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Category: Latin American [Edit]
Neighborhood: MissionMon-Sun. 11:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
"It's been awhile since I've been here. The last few times, which have been saturdays, we've gone it was a complete effing blast. I have to…" read more »
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I've been to El Majahual more times than I can count and absolutely love it! Plus.... it's super cheap.
I can't speak for any of the meat options since I'm vegetarian, but that's what great- tons of veggie options. My personal favorite is the vegetarian popusas. They also have great tamales. Oh, and you have to try the fried platanos. I'm also a big fan of their passion fruit (maracuya) juice. It's pretty hard to find in the city and I highly recommend it here.
If you're looking for decent food for cheap, this is the place.
It was the first time I get to try Colombian food. I don't know much about it except from watching Anthony Bourdain on his show. My friend did just get his passport renewed from the Colombian embassy, so we decided to hit it. See how it fares.
The restaurant is kind of a hole in the wall. It definitely shouts authenticity from its stale atmosphere and slow service.
We ordered a side of arepa (grilled or fried corn dough bread) with some corn salsa with blood sausage and chorizo sausage. $8. Not bad, the arepa has a weird taste to it that i didn't go crazy for. It tasted like it was cooked on detergent or something. The blood sausage I took a bite and it was kind of too much for me. I am a vegetarian and this is the first time I tried meat in years. I'm glad I don't eat meat and will continue it.
Then I got a fish based vegetarian soup with rice, plantain and beans. The plantain was my favourite. I love the soft sweet savory of the fruit. The rice went really well in the soup. The soup tasted really strong of sea salt. The rice really blended it out more and the corn cobs and potatoes hidden inside filled me up. My friend went crazy for his chicken soup. He ate it super fast and almost ordered another bowl. Another friend ordered a plate of rice fried with vegetables, cilantro,and chicken pieces. Topped with some plantains and fried potatoes. It smelled really good and I wish I had gotten that... if it came as a vegetarian option.
Over all, $30 for three of us, that's fairly cheap for that amount of food. I might come back the next time I visit SF.
I came here w/ some girlfriends when we wanted a quick Sunday evening dinner. It was good and cheap but not so quick.
The server/cook/jack-of-all-trades guy was very friendly. The food took awhile to come out.
Food: overall very tasty, my belly was happy
My veg friend loved her pupusa, was just "meh" about tamales (though she generally doesn't love tamales as much, she admitted).
My yuca frita con chicharrones were delicious! The pork looked overcooked but it was actually still pretty tender and good (maybe cuz it's on the fatty side). The yuca was perfectly fried AND tasted delicious after I reheated the next day.
Empanada was greasy but very good, the pandebono tasted fine but was old/stale-ish. (I'll give you this, we walked in around 830 and the place closes at 9)
Plaintains w/ sour cream beans? Also very tasty. My other friend devoured her entire helping of oxtail soup.
We got our food to go since a couple of the girls had elsewhere to be sooner than we thought. This took awhile....about half an hour, actually.
Still, I'm a big enough fan of Colombian and Salvadorean food to come back. yum!
It was an absolute thrill to find this place. I am only reviewing the Colombian food, the Salvadorean I can find anywhere so I've never tried it here. Colombian food is hearty and simple, a lot of the food is cooked very plainly but with a lot of vegetables. The flavors tend to be very subtle, you can easily taste the vegetables in the soups and the rice is of the plainest white variety which helps to bring out the flavor of the broths in the stews and soups. I don't love everything about Colombian food (I've never understood the appeal of the flavorless arepas) but for the most part, Colombian meals always taste like something your momma cooked. When eating here, I highly recommend ordering a stew or soup. A soup is a complete meal with rice and sides, the soup itself in a small bowl. The empanadas are also excellent, they are meant to be greasy and in a corn meal wrap so if you are familiar with other styles from other countries don't assume that these are just totally wrong - they're perfect Colombian empanadas.
Colombian sodas are delicous too, check out the "Postobon manzana", it has a fizzy apple flavor.
Love it! I only am allowed to order off the Colombian menu, as that's what you get when you date one, but I'm not sad about it! The food is not pricey, the people are friendly, and you kind of feel like you are in Colombia. Trust me, I know, I've been there. It's not American style at all, so leave your picky ways at home, and realize other cultures take their time, and tend to leave you alone. If you want to go let me know, and I will totally go with you! Plus, there has always been at least one tranny there, and that alone is worth the trip!
Oh dude, this place was good. We hit it up on the day of the Red Bull Soapbox Race and it sure hit the spot. Yummy pupusas, and so cheap too. The place has a good amount of seats, but it can fill up, so there was a wait by the time we finished eating.
I got the horchata, but it tasted chalky and not so great... Yeah. But the pupusas totally made up for it!
My brother and his wife came to town to visit for the weekend. She is Colombian and he thought it would be a good idea to surprise her with a trip to a good Colombian restaurant. That was the beginning of a series of disastrous choices that led to embarrassment and apologies on behalf of all the people of San Francisco to my visiting family.
We scoured the Internet for good Colombian restaurants in San Francisco. Believe it or not, there are very few within San Francisco. El Majahual consistently came back from Google as the only one. So, I checked out the Yelp reviews and figured it would be a safe bet with 4 stars by 60-something people. Wrong, wrong, wrong... wrong wrong...
We showed up for lunch. Very few people were there (like 2 others). The waitress took our order. We ordered some very basic and easy Colombian meals that are usually the sure-bet. You can't screw these up if you try. They're like the Macaroni-and-Cheese of Colombia.
We waited for over an hour. An hour went by with an incredible awkwardness. There were so few people in the restaurant and we could hear the cook in the back working away. It baffles me as to how it could have taken as long as it did. The crowning moment was when the waitress came out and told us that she had no guacamole. (Guacamole is a very standard part of Colombian food and everyone should have these in lots of supply) She asked us if we would mind not having it. My brother's wife said not to worry about it. Of course, the waitress then runs out of the restaurant, leaving everyone there to fend for themselves while she runs to get some Guacamole. Literally, all these patrons with no food and left to basically stare at each other in this awkward silence.
She was gone for over 10 minutes and came back to serve our meal. The whole time, we were debating about how we were going to abandon this plan and go to the McDonald's across the street instead (yes, McDonald's!). She brought out some really really average beans and rice with a shitty slice of Guacamole. So much time for so little effort... apparently, the Colombian food that was prepared had a really heavy El Salvadorian slant and really wasn't Colombian at all.
The final blow was the $55 bill for some extremely shitty beans and rice that we could've made ourselves for like $5 and in less than 15 minutes. It was such an embarrassing experience and I tried to assure my brother and company that San Francisco has an amazing array of restaurants and the service was normally really good.
Please please please, for the love of god, do not get sucked into going here for the "Colombian" food. Anyone who thinks this is "Colombian" does not know what they are talking about.
On a positive note, my brother and I still laugh over the entire experience and how ridiculous it was from beginning to end.
Be sure to get one of the juices. They are unreal. You can either get them with water or milk. The milk is like 25 cents more expensive, but that makes it a meal. Like a milkshake almost. I would stick with getting the juice with water if you're also eating. Unless you are a beast in terms of consumption. My favorite juice is the passion fruit but my housemates like mango. I am allergic to mango so I can't comment on this.
In terms of food, honestly it's all pretty amazing. For those of you on a budget, get the pupusas. Each are like $2.25 each with a minimum of order of two. I recommend getting the mixed ones, with cheese, beans and pork. Amazing. The other pupusas are also good, but the plain cheese is a little rich for me, whereas the plain pork is a little more bland. They come with a salsa and a pickled cabbage thing. Put some of that business right the hell on top of your pupusas. You'll thank me.
The wifey and I came here for pre-marriage empanada's before our 11:30 appointment at SF city hall. I'll admit, it's not the nicest place to eat before your marriage ceremony, but we sorta "eloped", so it was last minute! (I LOVE MY WIFE!!)
This was the first time I tried colombian empanada's. I've only eaten the sweet salvadorean empanadas, so this was a savory suprise. Great balance of taste and texutures. Crunchy outside, semi-soft potato and meat filling. Deliciouso! The pupusa's are great too. Cheesy, porky, goodness. Almost everything we've tried here hasn't disappointed.
Sancocho de cola de res (ox tongue soup) - hearty and earthy. if i was sick, i'd want this.
Chorizo, Morcilla, Papa Criolla Y Arepa - The waiter said this is a typical colombian breakfast. It was basically different types of sausage with fried potoates. The blood sausage was the best. Deep red meat filling, with chunks of rice fried to perfection.
Arepa (colombian tortilla) - not your typical "tortilla". It tasted like a pupusa without the filling. Mine was a bit salty, but it had a great texture.
My wife had the platanos fritos, which is the least favorite out of everything we've tried there. the platanos were greasy and soggy.
Overall, this is a great place to eat good home cooked colombian/salvadorean food.
We ended up here instead of Radio Habana Social Club 'cause that place wasn't open yet when we arrived at 7:30pm. Hearing that this place also got good reviews (it also helped it was just across the street), we headed over.
Our appetizers were pretty good - empanadas, pupusas, arepas and chorizo. I think the pork filled pupusas were awesome - and I really enjoyed the chorizo, too. I was a little disappointed with my entree, though - I got grilled chicken, which was way too dry and came with mixed veggies that seemed to have come from a freezer =/. My friends' entrees were better, though - the steak and potatoes and plantain was the best of the bunch, I think.
Overall, not horrible, but I think I've had better... definitely skippable.
As a close friend, please take my advice. If you're used to mexican style horchata (wasn't aware there was any other) please give it some thought before you order one from here.
I literally spit out the first sip...and the second...and the third. It's not the same, they add some sort of weird... seed? I had to run over to El Tonayense to clean my mouth.
That said, the empanadas are crispy and buttfucking delicious. They're filled with potato and beef and salsa of some kind . I was sad that I only got one for myself, especially since it was like $1.50. I also tried my first arepa here. Not into it. I have a feeling they get much better than this.
When you are a Colombian in the Bay Area, you have to adapt yourself to many different kinds of "Colombian-like" food because after almost 2 years in the area I havent found a very good restaurant and I have given up on finding it.
El Majahual is Salvadorean/Colombian food, I would recommend this place if you want to have a sneak-peak of some of the Colombian small-bites. Things like Empanadas, Pan de Bono, Patacones, Arepas, Chorizo are very common in Colombia and so far I haven't been disappointed with the ones from this place. The juices are ok.
Although I personally would not go to this place to order some main courses (which they offer) because the demand for them doesn't seem too high and I'm used to the real thing. I hold myself until my next trip back home.
If you want to eat rice cakes and live a long time, keep in mind the years you add are at the end of your life, so those are the crappy, sick ones anyway. Instead, eat the following fried food I'm about describe.
Scenario: Someone ate my leftovers!!!
Product: Okay, you all know that the central american resteraunts around the mission serve pupusas. They are bomb. The end. The pupusas here are inexpensive and tasty. The pork was cooked to melt in your mouth. I was not a big fan of the spinach, but it could be a good option for you vagitarians out there. Not sure how the vegans would fare though. Next, the beef pie empanadas were amazing! Beef and seasoned potatos in a fried casing shaped like a home run pie. Adding to the empanada's greatness was the cilantro-based salsa. These were also cheap. Finally, the fried plantain with beans turned out to be a good dessert. The mashed plantain (think banana if you don't know) is a little sweet, and the beans in the center add a little salt. Try the cilantro salsa for a complete experience. All that and a soda for about $12. I was stuffed. Too, much, pupusa.
Service: Lester was serving and was very helpful, explaining some of the dishes and being attentive throughout. They also cater and can provide large orders with a little notice. Screw donuts, I'm bringing empanadas to the next Monday morning meeting!
Atmosphere: Small, like a hole in the wall, but nicely decorated, clean and orderly. The TV in the corner is tuned to ESPN and sometimes soccer games, according to the L man. It was quiet in the early evening but soon filled with hipsters by mid-night. It's a cozy place to chill or could be good fun for watching the big game with friends and pigging out on delicious food.
Uniquity: They serve pupusas like everyone else, but I think the empanadas, plantain dish selection, timely and friendly service, and ESPN make this place a notch above the rest.
Not bad... kinda greasy.
Oh, and where the hell else are you going to get authentic food from El Salvador and Columbia?! Seriously, shut up about it being slightly greasy & enjoy it.
I guess Yelp reviews for this place are fake!!! Went there because of reviews. What an embarrassment!!! The food there was the worst Colombian food that I have ever eaten! Yuca was overcooked. Pandebonos old and not tasty. papas were bitter. I had to apologize to my friend for taking him there.
El Majahual is a gem. I've been looking for some good Latin American comfort food for a while now. The menu is huge, with a section focusing on dishes from El Salvador and a section with Colombian offerings. I knew I wanted a beef dish, so I went with the sobrebarriaga a la criolla, which was a stew of potatoes, beef, and cassava. The flavors of this dish were outstanding and the meat was so tender. I also love the flavor of the cassava, which is a good contrast to the potato. It was really the plantain and rice that topped it off for me. Something about those flavors just took me back to a time and place that no other dish has been able to achieve.
The staff was so friendly, even when we couldn't decide what to order for the longest time. Also, the prices were very reasonable. I don't know what it is about this place, but once you take that first bite into your food you know that this stuff was made a lot of care. It takes a lot to replicate the flavors and quality I've been looking for and El Mahajual achieved it. Can't wait to go back here.
Great place, a little sort of hole in the wall almost.
Papusas were great, fried fresh and excellent with sour cabbage and salsa.
Emapandas were exellent as well, I've never had a deep fried corn emapanada, it was good.
Oxtail stew, great, good broth.
Enchiladas were okay, not anything to rave about.
Nice homely little place with great prices. Only thing is its kinda run down a bit, so no heat, its cold as hell in the winter.
I LOVE ME SOME AREPAS
As far as Colombian food goes, this hit it right on the money. I wasn't expecting to spend so much money, but it was plenty of food! Arepas, check! Plantains, check! Camarones, check!
I don't know the difference between Colombian, El Salvadorean, Messican and any other spanish influenced food. So I don't know if this place is authentic, but it sure was good!
I went with Bistek El Salvadoreno. Thin steak in a tomato onion sauce with tomatoes, onions and green pepper. Came with rice, beans and salad. It was really good! Not the best cut of meat, but it tasted really good with all the other veggies and the sauce.
Got one pork pupusa and one zucchini and cheese pupusa. I could just eat these over rice with spicy salsa. YUM!!!!! The pickled cabbage that was on the side was REALLY good too...
I also had a guanabana con leche shake. In my head I kept singing:
"Don't cha wanna wanna a guanabana?"
It's just really fun to say. :)
Apart from feeling like an idiot as I stumbled through my hazy recollection of languages and tried to order my meal in a mish-mash of Spanish and Italian, El Majahual serves up a great meal. A perfect delight when you've had a few drinks, the Arroz con Pollo will set you straight. Papusas... empanadas... delicious food at reasonable prices.
Fried goodness + Friendly staff = Happy Erin
The empanadas rock!
Ox tail soup could have used a bit more flavor, but it was ok.
The best hangover cure ever is El Mahajual's Oxtail soup.
It's rich and yummy, with a lot's of cilantro and plenty of oxtails almost as good as my mom's.
Plus they make the best drinks. (non-alcoholic BTW.)
Maranion (cashew fruit), Guava and Passion Fruit.
I go there for the authentic flavors of my childhood. Flavors really take you back in time.
The rest of the food is OK, to be fair I haven't tried the Empanadas and I only go there for the fruit juices and Oxtail soup.
I usually drink 2-3 glasses of the juice.
BEST HORCHATA EVER! (okay food).
I visited this location last weekend and I was not really impressed. I had the "Bandeja Paisa" and it was really blend. It had not flavor and I think it made my stomach hurt. I had a pandebono and the bottom was burnt. That was my only time there so I'm not sure what the rest of the menu taste like.
I am Dominican so a place to eat Latin food is a must. Conveniently, I live just a few blocks from El Majahual so I was PUMPED that the food was good. Dominican food is a bit different from the Salvadorean and Colombian food that is offered here, but the similarities leave me very pleased every time I go to this place!
That being said, there are some things on the menu that aren't that great (sancocho de pescado). I have had a lot of the Colombian side. I'd recommend the Plato de Lentejas for sure! Thats my favorite on the menu. The Sobrebarriga a la Criolla is also very good. The best combination? Try the plato de lentejas and see if they will give you the flank steak from the sobrebarriga!
The price is awesome and the food is always comes out quickly. Last time I was there, I heard the mother talking to her son that is usually working there. Gotta love the family owned places.
Not terribly clean, they could definitely work on that...
Don't forget to try the "milk-juice" as my girlfriend affectionately refers to it. Think milk shake with juice instead of ice cream. Then think of your favorite non-alcoholic beverage.... this is BETTER!
I haven't had anything so good that I couldn't wait to rave about it in a long time. And rave I must!
Date night. Hubby picks a new restaurant to try. I'm thinking, I had Mexican for lunch, I don't want to go here. Good thing he held his ground. Such deliciousness must be shared.
We started out with the sweet corn tamale with sour cream, the pork pupusa, and a chicken tamale. Let me tell you - I have had my share of tamales in my life, but these were fantastic. The sweet corn was just that. Wonderfully sweet and so smooth. I liked the chicken one, but I was already spoiled by my sweet corn tamale. The pork pupusa was soooo yummy - especially when paired with the pickled cabbage.
For dinner I had the shredded flank steak with eggs. Heaven. I wish I could replicate that flavor at home! My husband had a steak stew (for lack of a better description). When you see something on the menu that says it's Grandma's recipe, you order it. Oh my gosh, I couldn't decide if I liked my dish better or his!
We're definitely going back. The place is a little small. The tables are kind of tight - meaning, my chair back was bumped up against the chair behind me. The lighting is on the dim side - but that's ok. The food is what counts. Go, go, go!!!
I was first introduced to papusas by an old girlfriend.
"Do you like eating papusas?" she asked.
This elicited a sly grin from me. "You know I like eating...wait, did you say 'paPUSAS?'"
"Yeah, they're like fat griddled tortillas stuffed with meat or cheese or both."
"Mmmm. Meat...or cheese...or both."
And thus was my introduction to papusas.
This place is right next to a plumbing supply company or something like that and is hardly on the sweet spot of Valencia St. but when I get a craving for papusas this is where I come.
There's usually just one older woman in the back making everything so if there are people who have ordered ahead of you or you're hungry it could be a while. As soon as you order you can hear the rhythmic spanking sound of papusas being made. If you listen closely you can hear, "What's my name? What's my NAME!?!"
OK, this review is spinning out of control so I guess I'll wrap this up with some actual useful information. The menu is predominantly Columbian and Salvadorean food with papusas and tamales and traditional Columbian plates. If you go, be sure to have the fried plantains with refried beans and sour cream. So fucking good. You know, if you're into that kind of thing. This, and a couple of papusas and you're stoked.
They also have burritos and tacos but, I'm sorry, if you're in the Mission and you go to a Columbian restaurant to get a burrito, you're retarded.
I don't give out four stars all that often but for the price you pay and what you get - it's a four star for me.
We went with friends who knew what to order so I have to say I don't remember the names of what we ate. It was the Colombian menu though and hubby got the special with flank steak, beans, chorizo, pork, an egg and I think there was a bit more. It was a ton of food.
I had beef and plantains that were stewed in the most delicious sauce EVER over rice. Man it was good. What was even better we had a pitcher of, can't remember the name, but it was beer and Colombian "champagne". Tasted like beer and pop, but it was the best thing EVER. From now on that will be my drink.
The place is a hole in the wall and once again, a restaurant in the Mission that you have to walk through the kitchen to get to the bathroom. I really need a bigger bladder because it is quite discombobulating to walk past your food as it is being prepared. It disturbs me.
Good food, stark atmosphere, good food, yummy beer drink. Just go to the bathroom before you go.
Great- As Colombian in the Bay it can be slim pickings for tasty Colombian foods AND good service, but El Majagual is the bomb! Feels like being back in Colomba with a dizzying assortment of fried meats and arepa on the Bandeja Paisa, to the fried yuca, the empanadas, the juice, even the malta to drink. A alas it has been way too long and is kind of sad really that this is as close to Colombia that I can go for now, but if you close your eyes, you are there!
This was my first venture into Colombian cuisine, and I loved it!
The fish was amazing, and the ripe plantains (you have to ask for them on the menu they only have green ones) were mouth-watering.
The jugo de maracuy (passionfruit juice) was fantastic as well, I would go back just for this smoothie-like concoction.
We didn't order off of the Salvadorian side of the menu, but I definitely want to go back and try it!
"Yeah, I'm not really sure what to order, I like what I see at the tables around me. I'm looking for just something simple, like rice, beans, some chicken, just the standard meal, can you suggest something?"
He just stares at me, opens the menu, and points at the beers.
"Uh yeah, sure, a Corona would be fine." He walks away and I come to the realization that he doesn't speak any English. He signals the guy over who looks like he's in charge, a big dude with tattoos, and I tell him what I told the other guy. He asks me how I like my chicken (baked or stewed) and if I want a fried banana. I answer and he nods:
"Alright, I gotchu, man."
10 minutes later I'm eating a feast of food and some of the best chicken I've had in a while. I'm going back.
Grabbed a bite here tonight and I can not complain ! This place is small and as it is in front of CCSF I am surprised more students were not in the joint. The service was awesome and we found easy parking in front of the restaurant. Since this was my first time here, I started with the basics. We had the pupusas, (cheese and revueltas), tamal de maiz, arepas and sausage, rice and beans. We also tried the maduro frito and beans. The sausage that came with the arepas was very tasty. The arepas were light and fluffy. Everything was fresh and tasty. (no reheated old rice or beans) I will definitely be going back to try their stuffed arepas, as well as the empanadas. I even got an order of cheese pupusas to go for breakfast. Four of us ate for forty bucks, including drinks and we ordered a lot of food!
They've got the capers on their pupusas, or the zucchini. They've got fried plantains and don't skimp on the cheese. They're open pretty late, and really what more do you need.
I like this place, the order from the window thing threw me for a while, but they make good food, it's pleasant in there and the staff friendly.
This is the 19th review, so aside from saying I thought the joint was good and I'll be back, I really can't tell you much more than others already have. I do, however, have some observations I shall expound upon:
1. Either call ahead and order take out, or call ahead and order to eat in. It is really true that there is one lady in back cooking for everyone, and tonight there was just one other guy working who took all the phone/takeout orders and (sorta) waited on the tables too. If you are hungry and end up being the unfortunate one who finally submits your order after the other eight seated people, three standing at the window to order takeout, and two who called in their desires, you're screwed.
2. The tamales are yum! My friend Derek Y. ordered a Salvadorean pork tamale. They are larger and a different consistency than the Mexican ones I am most familiar with; the masa is finer and thus creates a smoother outside. He got one of the sweet corn ones too, and that was good (though I am more of a savory person). It came with a huge dollop of sour cream. Niiiiice.
3. The Bistec Salvadoreno (#32) was sort of dull. It was a bit sweet as well, which isn't my favorite flavor accent for meat dishes. The beans (that come on the side of all of the Salvadorean entrees) were excellent, however.
4. I heard the Colombian Sancocho de Gallina (hen soup, #53) is to die for. I will definitely have that next time.
5. This place isn't fancy. If you are a priss and don't like to see dirty dishes sitting around at empty tables for a while (an hour tonight), mosey on along and go to Last Supper Club or Foreign Cinema instead.
My Colombian friend took me to this place. I was not as familiar with Colombian food as I am with other Latin American food, but this food was good. I mostly always get the Sudado Pollo with a side of avacado. It's yummy. I once ordered the Tilapia and did not realize that it was a whole fish that would be staring back at me. It was good, but I just have issues with my food looking back at me.
My favorite favorite thing to get here is the guanabana with milk. Reminds me of my Costa Rican roots, and usually I've had to find Cuban restaurants to get fruit juices with milk.
The prices are also good for the amount of food you get. So if you want a hearty meal this is the spot for you. If you want something light, then you might want to skip it.
coke and whores.
of course i need to start my review of this place like that.
jen picked this place.
i wouldnt have gone here otherwise.
im glad she did.
its real simple. i dont know el salvarodian cuisine. i dont know columbian.
i do know my grilled shrimp with veggies was excellent. shrimp, grilled and season perfectly. veggies cooked perfectly. even the rice was good.
i got to think while i was eating here. im pretty sure they dont use the highest quality ingredients. its just not possible to do so and keep the prices the way they are. i am sure though, the old lady in the kitchen is a master at taking whatever is available to her and making the best food she possibly can with them. theres an old korean saying, food is the taste of your mothers hand. this old lady probably has fat kids cause man, this shit was good.
while waiting for the food, i kept hearing this slap slap slap from the kitchen..... is the old lady making each pupusa to order? yep.
I had a great dinner with my friend here, who happens to be Latin and eats here all the time. If you're looking for yummy, salty grub that won't break the bank, try walking in on a night out on the town. I had the steak&onions/rice/salad deal and liked all of it. Not the best meal of my life, considering there is amazing Latin food all over the Mission, but I have no real complaints. Great on the wallet and great service. I would definitely come back and try more of the tasty sounding menu.
Tasty food, but unbelievably understaffed and very unprofessional. We arrived at 8:15pm and the place was packed. No one was eating. We thought people were waiting on dessert or their checks. WRONG. They were all waiting for the one cook in back to prepare all those people's meals. Of course we didn't realize this, being newbies, and proceeded to wait until 9:15 until our meal finally came!!! With no appetizers or apologies from the one unprofessional waiter!!! When we realized we had ordered too little, he shugged unapologetically and said "Keeetchen eees closed"!
When the food did come, I started to eat it and then realized it was the wrong dish (meat instead of seafood) and when I called the guy over, he took the dish I had my fork in and took it across the room to another table and gave it to the person who had actually ordered it! Gross!
The table next to us was a birthday party of about 10 people and two of the people got their meals about 30 minutes after their friends had finished!
All in all, very tasty food, but get in here early and be prepared for some seriously amateurish service including massive delays. This is like eating in someones kitchen in south america, for better or for worse!
Two words: shrimp soup. (er, sopa de camaron?) It's on the Salvadorean side of the menu, and it's out of this world good. So simple yet so delicious. Loaded with fresh shrimp, two poached eggs, some spinach, tomato, onions in a hearty but not greasy broth with fresh lemon wedges on the side. It's my go-to bowl of comfort soup when the world outside is cold and mean and unjust.
I get my $8.99 bowl with a side of arroz, maybe a pupusa to start, and roll out of there full and happy and not broke. True, the service is slow and the ambiance is zero (therefore minus a star). But who cares? If my mom were Salvadorean, this soup would make me miss her.
One thing: this place closes pretty early - 9PM or so. You will need to satisfy your late night drunken soup cravings elsewhere.
I came here a little while ago while doing research on Colombian cuisine for a wine class (for the record, as someone in my group wisely pointed out, this is the cuisine that goes with beer, not wine...but anyway). I had the arepas with chorizo, a lulo juice, and the oxtail sancocho...pretty good. The juice was super fresh and crisply tart (never had lulo before and I really liked it), the sancocho stew had a good broth and fork-tender oxtail and was definitely filling, as there were plenty of yucca, potatoes, and corn floating around to fill ya up. I didn't really care for the plain arepa, but the chorizo had a nice, savory flavor. The food does take a while, but the service was fine for what I'm pretty sure is a two-person operation...I kinda think that's part of the appeal as it is kind of a hole-in-the-wall. I might go back if I'm in that part of town, especially since I hear their pupusas from the Salvadorean menu are magic.
Neighborhood: Mission
Category: Latin American
Neighborhood: Mission
Category: Coffee & Tea
Neighborhood: Mission
Category: Latin American
Neighborhood: Mission
Category: Latin American
Neighborhood: Bernal Heights
Category: Specialty Food
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