Cerrito's Pupuseria

Top - Chicken Tamale, Bottom - Corn Tamale

Beef Tongue Taco and Chicken Taco

Pork Pupusa

I have to say, the first time (and second and third, etc...) I heard the word 'pupusa' semi-sexual thoughts came to mind.  It just sounds similar to words my latin friends have thrown out there when they are angry.  A pupusa is a latin appetizer that is similar to a quesadilla.  Key differences are the the shell is made of corn instead of flour and the ingredients (meats or veggies) are ground to a pasty consistency instead of whole parts.  The process originated in El Salvador many years ago.  Anyway, I was on the hunt for something new with a friend of mine and I read some yelp reviews on Cerrito's Pupuseria as a great little dive restaurant.  Perfect Saturday lunch idea!

The reviews weren't kidding around when they called this place a hole in the wall.  It truly is a dive. After dealing with some peculiar looks from some central american regulars, I grabbed a seat in the back with my friend. Unlike some dives I've been to, this one actually didn't make me worry about the cleanliness of the food or the tables.  Although, as my server wiped our tabletop down with windex, I resisted the urge to tell her that while I appreciate a streak-free table, it's a better idea to use something that disinfects and isn't actually toxic for humans to ingest!


The menu is a tiny little trifold piece of colored paper.  Get your glasses out if you don't see well.  It was officially the smallest menu I've seen. Everything here is cheap, cheap, cheap.  Their clientele clearly appear to be working-class latin locals that want a cheap bite to eat on their way home.  Why do they come?  For the tacos, tamales, pupusas and the El Salvadorian soups.  I was able to try everything except the soup which appears to be a favorite; especially the "hen" soup.

Tacos - These open, soft shell tacos remind me of the ones I get in Costa Rica or Mexico.  Corn shells, not flour.  The ingredients were fresh.  I opted to get the beef tongue and chicken tacos while my friend sampled the carne asada taco.  The consensus was that the Carne Asada is absolutely worth coming back for while the beef tongue and chicken were just ok but still a good value for the money.

Tamales - We ordered a corn and a chicken tamale.  Both were excellent although the corn tamale mixed with some green hot sauce was really tasty.

Pupusa - Mmmmm, I learned today that I love pupusas!  We started with a pork pupusa and we devoured it.  I liked it with a little bit of their chopped slaw and some hot sauce on top.  Even though I was stuffed, I ordered another pupusa.  Zucchini this time.  Not quite as good as the pork pupusa.  My beef (pardon the pun) with the pork pupusa is that you can't really see the meat.  Americans tend to get a little sketchy when eating meat dishes where the meat is a completely mystery because it is puree'd or mashed up into the dish.  We like our meat in identifiable chunks.  Nevertheless, I'd come back and eat some more pork pupusas, for sure.

Each item was only 2 bucks.  So after three drinks between us, the check arrived and the total was 21 bucks.  Not bad and not too far out of the way west of the wonderful city of Chantilly on route 50.

4.5 out of 5 stars 

*** Update May 2012 *** Went back to try the soup and it is excellent.  That's two superb visits to Cerrito's.