A Taste of El Salvador; Pupuseria Salvadorena

I planned to be in Nashville to take my daughter to her Vanderbilt appointment and told her, since she was the one undergoing treatment, she could chose the restaurant from the list available on Restaurant.Com. After some thought, she determined she wanted Pupusas. I had no idea what Pupusas were, so I knew this would be a different dining experience. We had no trouble finding the restaurant, which was decorated in a traditional El Salvadoran manner. I read some of the reviews online and the patrons warned there could be a language barrier. I wasn’t worried, as I was accompanied by my son-in-law, who works as an interpreter and translator, but the waitress spoke flawless English. He read us reviews, all written in Spanish, from their Facebook page, praising the traditional cuisine, so I knew this would be an authentic taste of El Salvador.
pan de pollo

The menu is rather limited as the focus is mainly on Pupusas, but a few other dishes like burritos and pan con pollo (bread with chicken.) The restaurant was full and the items are made to order, so there was a short wait for our items. While we waited, we sipped on our imported Cokes and a Horchata, a sweetened drink made of cinnamon and rice. My son had Horchata once before and declared this one “was a million times better.”

pupusas
Pupusas
curido
Curido

Three of us ordered the pupusa de loroco, a mixture of cheese and loroco, which is a vine with edible flowers, and a mixed pupusa, made of pork, beans and cheese.  The pupusa itself is a thick handmade corn tortilla, stuffed with filling. This was served with curtido, a lightly fermented cabbage slaw made with red chilies and vinegar.  We were also given a rojo and verde sauce.  Warning: Both of these were spicy! My son ordered the Pan Con Pollo and seemed slightly put off to be required to debone the chicken himself. Once this was accomplished, he dug in and declared it, “Two thumbs up! I’d come back and eat this again.” This is high praise coming from a teenager.

horchata
Horchata

My favorite was the pupusa de loroco, with the melting, gooey cheese in each bite. The best part of the meal? The price. Two pupusas were only $5 and were very filling.  The one downside? The restaurant is small and was packed the entire time we were there. Otherwise, it you are in the mood for authentic El Savadoran cooking and like filling meals for a low cost, this is the place! Have you ever tried pupusas?
Pupuseria salvadorena

I am a member of the restaurant.com review crew. I receive compensation and restaurant.com gift certificates, but all opinions are my own.

43 Comments

  1. That food looks amazing. I would love to try that!

  2. The food looks delicious! I have always been very pleased with my Restaurant.com experiences. Thanks for sharing!

  3. All of it looks good, but I think I’d like the pupusas the best. Reminds me of Naan… if I spelled that right!

  4. This food looks so delicious. I will have to try it if i am ever in the area.

  5. That sounds really good! I have never had El Salvador food before. It sounds like it would be really good!!

  6. What a great culinary experience. I like trying foods from other cultures. It feels like I am traveling

  7. I have not heard of this dish, but how cool that your daughter knew about it! We are in Knoxville, and will be in Nashville this summer. We will check this restaurant out.

  8. Pupusas sound really good right now. I’m ready for some Salvadorian food 😛

  9. Wow, I’ve never tried Salvadorian food either! Glad you guys had a good day! I love trying new restaurants!

  10. Hi Pam – would love to have the recipes for some of these items – looks like a great new taste sensation and Wow!

  11. That’s a new one on me! I didn’t know there were restaurants that specialized in food from El Salvador! The food looks great though!

  12. The pupusas look tasty! I have never heard of them before, but they do look really yummy!

  13. Ok those Pupusas look delicious! Will definitely remember them when I spot it on a menu!

  14. This looks so yummy, I would love a nice piece of chicken!

  15. That looks like an interesting sandwich in the first picture. It is great exploring the dishes from other cultures

  16. I don’t think I have ever had Salvadorian food, but this looks so good!

  17. How fun that you got to try a new culture dish. I love too that you had your family translator with you…just in case. 😉

  18. Yum! Everything looks so good and so fresh! I bet these dishes are amazing!

  19. This place sounds delicious. I love trying new foods and places.

  20. An inexpensive tasty meal that;s filling is a winner for me. Its kind of a bitter sweet situation when a Restaurant is packed which means its popular. On the other hand it feels like you are being hurried to eat

  21. Wow this looks amazing! I would love a bite of that right now!

  22. I love all types of Spanish foods. This all looks delicious

  23. I LOVE Pupusas!! I lived in Guatemala years ago for a short time and that was the first time I tried them. I actually live in Nashville now so I will definitely check this place out!

  24. I had pupusas for the first time last year and they are amazing. I ate 7 of them! I was shocked how long they took to prepare.

  25. Yummy HORCHATA! Give me

  26. I’ve never had pupusa! Curtido sounds really good considering it’s spicy. I’d love trying that out!

  27. I love restaurant.com. I haven’t gone to nearly as many restaurants since I moved to Florida because the options are more limited. I do love the service though.

  28. I love food from other cultures and the food here sounds like I would like it.

  29. Yum! That looks so good. I don’t try new foods often enough and I need to. I miss out on good stuff like this!

  30. Yum! All these dishes look amazing. This is totally the kind of restaurant I would become a regular at. – Katy

  31. I love eating foods from other cultures and have always enjoyed Latin dishes. This restaurant serves some big and delicious portions.

  32. I went to school at Vanderbilt but don’t recall this restaurant. the food does look delicious though

  33. I spent 11 years in Mexico and the foods look very similar. We use to drink horchata all the time.

  34. I have never had this food before but it sounds and looks amazing. What great dishes.

  35. It looks like the food was really good. I am always interested in trying new things. I will check this place out next time I am in Nashville.

  36. I am coming to Nashville in May for the BlogPaws Conference and need to check this out – ty

  37. I had pupusas in El Salvador, and they were wonderful!!! The next time I am in Nashville, I will definitely be visiting this place.

  38. This sounds like such a unique place! I don’t think I’ve ever tried Salvadorian food, but I’d like to try it. Your photos look delicious!

    • I need to do some research on Restaurant.com to see if there are any local restaurants like this. I’d love to try some similar dishes.

  39. We haven’t tried Salvadorian food yet. I would love to try it!

  40. I have a restaurant.com certificate I need to remember to use up. I just keep forgetting about it.

  41. Robin (Masshole Mommy)

    I love trying foods from different cultures. It sounds like the food at this restaurant is amazing.