Criollo’s Restaurant

I’ve passed by the restaurant a couple of times and never thought much of it but I heard they sold pupusas and so I went in. My father was born and raised in El Salvador and is very picky when he eats pupusas because he knows what they originally taste back home. I bought 6 pupusas, four with chicharron and cheese and two with chicharron, cheese, and frijoles. They were absolutely delicious, I made my father try them to see what he thought of them and he said that they were the best pupusas he’s had and they were the closest to what they taste like back in El Salvador. They were amazing and about $ 2 each. The restaurant itself is small and has tables and is set up normally, the staff doesn’t look like they’re having fun but they’re friendly. overall I loved the food, if you’re looking for good pupusas, buy them here.

I was on jury duty in the downtown Elizabeth area, and when we broke for lunch I didn’t want to do McDonalds or any other chain food. I wanted something more «mom and pop» and local. I came across Criollo’s pretty much at random. It was early so the place was empty (save for a couple take out customers).
The restaurant has several tables, most with four chairs. Each table is stocked with napkins, salt, pepper and hot sauce. Already a good sign. I walked up to the kitchen/​cashier area and started thumbing through the menu. Then I looked up to see a nice older lady looking at me expectantly while and older gentleman had his arms crossed with a look of utter boredom and contempt on his face, not so much at me, but it seemed, his existence in general.
I saw one thing on the menu that looked good. The conversation then went something like this:
ME: «Do you have the oxtail?»
LADY: «No oxtail.»
ME: «Okay…» (thumbing through the menu more) «…ah, what about the tongue (I think it was a burrito).»
LADY: «No tongue.»
ME: «What DO you have?»
LADY: «Chicken, beef, pork sausage, chorizo…»
So that settled it, I ordered a chicken breast with rice and beans. I also added in an empanada with chicken inside. The empanada was served to me first, and it was nice and hot. I could tell as soon as my fork went into it that the crust was going to be fantastic. It made a satisfying crunch and had a nice, springy feel to it inside. When I took my first bite I was in love. The outer shell was crispy on the surface level, but chewy underneath. Inside was a combination of chicken, rice and I believe some onions. It wasn’t just shredded chicken stuffed into a shell and for that I was very happy.
The main dish was amazing in size. I seriously think two people could share this one dish. The chicken was perfectly seasoned and tender. It seemed like it had been cooked in a pan, then grilled for a finish, giving it some nice dark char. The rice and beans were good, but nothing spectacular. It’s just the sheer amount of food was awesome. I wound up leaving about ²⁄₃ of the rice and beans because I was stuffed.
I enjoyed my visit to Criollo’s, but I did knock down a star for them not having what’s advertised on their menu.