La Santaneca

San Francisco, United States

3.6

Open now

22 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards

Contacts

QR code, vCard

Telephone:
+1 415-648-1034
Address:
3781 Mission St, San Francisco, CA, 94110
b/t Park St & Richland Ave
Bernal Heights
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
0.2 miSan Jose & Randall St‎
0.4 mi30th and Dolores
0.5 miChurch & 29th St
Categories:
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Bussiness info

Takes Reservations
No
Delivery
No
Take-out
Yes
Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Accepts Apple Pay
No
Good For
Dinner
Parking
Street
Bike Parking
No
Wheelchair Accessible
Yes
Good for Kids
Yes
Good for Groups
Yes
Attire
Casual
Ambience
Casual
Noise Level
Average
Alcohol
No
Outdoor Seating
No
Wi-Fi
No
Has TV
Yes
Waiter Service
Yes
Caters
No

Today

Today 10:30 am – 11:00 pm
Open now
Local time (San Francisco) 2:48 PM Wednesday, July 2, 2025

Business hours

Monday –
Tuesday 10:30 am – 11:00 pm
Wednesday 10:30 am – 11:00 pm
Thursday 10:30 am – 11:00 pm
Friday 10:30 am – 3:00 am
Saturday 10:00 am – 3:00 am
Sunday 10:00 am – 11:00 pm

Description

Specialties

We have different soups of the day and specials that are available daily. Come try them…

Tuesday & Friday: Sopa de Gallina India

Wednesday: Sopa de Chipilin

Thurs., Sat., & Sun: Sopa de Res

Specials of the day vary.

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History

Established in 1976.

La Santaneca has been in business since November of 1978; 32 years and more to come. Oscar, Idalia, and Nena Carcamo are the owers of the business and have created delicious and unique recipes for their customers to remember. The restaurant is a friendly, family atmosphere and we can’t wait to serve you. Please, come visit and try our fantastic food at great prices.

Meet the Manager

Gisel F.

Manager

This is a family business in which many who haven’t tried it, need to come try it. We offer delicious, fast, and authentic Salvadorean & Mexican Food. No other compares. La Santaneca has unique recipes; both for food and their beverages. You will not taste anything like them. Please, come visit us and let us know how we are doing. Hope to see you soon.

Check us out on FB and www​.weeat​ing​.com (episode 15)

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Vicinity

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22 reviews of La Santaneca

No registration required
Place rating: 4
Pleasant Hill, CA
No complaints but menu on Unilocal does need to be updated it says 1.25 when the price is actually a dollar more for everything.
Place rating: 5
San Francisco, CA
If you’re in a hurry, know the wait takes a good while. The pupusas for the price is worth it though! #teamqueso
Place rating: 2
Sunnyvale, CA
I’ve gotten burritos from here many times now (once a week for several months). They are never consistent and rarely listen to my actual order. For example, I always request no sour cream but have maybe had that ask met two times. It’s a mixed bag and you’ll never know if you’re getting a satisfying or consistent meal. I’m thinking I won’t return again.
Place rating: 3
San Francisco, CA
Service is slow. I asked the grandma what they’re known for here and she tells me it’s an el salvadorian place obviously I know what type of restaurant in walking into. I ask the waiter for my ice tea, I didn’t know it takes 30 mins for an ice tea. Totally understaffed, waiter is so unfriendly. Don’t be surprise if I leave you zero tip.
Place rating: 3
San Francisco, CA
We ordered «yuca con chicharrones», the chicharrones were old, old, old. Very disappointed.
Place rating: 4
El Cerrito, CA
I grew up in the neighborhood, so I also grew up on La Santaneca pupusas. My earliest memory of La Santaneca was picking up pupusas during football game days. My Dad would call in the order and we’d run over and pick it up.
I stop in every now and then to pick up pupusas to take home. There may be Salvadoran restaurants in almost every Bay Area city, but there is something about going back to a place you grew up on. Cheesy memories, I know…
Place rating: 3
San Francisco, CA
Came here wanting to try the pupusas since I have always gone to Balompie for pupusas. Ordered the pork and cheese and the zucchini and cheese pupusas. Compared to Balompie, the dough was thicker and had less filling. Although there was more pork, the ratio between the pork and cheese was not equal and the pork was slightly on the dryer side. For the zucchini, I was expecting zucchini chunks but instead got zucchini strips that I was barely able to taste. In the end, it tasted like it was just a cheese pupusa.
Service was also on the slower side even though we went in the morning when the restaurant was not filled. We also ordered the plantains which although had a good level of sweetness, lacked crispiness around the edges and was slightly on the dry side as well.
Overall, I would say the pupusas and plantains do not compare to Balompie. The flavors were still good but if I had a preference, I would probably go back to Balompie.
Place rating: 3
Menlo Park, CA
Great tasting pupusas. Only thing good here actually haha. Horchata there is gross. I prefer the Mexican kind.
Place rating: 5
Santa Rosa, CA
¡Es muy delicioso!
Very much savory soup, which is exactly what I was come in here for. Lovely drink! Too bad I missed the desert but I’m sure it is great in flavor. Portion is good, it takes you to the long way, fulfilling!
Place rating: 3
San Francisco, CA
Pupusas in San Francisco!
I’d never tried had pupusas until I had them in La Santaneca. I now officially dig pupusas! This place is an authentic Salvadorian place that serves plenty of Central American dishes that you may not find in many other locations where the main target clients are Americans or not Latin in general.
I have been there twice now, and I think I’d go there again if I get a chance.
Place rating: 3
Berkeley, CA
TLDR:
— Solid pupusas.
— Generous portions.
— Good service.
Place rating: 5
Berkeley, CA
You will get food comas from eating their pupusas, but they’re off the charts good. And that fermented slaw & salsa… Oh lord.
My favorite were the beans & cheese (1st) and the flower & cheese (2nd). *note: pupusas take time to make, so be prepared for that. This ain’t no taco bell!
The service was friendly & fantastic. I also loved the ambiance of the place.
Place rating: 5
La Verne, CA
Good Salvadoran food. Pupusas were cheesy… horchata was excellent. This place is definitely authentic. My chicken plate was flavorful. The food was served very quickly. We passed the restaurant because they recently changed the exterior. I highly recommend you check out this spot to get away from the touristy area of San Francisco.
Place rating: 4
Playa del Rey, CA
La Santaneca! Went with my friend craving pupusas after a long day of cleaning and homework. We got there, easy parking and ordered. I got the chicken, rice & beans, and cheese & jalapeños pupusas. Even though we got it togo, we still got water and chips & salsas while we waited. Chips and salsa very yummy and fresh. Restaurant small, but cute, you could tell it was family owned/​oriented.
They told us 15 minutes and that’s all it took. We wanted to get an horchata as well because they looked so refreshing and the large looked massive, but we wanted to eat at home… Next time. Service, Restaurant, Cleanliness, Price all good so far…
Now for the pupusas! They came with a bag of pickled cabbage and tomato sauce. So amazing!!! The rice & bean also chicken one were my favorite. All three were very filling and for under 10 $ I was satisfied completely. Will go back again to dine in and try other things! Or be back for more pupusas togo.
Place rating: 5
Napa, CA
Best place to get pupusas in The Mission District, hands down. They’re open until 3am on weekends, for those that go out and need food late night — eat enough pupusas and you’ll tack on some extra pounds lol
The horchata I highly recommend. It’s almost like chocolate, really good. And no dairy in the horchata for those that are lactose intolerant.
Friendly and patient service — only deal about this place, because it’s so good, sometimes it’s packed and you have to wait until you get seated.
Place rating: 4
Pittsburgh, PA
Their chicken pupusa is fantastic. So is the combination pupusa. The horchata seemed a bit disappointing — too much chocolatey. The tamales was good too.
Place rating: 3
Long Beach, CA
We were craving for pupusas, so we checked this place out.
If you are going to take it out, I would suggest call ahead to order.
We were planning on dining it, but it was packed by 7pm.
The wait for 6 pupusas and tamale was long.
The pupusas was alright, tasted better ones here in SoCal.
But the curtido and the salsa were really good!
The pork tamale was really really soft like baby food lol.
Overall, long service and alright food.
Place rating: 1
San Francisco, Estados Unidos
Espero que la dueña del negocio vea este mensaje hoy 6⁄315 desde las 8:05pm sentados esperando la comida 1:10 después el mesero llega y dice que perdió el ticket de mi orden que que fue lo que ordene WTF seriuosly /​/​/​this is the worse place to eat seriously the waiter it’s useless and incompetent more than an hour waiting for my food and this guy comes out and ask I’m sorry what did you order we lost the ticket
Place rating: 4
Fremont, CA
On our outing around the city, we wanted to try pupusas, and apparently this place is known for it. Now I’m not sure what makes a pupusa delicious, but I was pretty damn impressed with the ones here.
We split one with cheese and another mixed cheese and pork. The outside was very piping hot, yet soft, while the inside was just oozing with cheese. Dip it into the sauce that’s provided, it’s great! They were huge portions also, and relatively cheap as well!
We also ordered yucca frita, which were fried nicely and remained juicy inside. It also came with cole slaw, which I didn’t particularly care for as it was dry and too stringy for my tastes.
Nice, quaint place, and if I’m around, I’ll be back!
Place rating: 4
San Francisco, CA
Yummmmmmmmm. Rice pupusas. Need I say more?
They open late. Perfect for after the bar scene. To get those munchy cravings out of your system.
Place rating: 3
South Lake Tahoe, Estados Unidos
la orden de tilapia estuvo buena
solo que el pescado estuvo muy cocinado
deberia de haber quedado un poco menos cocinado y hubiera estado perfecto
pero añoa anteriores he probado tamales de elote y me an paracido deliciosos
Place rating: 4
Sacramento, CA
I have never met a pupusa I didn’t like, but these pork and cheese pupusas have me ready to propose.
Tried the bean and cheese, and some kind of enchilada also. The enchilada was more like a tostada, so don’t expect your typical Mexican enchilada. It was okay. The bean and cheese pupusa was great. But, I really wish I had just ordered 3 pork and cheese pupusas. The pork is seasoned nicely; so flavorful. The pork wasn’t just dry carnitas. I would really like to know how they season up that porky goodness. Still haven’t found another pork pupusa that compares. Damn it. Shoulda put on ring on it!