el viroleño restaurant

best pupusas ever!. i am from miami and el viroleno has the best pupusas i have ever tried. i love the atmosphere and how nice everyone is.

perfect combination. for a place i would have never tried with its handmade sign above the door i was more than happy when my boyfriend steered us here on a walk one night. a real mom and pop place with excellent service and great food, far tastier and more authentic than any other latin restaurant in town. (you know the lettuce/tomato/sour cream combo you push off your burrito at most places? here, the cabbage/lime/cilantro slaw equivalent was more flavorful than offerings at high-end restaurants, and a perfect pairing to the perfect pastelitos, pupusas, and yuca frita.)
prices are great and the location is actually very centrally located. the atmosphere and food are perfectly homey while service remains professional. i plan to walk here on a regular basis now.

chimichanga has beans even though menu did not mention beans. very friendly staff, but food was not something i would like to encounter again. we tried enchiladas, which were not on the menu and chimichanga. neither were well prepared.

doesn't get more authentic than this place.

papusas. get the papusas. they are all amazing. the carne asade entree is big enough to split...seriously, split it.

menu is not clear, but tasty food. i ordered the papusas. if you look at the menu, it appears that there's a cheese papusa and then two other options with "a blend of" a whole bunch of ingredients. really, the other two should be worded as "a choice of". anyway, i ordered a cheese, a revueltas (blended pork and beans) and a loroco, which is apparently some sort of edible flower, for a total of $6.40 and that more than filled me up for a lunch. the papusas look like thick little pancakes, have a similar texture, and taste like a pancake made with corn tortillas, but are somehow stuffed with what you order. you get a jar of a slightly spicy, really crunchy and awesome fresh coleslaw type of thing and a mild sauce to go with them. i thought that the cheese one was ok and the loroco one unique in flavor, a little like okra or something, but the revuelta one was great. i'm definitely going back to try other papusa combinations and some of their other food.

trust me, just go. yes, i know this place is tiny, not much to look at and not in the best part of town, but the food is simply sensational. most of the mexican-ish food in tallahassee has been totally americanized. el viroleno actually tastes authentic -- because it is, obviously. my wife and i split some chips and salsa, two pupusas and the carne asada entree. all of it was terrific. even the filler stuff like rice and beans, which are usually tasteless at other places, are quite delectable. we'll be back. no question about it, we'll be back.

hidden gem. among a number of 'ethnic' restaurants in town - some are overly hyped, but this one is a hidden gem.

location choice is weird, right next to the shelter - not a easy access to any kind of groups - students or professionals.

but food wise, this place is amazing. prices are good, menu items tastes top notch. not a lot of choices of drinks (themed) - but not much of big deal.

try this, instead of other 'el xxxxx' places in town. this one is much better.

when driving down i-10 i had a hankering for mexican food. of course i checked urbanspoon. this little restaurant was listed and when i saw they has papusas i told my husband we had to try it. we have been kind of obsessed with trying papusas since we saw them on a tv show not long ago. el virolena was amazing! papusas yummy, salsa the right temp, great horchata, and the best thing on the table was the patelinos. unbelievable! this is a dive everyone should try out. and it was well worth our 20 minute detour from the interstate.

horchata and vegetarian options. no one's mentioned that they even have horchata! horchata is a traditional latin american sweetened rice/nut milk with vanilla, nutmeg and cinnamon. i kind of gauge authentic mexican/latin american restaurants by whether they have horchata. this is the only place i know of in tallahassee with horchata! this is a small, no frills restaurant with good authentic food. the type of place where you can thank the cook on the way out the back door to the parking lot at the rear of the building. there is usually only one extremely nice server but sometimes two during busier lunch days. it has a good variety of vegetarian options typical of mexican restaurants but of the salvadoran variety ... the pupusas rock! pupusas, by the way, are made from corn and consequently gluten free ... there are several other gluten free items that can be ordered.

i’ve enjoyed most of the things i’ve eaten there, but you should definitely get the pupusas, which come with many different filling options. the revuelta, which is filled with a mixture of pork and refried beans, is fantastic, as is the loroco, made

great. the food was great, salvadoran food. they had papusas that was great. my sister and i loved the food. definitely going back.

home cookin' from el salvador. i dropped by el viroleno to see if this restaurant is the same food as the taco that was on tennessee st. and bronough st. a while back. instead of tacos, i ended up ordering the special of the day, "chicken soup with two papusas" based on the recommendation of the woman taking my order. i'm so glad i did.

i received a large bowl of soup with big chunks of vegetables, two mouth-watering chicken and cheese papusas, cabbage and jalapeno slaw, a tasty tomato sauce, and extra corn tortillas for $7.50.

i ordered my food to go but i will eat in the restaurant when i go again despite the less-than-usual cleanliness. i was served chips, salsa, and ice water while i waited for my food. the salsa was the perfect amount of spicy. the service was impeccable.

good food. i will eat anywhere with a good rating on urbanspoon, and that kind of mindset is one you need to eat at viroleno. the staff (one lady) couldn't have been nicer, the prices were below average, and the food was very good. i have to give it some knocks for cleanliness and tidyness. the floor was clean , but almost every table was dirty and the bar area was very cluttered. the kitchen did not look up to health code, but that wouldnt stop me from eating there again. i would add in response to an earlier review that they do have an entire page devoted to pupusas and many combo items that include them.

great salvadorean food. i've been going to el ranchito for over a year and a half, they have new owners and have actually changed their name to el viroleño. they are open every day and serve salvadorean dishes every day. their steaks are delicious, prepared to perfection. they have pupusas, tamales de gallina, plátano frito, etc.
delicious food and warm friendly service