Pupuseria Katarina

I have been passing by this location quite a bit, so I figured I would stop in and check it out. The outside is kinda of rough looking, but the dining room is alright with a faux hacienda look. I stopped in for a late lunch and there was one table of guests already there; but it took about 5 minutes until anyone showed up to seat me. I ordered two pupusas, one with spinach the other with jalapenos. Both were relatively small, about 5″ across and rather bland. It was hard to taste any difference between the two; the jalapenos were very scarce and far too mild. The tomato sauce that comes with was watery and had no real flavor to it. The slaw was a bit better, vinegary with some very hot jalapenos. Service was OK, but seems a bit distracted.
Overall nothing great, but nothing horrible, just not the kind of place that I will head back to since there are better alternatives for this type of food.

I loved it. Pupusas and plátano frito were very good. I would recommend it to anyone that is in the area. Thumbs up.

This is my second foray into Salvadoran cuisine in Cleveland, and I can officially say that I am a fan of pupusas! My husband and I shared a variety for lunch and got some to-​go as well. I think we liked the chicken, garlic, and spinach flavors best, but they were all very good.
I would have given 4 stars, but there were a lot of bugs flying around, which was kind of gross.

After reading positive reviews I came in today to try the jalapeño and cheese pupusa. I wound up with the combo special. 2 pupusas beans rice and a beverage for $ 9. I opted for the fresh pineapple juice for .50 more. Was a great deal! I chose the zucchini and cheese and also jalapeños and cheese. The jalapeño was very hot and good. All in all They were very tasty and I was full. I will return.

wow. i’m in love. i went on a wednesday night and ordered four pupusas (revueltas, jalapeño, loroco, and the loca), plantains, and the hot corn drink. show stopper was the plantains. like, i’m-so-stuffed-but-i-need-more kind of experience. and then the hot corn drink tastes like a snickerdoodle. it gave me warm fuzzies. this might be my new wednesday hot spot!

Good food, but certainly not great. The real shock came when the bill arrived for the tiny «double shots» of tequila at $ 14 each! The margaritas were mostly water with no noticeable alcohol and $ 7 each. If you are going for the food, plan to just eat and have your drinks somewhere else. The service, although very friendly, was extremely slow! Personally, I did not find anything at this restaurant worthy of a return visit.

Read an article in the plain dealer, and after hearing that they have homemade everything, I got very excited. The food itself– 5 stars. I got the platter with home made cheese, sour cream, refrieds, plantains, two eggs, and a pupusa. I got the chicken and cheese, and an extra loroco pupusa. I prefer, the loroco (native flower). Everything was amazing, especially the tomato sauce and crunchy slaw. I could eat that slaw every day, its great with the eggs. The only complaint is that there was no one at the counter when I arrived. I came at a slow time, so it was understandable. I knocked on the kitchen door and someone came out. Also they said it would be 15 minutes and it took a little over 30, but we did order a lot. Next time I will call ahead of time. They were extremely friendly. The interior had nice music and looked clean. I am hard on rating things– its hard to get 5 stars from me. So 4 is fantastic. And again, the food itself was a 5. My baby loved it too, which is always a plus. Fair prices, especially given the fact that it’s all home made. The plantains were to die for. Perfectly crisp on the outside, and very sweet. I’m not a fan of refrieds, but I am a huge fan of these! I definitely recommend the loroco pupusa.

This was my first time having El Salvadoran food. I was not disappointed!!! I tried three of the papusas and the were very delicious!!! The Loco was my favorite, full of flavor. The prices here are good I spent $ 11 and was able to share my food with my family it would have been too much for me. I will definitely go back for more!!!

Decided to dine in for a change, and the service was excellent!
Be sure to check the specials, because some of the deals are really great. They’ve added pool tables in the back, so you can have your pupusas and get your game on.
The outside appearance of this place can be off-​putting but don’t let that deter you from coming here. Inside is quite quirky, but cute.
Definitely a fan of all of their pupusas and can’t really say which is the best.
Read other review that complained of the red sauce being thin, and well, that is how it is traditionally made. This place is 100% authentic.

Yes I am a fan of this place! It’s located right off of I-​176 so it’s easy to get to. The inside has the typical Central America restaurant décor with lively colors, landscape paintings, and birds. When I first walked in there was no one to greet me but a gentleman quickly showed up and we had a pleasant conversation about the menu. I went with a variety of pupusas at $ 2 each since that is what this place is known for. I also opted for the sweet plantains, refried beans, and homemade sour cream platter which came in at $ 6. (Prices are great here!)
Pupusas are like a stuffed pancake but made with masa — a corn dough. The garlic and cheese pupusa smells amazing and the Revuelta with pork, beans and cheese is the most popular pupusa, but they have other flavors with chicken, exotic flower, jalapeño, spinach or zucchini. The pupusas come with a simple but tasty cabbage slaw (no mayo base here) and a thin tomato sauce. They’re about 5 inches in diameter and two are enough of a meal to fill you up; A simple tasty meal!
I found the fried plantains, refried beans, and homemade sour cream to all be pretty tasty as well. I can’t stress enough how good simple authentic Salvadoran food is! I will definitely hit this place up again, probably on a Wednesday though since that’s when they make their special sweet corn Atol.

What a find! Thanks to Unilocal,I stumbled onto this place. I’d never had a pupusa before, but these were so good, I will be back for more! I tried the Chicharron con Queso (ground pork w/​cheese) and the Spinica con Queso (spinach w/​cheese), and they were fantastic! These pupusas are made of masa, had a good nutty taste, were about 6″ around, and there was just the right balance of filling inside them. They were hot off the griddle, & accompanied with curtido (a mild fermented slaw with jalapeños) and salsa roja, which you put on top of your pupusa. The salsa roja is a thin tomato salsa with just a little heat. Two pupusas were enough for a quick lunch, and at $ 2 each, really quite reasonable.
The place doesn’t look at all fancy from the outside, but don’t let that discourage you. The dining room was bright & decorated nicely, and had cool Latin music playing. I was surprised that the place was not busy on a weekday. You really should try this place!

Papusas! Their new location serves alcohol which makes it even better. They have so many different papusa options and the slaw and sauce is perfect with them

My boyfriend absolutely loves it here, and only had great things to say about it! I can see why! I’ve never had a pupusa before, and I was quickly addicted. Don’t be intimated by the old brick exterior. The interior is welcoming and authentic, and the staff is excellent. The pupusas are served fresh and hot, and come with an amazing tomato sauce! Yum!

Tasty pupusas that satisfied my craving since moving to NE Ohio from DC. Lots of filling options.
Location moved a few blocks away on brookpark Rd. Unilocal needs to update address. We almost didn’t make it because wrong address is listed.

My first Pupusa experience and I loved it. I asked my husband to stop by and pick up some food from this restaurant on his way from work. I read the Unilocal reviews and went from there as I could not find a restaurant menu. He got a take home menu to go, so I will post pics. I love finding these little hidden treasures around town. I had to try the Pupusa Ajo con Queso (garlic w/​cheese). When I read about it I didn’t really think anything thing about it other than I should try it because of the great reviews. Boy, are the comments right on. So simple yet so tasty. I also ordered the Pupusa Locas. Again excellent. Couldn’t eat it all. Had plenty for left overs for lunch the next day. The cabbage slaw and hot sauce was good. Just wish it was spicier.

The pupusas are amazing and made-​to-​order. The staff is kind and and willing to work with lactose restrictions for pupusas.
This Salvadoran place uses MASA and not MASECA for the pupusas.
Makes all the difference in the world. This alone speaks to the authenticity of the place.
Atol de elote is served on Wednesdays. So yummy.
It’s definitely worth visiting!

These are hand down the best pupusas in Cleveland. Pupuseria Katarina has a variety of Salvadorian items on the menu, but I would skip everything else and only stick to the Pupusas (we have been disappointed by the soup, and almost everyone only eats pupusas). The quaint blue and white building can be awfully hot in the summer (no air conditioning), but the charm of the restaurant is lovely. The staff is always kind, and willing to work with lactose restrictions.
Pupusas are a puffy corn tortilla stuffed with different fillings. Each pupusa will run you about $ 2, and where else can you go in Cleveland and feed 2 people for under $ 10? 2 pupusas is more than enough food for a meal! Personally, I love the ayote (zucchini /​squash), and ajo (garlic) pupusas… I like them so much I can’t try the other options anymore. I have tried the loroco before (an edible vine/​flower) but I didn’t think it was nearly as good as the others. They have both vegetarian and meat options including pork, chicken, jalapeño, cheese, garlic, spinach and zucchini.

These are the best pupusas in Cleveland! I had two revueltas the other day and split platanos, which come with beans and rice, with my table. They all were full of delicious flavors. I love this place!
My mother had the pupusa loca, which has all the ingredients in one pupusa the size of the plate. She said it was delicious. She ate a third of it and was full. My mom also loves the curtido, which is a cabbage and vinegar mix that goes on top the pupusa.
My boyfriend had the hen soup and appreciated that it was brothy and light. He also said he enjoyed the hearty veggies and chicken mix. It was served with veggies and rice.
I wasn’t crazy about the marañon drink but that just might be a matter of preference bc I’d never had it before.
The service is decent and the place is cozy and has a mom and pop feel.

I was pretty disappointed the first time I came here. Not because the food was bad, or the service was horrific, but because it was closed. This place is closed Mondays, and I alerted Unilocal but it hasn’t been changed to reflect the hours. As a result, I ate frozen pasta at home because I was too lazy to make real food. Curses!
Anyway, I came back the next day. This place is less shady and appears to be cleaner than the other pupusa place I frequent. Regular pupusas are $ 2 each. I got a couple to go, along with their Pupusa Loca that includes all of the ingredients (pork, chicken, cheese, loroco, garlic, spinach, jalapenos and zucchini, I think) and is about the size of a small pizza for $ 5.
I was a little disappointed that I got such little curtido and salsa roja to go, considering I got 5 pupusas, one of which was oversized. I got about half a plastic baggie for the cabbage slaw, and 2 small containers of salsa roja. I should have asked for more, since I love pickled veggies (I swear I’m not pregnant). The curtido was crispy, refreshing and tasty. The pupusas were delicious! I liked the pupusa revuelta the most, although the chicharron came in a close second. I didn’t get to taste the pupusa loca since I got too full – 2 pupusas will fill you up!
For the 4 pupusas and 1 oversized pupusas, it was $ 13. I shared with a friend and only managed to finish the 4 pupusas. Which means we get to eat the oversized one tomorrow. Yay!

Great hidden mom and pop shop in Old Brioklyn. Authentic Salvadoran food. I got the Papusas to go. Pork, chicken, and loroco. I was stuffed. Could have just eaten two. The cole slaw was medium heat and home made salsa. If you are looking for authentic Central American this is your spot. Small dining area if you want to eat in or get it to go.