El Vincentino Restaurante Salvadoreno

After reading all these 5 star Unilocal reviews, I decided to run down to El Vincentino to give it a try. I had a major hankering for authentic tamales, and I was really looking forward to eating their food. When I walked in, the counter girl was barely alive … not totally inattentive, but not really welcoming a customer either She took my order with a grunt and without much acknowledgement. Ok. Not a good start. I ordered the Carne Deshilada as other posters had suggested as well as two tamales … $ 15.51. Not quite the bargain I was expecting. I took the order to go, and was still looking forward to eating a good meal when I got home. Let’s just say I was quite underwhelmed. I was expecting a container overflowing with great food, when instead, it was barely half filled. The food wasn’t terrible, but not quite the delicious plata everyone on Unilocal was hollering about. The carne was ok, and the rice didn’t stand out from any other Latin food place. The tamales were runny and soggy, and left a qweezy feeling in my stomach. Maybe if the place really was the inexpensive value that Unilocal suggests, I wouldn’t complain so much. But the price didn’t match the perceived value. There are many Latin places in Queens and the Bronx which offer more food, better taste, and for half the price of El Vincentino. Good luck to them. I gave it a try, and won’t be coming back.

Omg guys, their food is so delicious. Please do yourself a favor and order delivery now! Beef soup great. Breakfast platter great.

This family own restaurant is great in all aspects. I would rate the overall experience fantastic.
Food 10
Value 10
Ambient 10
Service 10
I would recommend this nice restaurant to all people and would say go and be happy with the experience

Seriously so good. Everything is mad fresh and tastes like so divine. Definitely get the pupusas. The staff is perfect nice and fast. Would recommend & return!

The restuarant has a very nice home like feel so the i would imagine my mom cooking food, ans who could beat a mothers cooking right? this is the second time i came here. very welcoming. since i dont know much about the dish, the gentlemen offered me many varietys of sauces that came with my order which is the plantains. im very satisfied.

I’m not very much of a storyteller in writing a review. There will not be a 3 or 4 paragraph descriptive, with that being said lets get to it. Delicious. Absolutely delicious. Ordered through Grubhub, our food was delivered exactly within the timeframe we were given. Our food was packed plentifully and properly. Nothing was spilling, lopsided, nor cracking. Salvadorean food, is quite tasty and comforting. Will reorder from Grubhub again, and definitely will visit when in the neighborhood.

Upon walking in, I was greeted immediately. I wanted take out and the staff was very friendly and helpful in deciding what to order.
I got tamales, pupusas and tripe soup. All of it was very good, large portions and definitely worth the cost. The only downside to what I got was the rice, which was bland and a little over cooked.
Overall, I will definitely be coming back to this place and trying more things from their menu.

I ordered grilled steak for take-​out, which was really juicy and flavorful. Staff working here were nice. Gonna come here again.

Ammmazing. This being my first exposure to Salvadorian food, I am now in love. Service is very friendly and fast. Everything is delicious, from their breakfast to dessert. A MUST!

I was on my way home from work and was craving Latin food. Found this through Unilocal.Ordered the Carne Deshilada and the Bandeja Salvadorena. Soooooo good. So glad I stopped. This will be my new go to. The pupusas were delicious.

The pupusas was on point. One word. Delicious! Next time i go will try a Horchata. I also enjoyed the corn tamales y plantin empanda.

No words. Just have the Bistec Encebollado. The steak, peppers, and onions will take you to another place. Delicious. This restaurant makes me realize that I love food, and I love flavor. Highly recommend, I’ve been here twice and both times have me in love with El Vicentino.

Because I don’t have much experience with this style of food, I can’t vouch for the authenticity of this place. However, they seem to offer decent meals.
The chicken tacos are delicious: fried taco shells filled with juicy marinated chicken, fresh vegetables, and sprinkled with cotija? cheese. I’ve also never had pupusas, so trying the fried pork/​cheese variety for only two bucks made my day. If I’m not on a sugar-​free diet, I like to add tres leches and horchata to my order.
If you’re craving Latin American food and are torn about this place, just saunter in and ask for a print menu – it will list all their items with accompanying photos to make your life easier and, perhaps, tastier.

This place has some really good food. The ingredients they use are extremely fresh, especially the chicken. How fresh? Let’s just say they were still moving up and a bout hours (max a day) before you ate it. They get the chickens from live poultry markets instead of buying them frozen. Which in turns translate into quality. Most high-​end restaurant in Manhattan take this route with ingredients and it’s awesome to find such a hole-​in-​the-​wall place do the same.

The food was really bad, as a Spanish person myself I can say this is NOT ethnic food. Even the rice tasted like it was boxed rice.
The pupusas were decent but I have had better. The place is really small but the prices are fair.
The food turned me off though, never again.

El Vincentino is terrific and amazingly inexpensive. The $ 5 carne guisada with rice, salad and corn tortilla lunch special is a deal. I recently had two really delicious chicharrón papusas with a side slaw for $ 3.25. A good place if you like Central/​South American food; I’m looking forward to trying their other dishes.

A ton of choices and large portions. Extremely cheap. My girlfriend and I each got a full meal, a glass of horchata, and dessert and paid $ 20 including tip. Very cute atmosphere inside, and what we ate seemed authentic. Good hours, open early for breakfast and close at 10pm. Awkward, but outgoing service. Very tasty. Can’t wait to go back.

I used to travel all the way to Woodside to get decent Latin American food. The it-​was-​worth-​the-​trip factor was decreasing at every trip. Not to say the food was getting worse, but I just hated traveling so far. In comes El Vincentino, a hole-​in-​the-​wall joint just five minutes from home.
First things first: $ 4.99 lunch special. Chicken, beef stew, or fish served El Salvadorean style, with rice and choice of beans or salad. Comes with a free soda. DEAL. Had the beef stew with rice and beans… very good and quite a portion for $ 5.
Next up was the pupusa, a corn pancake filled with beans, cheese, and pork. I had a pork-​cheese pupusa and a bean-​cheese variety as well. It’s served alongside a pickled cabbage slaw and a picante-​like sauce. $ 1.50 a pop is well worth it. Picked up four to save a few for later.
The actual restaurant is what you’d expect from a neighborhood Latin American spot; orderly chaos, bright signs everywhere, bathroom-​tile walls, outdated furniture. Perfect, in my opinion. While I was waiting, I was watching a soap on the Univision channel titled «Necesita una amiga», which, based on what I saw, translates to «Slap me and then kiss me and then punch me».
Anyway I can’t grant it five stars just yet… need to take another trip to do that. Pero carne guisada con arroz y frijoles, cuatro pupusas, y una bebida por once dolares es muy bien.