and sit back and relax in the throes of taste bud heaven. Horchata is a Salvadoran drink that tastes a bit like oatmeal, but better.
Food this good and the price cannot be beat. I would come here everyday if I lived closer.

Three and half star.
Yes, pupusas are great. I tried bean/​cheese pupusas and salvadorian plant/​cheese pupusas. The 2^nd one didn’t have strong flavor of plant but it does have interesting nice flavor. Something different from usual pupusas.
Fried plantain with soft-​milky filling was interesting too. Another one I tried was Nuegados con chilate (fried light hollow ball w/​sugar syrup and corn porridge). I didn’t know how to combine corn liquid (porridge) to the rest. corn liquid wasn’t sweet. oh well. experiment.
I didn’t like tamale much though. It was a bit denser than I thought. I like fluffy and a bit sweet tamale, and only chicken tamale.
Very friendly service and good sitting area inside.