el salvadoreño

good el salvadorian food and decent service. some of the food was really good and other parts were just decent. the place is kind of small, but i liked being able to sit outside on a nice day and it's an interesting building.

ate here for the first time over the weekend and i loved it!!  i had a pork and cheese pupusa, which comes with a very spicy coleslaw.  i like spicy, but i don't recommend the slaw unless you really like spice.  the pupusa, however, as not spicy, but had excellent taste.  there were hot and mild sauces you could add if you wanted more spice.  it was the first pupusa i have ever had and i would eat them again and again!  i also had the elote corn on the cob, which was delicious!  i'm anxious to go back and try more menu items, as the menu is quite extensive.  the service was excellent.  the only complaint was that the music was a little loud.

pupusas were excellent! very affordable and we loved the all day breakfast. great location, was a beautiful day for sitting outside. definitely recommend!

friendly service, but there was only one server working at least 7 or 8 tables, so lunch took a lot longer than i could have anticipated. that being said, the food was pretty good overall. very clean tastes and flavors although very subtle. highly recommend tamales and fried plantains.

fantastic food served at a relaxed pace, encouraging you to take your time and smell the pupusas. your best bet is to share the sampler plate. it's got everything you could want it just the right portion size. alcohol is available. a mojito or cuba libre is an excellent addition to your meal.

we have been to the restaurant multiple times and were looking forward to a great evening. the inside was packed when we arrived, which was promising. unfortunately, it was because the restaurant was completely understaffed. one waitress and one cook. the other unfortunate issue was that quality was sacraficed along with time. i do not know why we were even asked how we wanted our steak, because both were grey and there was no sauce of any kind provided for the steak or tamale. very disappointed!!! try elsa's ethiopian down the street, you will enjoy that much better than being subjected to what we experienced tonight.

not good service. the food was good , but the service not
good. the price on the menu is not what they charge you at the end. so if you eat there watch out for the overcharge.

i'm salvadorian and this restaurant creates great authentic food. i had to drive an hour to get there but it was completely worth it! i had their pork tamales, pupusa revuelta, & small shrimp cocktail (it was big). everything was good except their horchata, and i can't give them a hard time about that because it's actually very time consuming and hard to make the real deal. the horchata they do have is not too bad though. i can't wait to eat here again!

a whole new experience.... i tried this place a couple of weeks ago on referral and i am sure glad i did! this quaint little joint screamed authentic! i don't have a whole lot of experience with latin cuisine but i'm now excited to! this was a great first impression with friendly staff and delicious food. i got the combo and my lady got the kabobs and we were both very please and eager to try more and for a very affordable price tag. cheers to new experiences...

fantastico. this was my second visit & i was just as delighted as my first time. the food is fresh & flavorful. it's now piqued my interest & i'll probably order something more adventurous on my next visit. even though the food shares some similar components to what we refer to as mexican food in kansas city, there's enough difference to make it an entirely unique experience. my only gripe is that the service in front & back is rather slow.

great food, got the sampler platter and it was a ton of food! awesome homemade horchata too. in cute old town op too. just slower service,but it's just the south american culture. totally worth it

open your taste buds!. awesome new ethnic food choice for kc! el salvador's cuisine is not mexican food! it's so much better!! do you get sick of mexican food swimming in lard and cheese? no food here will drown in a lipid sea. bonus gluten free! all food her is gluten free except for one sandwich served on a roll. the main grain used is corn or masa. the pupusas, the tamales, the empanadas, the pasteles, the enchiladas, all are gluten-free!! i agree with other reviewers, the sampler platter is the way to go on your first visit. i loved the pasteles, these are meat filled fried doughy treats. the enchilada is basically a tostada but served on a nicely crunchy corn based crusty thick crust. for dessert try the quesadilla, it's a yummy tart treat that is not at all like a mexican quesadilla. they also have them by the counter, they are flat square like treats wrapped in plastic wrap. yummy!! a pupusa is filled with beans, cheese, meat and fried, it's a yummy pancake. the tamales have some potato and peas, reminded me of an indian samosa, of course though these are gluten-free!

there is nothing on the menu that comes vegan and barely anything you can order no meat to make vegan. not really all that vegetarian friendly either. you could make do if out with friends but i wouldn't suggest just going there.

the salvadorean sandwich. they continue to impress me with the variety of delicious foods. i tried the panes rellenos today, and when it came out, i was sceptical. i am not a fan of pickled beets, and only mildly interested in radishes. to be completely honest, if i had known that it came with pickled beets and radishes on it, i would have asked for it without those things. however, yet again, this place made a liar out of me. the flavors all came together flawlessly and i enjoyed every bite, including the beets and radishes. i have yet to dislike anything on the menu.


-----06 jan, 2012-----

one way ticket to flavortown!. went in for an early lunch and found the decor to be a mixed bag. it looked like the place was pretty sterile originally and they have been adding flavors of el salvador to the decor as often as possible. there was a beautiful mural on one wall of what i assume is a statue in el salvador (couldn't get a pic of it this trip), as well as a sprinkling of "authentic" stuff here and there. the lighting was mostly natural during the day and very nice. my waitress was nice and did a good job. now, on to the important stuff!

i started out with a horchata, which tasted like a sweet milk with cinnamon and sugar in it. delish. i ordered the el salvadoreno sampler and requested a ground beef pastel instead of the vegetable version and a pork tamale instead of the chicken. my waitress accommodated me with a smile (although i'm sure there was an upcharge, which was fine).

when my meal arrived, it was hot and everything tasted fabulous! in the picture of the sampler, i'll start with the bean and cheese pupusa on the left and go clockwise, finishing with the yuca frita in the middle.

the bean and cheese pupusa was a thick fried tortilla (tasted like corn variety) with refried beans and melted cheese in the middle. i have no idea how they accomplished that little miracle, but it was great! the "jug-o-salsa" they brought out with my meal went as a nice spicy complement to it. very good.

next we have the ground beef pastel, which looks like a large empanada. the flavors were great and the aforementioned salsa on the side complemented it well.

on to the most unusual item on the plate (as far as i was concerned), the enchilada. this is not a mexican enchilada. this little piece of heaven starts with a flavorful fried tortilla that has some of the most unusual toppings i have ever heard of for this type of dish. it's like a mexican tostada with totally different toppings. i'm not a fan of some of the items on this little dish, like beets and radishes, but these were fresh and when combined like this with the tangy sauce, it just works.

and now we come to the pork tamale. this was, hands down, the best tamale i have ever had in my life and i have had a lot of tamales! the masa was light and airy, but had a wonderful flavor all its own. seriously, i would have begged for some of that masa to take home if i wasn't diabetic. the pork on the inside was tender and flavorful, but no fat or unchewable bits to be found. excellent.

finally, we come to the yuca frita. this was a few pieces of deep fried yucca topped with some shredded slaw mixed with a spicy sauce and a couple pieces of pork on top of that. the pork had been marinated and then fried. this was a very unusual and tasty treat.

overall, this was one of the best meals (at a restaurant) i have had in a long time. i would recommend this place any time and i'll surely be back.

update 04/30/2012: i finally got a chance to go back for the steak pinchos (kabobs). as expected, they were great. the only caveat i would mention is that they took about 30 minutes. i don't know if that is normal, but for me the wait was worth it.

if you’re looking for some culinary exploration on a saturday night, try venturing out to el salvadoreno in downtown overland park. yes, it’s deep in the heart of the johnson county burbs, but it’ll taste like a trip to central america, and it’s so worth it.