El Pulgarcito

I LOVED THE FOOD!
I wanted to try something new, and had never had Salvadorian food before. I left completely pleased and fulfilled, already wanting to go back for more. We got a few different pupusas, some tamales, and taquitos to share. Everything was excellent! A warning though, the tamales were basically cornbread and not your typical tamale. Live and learn!
The service was excellent, as the kid who waited on us helped with the menu and explain everything, and was generally concerned that we enjoyed our food and had everything we needed. He was the best service I’ve had in quite some time.
The menu is pretty confusing. Everything is listed as an «appetizer» and quantities and descriptions are a little vague. Pictures are not near their descriptions. The server was good to explain everything — but it could all be fixed with some fine-​tuned menus. Be sure to take time to ask what you are getting, or (like me) if you seem unsure when you order, he might go ahead and clarify what you’ll actually be getting.
The eating area is nothing fancy, but is clean. The bathrooms are pretty disgusting. Needs a good pick-​up, and a nice fresh coat of bleach and it’d be just fine. Parking was very simple with a huge lot and lots of spaces.
The confusing menu and dirty bathrooms are the only things keeping it from 5 stars. I know why there seemed to be so many to-​go orders being picked up while we ate, now!

Great place, I’ve know the owners for years now. Really nice people, great Salvadoran cuisine and good selection of spices. They have great selections of imported mexican sodas and their orchata is amazing. The only thing I recommend, do not come here if you have little time to eat. Since they make everything by hand at the moment you order, your food will take a little more time, compared to other restaurants, to arrive to your table.

Amazing food and very reasonably priced. All I can say is yuca con chicharron! So good! And the tamarindo juice. Took me back to NY!

Great experience and nice service. The best thing here are the tacos (especially the chorizo ones) and the Yuca Frita con chicharron! The pork was slightly fried and was extremely good. Don’t be afraid of the yuca… it’s basically a potato. They come like huge French fries! Great food, people, and prices! Three people are here like kings… for $ 26!

A friend of mine talked me into going back to this restaurant, and I am glad I did! My first visit was thankfully just an off-​day. I got the mixed pupusa, plantains, nuegados, and horchata. It was delicious! My friend had a chicken breast meal that was cooked very well… I took several bites because sharing is caring.
The menu is pretty small, and the prices are cheap. It’s a good restaurant if you want homemade food at a decent price. I go here when I go up Comix City Too!

This place is just Ok. I went to Salvadoran restaurants in California and thought I’d give this one a try. I probably wont go back. I had their tacos and they were just missing something. My daughter had their version of carne asada and it wasn’t bad but it wasn’t good. The portions were small for the price. I don’t recommend this place but it’s not too bad.

Friendly fast service. Great place to practice your Spanish. And a wonderful place to satisfy your taste buds. Expect a second review with pictures and additional details! Definitely worth a second visit.

This was our first Salvadorian experience. We went here with the whole family and bought quite an array of foods.
Our favorites were the papusas ($ 2), tacos dorados and the sopes. The kids taco looked good. The refried beans were tasty.
The service was friendly and attentive. They took care to explain the process of cooking in a helpful way.
I look forward to this place as a lunch destination in the future.

I give this my 5 star stamp of approval for a destination experience in food in the area. Not to say this is a fancy sit down romantic dining experience, this is a foodie experience all the way.
Ordered the appetizer menu, and our server wasn’t sure what we were doing, but she brought out everything two by two like Noah’s ark. And we devoured it all!
The names sound familiar but the food is not what you expect. Got the enchilada and it was more like a weird and tasty tostada concoction. Got tamales and they came with a sweet masa cake thing that was dipped in some kind of cream, but as odd as this sounds it was amazing. I would eat these as a treat just for the heck of it!
They also have authentic menudo and I will return just for a big fat bowl of this. What’s menudo you ask? If you don’t know you don’t want to, it’s just very tasty!

Great Salvadorian food!!! Las pupusas are handmade, the chicharron is perfect — especially with un platano frito. The staff is always friendly and talkative. The food is served hot and fresh. —- A perfect start to any Saturday or Sunday morning is un Café con leche and unas pupusas d chicharron… Yummy!

the hubs and i arrived here, and approached the door, we peeked inside and i had to run back to the car. to grab my passport. and fill out my customs forms.
seriously, this place is aw-​thin-​tic. say it with me. «awww. thin. tic» authentic.
we ordered everything on the appetizer menu. i ventured to try the sauce in the red ketchup bottle. beware. it is HOT. hotter than gerard butler in 300. i couldn’t hang with it honestly. but that’s a good thing.
everything is amazing. not drown in refried beans and cheap sauce to cover up a lack of flavor. it was all amazing
that would be my recommendation: go and order everything on the appetizer menu, just to experience it all.
also, all drinks are served in bottles, so no free-​refills. keep that in mind if you think you can hang with the super hot sauce stuff.

I solely went here because of all the HOT Unilocal reviews. And you guys were right. Its good, affordable and tastes great. It’s in the plaza with Monkey Joe’s /​Home Depot near Rivergate Area.
The waitress was happy to answer our questions. The portions are big. The sauce you put on stuff is spicy. We got some Deserts that looked like donuts and tasted great.
The interior is very basic and nothing fancy. TV on cartoons for the kids. The food came out in a timely manner but there was only 1 other couple there.
I dont know much about Salvadoran Cuisine but I liked everything I ate and left full! Hooray!

My new fave. Fair prices. Many offerings not available at other Latin American places in the area. Gotta try the fried plantains. Papusas are a must have. Sopes are crispy and chewy. The whole tilapia was tasty. The tamales are wrapped in banana leaf as is typical in Central America. The masa was soft and moist and flavourful. The staff is friendly and helpful. Food is made to order, so don’t go there in a rush. Sit back and enjoy some antojitos.

Lots of variety, good prices, clean, clean bathrooms, no alcohol.
Chicken quesadilla, tacos, fried tilapia, rice, rice milk drinks, tamarind drink.
we had a small group of people go eat here and we were the only ones in the restaurant until the end of the meal.
Other diners began streaming in, a little later.
Everything was cooked to order, fresh ingredients and we enjoyed dinner.
The fried fish was especially good. It was tilapia, yet, it wasn’t bad!
It’s a good alternative, for that part of town.

I would honestly want to give this place more stars but I couldn’t. We literally almost passed out from waiting so long for our food.
We had just played 18 holes of golf on a Sunday morning, it was 1:20 p.m., we were starving and dehydrated… sat in our seats and could hardly move an arm, much less converse with our parched mouths. Kitchen was sooooo slow!
The server was very sweet and kind. She was very helpful in explaining what every dish was, however back in the kitchen, they only had one person hand patting every single pupusa made to order. There were quite a bit of people patiently waiting sitting at their tables, but we were feeling toooo ravenous. It took at least 10 minutes to get a drink and then about 40 minutes to receive our food. I thought my intestines were going to stick to each other by the time I got the first bite.
Now in regards to the food, well, it’s Salvadorian cuisine, not Mexican. Don’t get me wrong, I love Salvadorian people, but the food is very different from what I am used to… no hot sauce, no pico, no spice. It’s more on the plain side of taste. The food is well made, but just didn’t have any ‘umph’ to it.
The popular topping in Salvadorian foods is a cabbage cured in vinegar… I’d describe it as ‘the raw saurkraut.’ It is what really adds some taste and texture to the pupusas. Unfortunately, my ‘curtido,’ as they call it, felt griddy as I chewed it… and well… that was my last bite. I couldn’t eat anymore after that. :(
I def recommend this place if you want to check off of your list of international food experiences, however, I wouldn’t sing home about it. :(

No sweet tea boo lol but they do have juices to pick from that are refreshing and fresh tasting plus mexican soda. The papusas are average papusas but the deep fried whole talapia was very good and homemade tortillas are really good also. The rice was fresh and not dry and the beans seemed like black re-​fried beans and had more flavor.

El Pulgarcito (Spanish for Tom Thumb, in case anyone was wondering what the name meant) is pretty legit. The space itself leaves a lot to be desired, with sparse tables and chairs and bare walls. There was also no lighting when I went during the day around 4, just the sunlight coming in from the windows. Not having overhead lighting was weird, so the overall ambience gets like a 2. Service was mediocre, but the food itself is good enough to override that, too.
The horchata was the best I’ve ever had — not too sweet or watery, with the perfect amount of spice. I also had the taco appetizers and couple papusas. Four small tacos came out on corn tortillas and tasted really fresh and flavorful, and the papusas were on point. I’d never had papusas before, so I have no frame of reference, but they tasted amazing.
When Mas Tacos gets too crowded, head down to Madison and check this place out. It’s super cheap too, as I got a drink, appetizer, and entrée for about $ 10.

We ordered a bunch of stuff. Everything was amazing. The service was a little slow but otherwise I highly recommend.

Delicious! A wonderful new addition to Rivergate, an area that is short on local establishments. Service is friendly and efficient, but can be a little slow when busy. My server came to my table three times to tell me my food would be right out. I wasn’t too concerned but it did take a bit longer than it has in the past. I highly recommend the bean and cheese pupusa, it’s fantastic. Most of the beverages are bottled, but the horchata is deliciously creamy and just the right amount of sweet.

As I was driving down Gallatin Rd near Rivergate the other day, my head did a double take at a sign that I saw in the Home Depot shopping strip… Pupuseria Y Taqueria! Oh Joy! I love Salvadorian cuisine and the fact that we now have one on this side of town just shows that I’m living life right. Thank you, Lord! The Pupusas were AMAZING! The owner and staff were so hospitable and truly appreciative of every customer that comes there.
Their hours are great 9 – 9 M-​Th; 9 – 10 F-​S; 9 – 8 Sun. Yep, 9am… be sure to try the breakfast selection too.
A must do short drive for the Inglewood and East Nashville Hipsters. You can thank me later :0)