La Metapaneca

I usually order the breakfast plates with scrambled eggs, cheese, sour cream, beans and plantains… their soups are also very good, pupusas are of good size, but they are greasy and not very tasty, parking is restricted so plan accordingly. nothing bad to say about this place, perhaps newer tvs to watch soccer games but I can go without it and they should throw away old bread not sale it because that ruins the whole experience.

Place was ok… Parking is crazy! Their fried plantains are a «hard pass». I ordered them thinking they would be the typical Salvadorian soft and mushy ones, but they were rather hard! Chicken pupusas come with bell pepper so heads up. The cheese pupusas were yummy, but I’m giving them a mediocre review because I was turned off by the cleanliness of the restaurant. Tables were diary and sticky. The bathrooms didn’t even have hand soap so first thing in wondering are how are employees washing their hands after the restroom?

I love this place. They’re not always great with getting your order correct. It’s best to order in Spanish. Never been to a place where good pupusas are made fast… so expect to wait :)

Told me my order would be out in 25 minutes… well it really took about an hour. The staff is kind of rude so the 2 stars are for the poor service. The food is okay.

The food was ok but I would never come here again, the service was horrible they were rude it took forever to get our food even though we were the only ones there when we first got there. After 30 min we had to get up and ask where our food was because they never came back to check on us and we still had to wait. The table was still a little dirty and we had to take it upon ourselves to wipe it down before we sat down.

Went in for puposas and other things. Long story short the lady got the order wrong after confirming a couple times verbally. Waited over an hour for the order and it was wrong. Called in to let them know and the lady who answered the phone… Completely rude. Said that we received what we ordered and she didn’t charge us. But we ordered 12 puposas and two other meals and bananas and yuca. To only receive 2 puposas, three of us ended up not eating dinner and had to spend more money to go somewhere else… Never coming here again.

Parking lot is a nightmare — park in the back or on Van Ness.
Cramped restaurant — with seating in the back.
Ordered 2 cheese pupusas and 2 chicken ones.
Cheese was better than the chicken ones since they put peppers in with the chicken which completely over-​powered the whole pupusa.
The cheese is super gooey and fatty and delicious
Took awhile so next time (if there is a next time) will call it in.

Wont ever order from here again! Called in our order and they messed it up so they had to redo it, my coworker told the girl to make sure it was correct before she left the girl said «8 pupusas right?» And my coworker said «no 9» and the girl said «yea its correct» she gets back to work and the order was still messed up, she called to complain and all they said was that they were sorry and that we were only charged for 8. They gave us our total over the phone and when she got to the place they gave her a different total they said it was cuz they estimate how much it will be, we thought it was odd that 3 pupusas and a large drink would b $ 6.25, idk but i would have estimated $ 10.
And would have been nice to have read the reviews first im not into eating at places where i can see the roaches crawling around.
The pupusas werent that great ive had better i did not like their curtido or the salsa
But their jamaica was good.

I was given the «we reserve the right to refuse service» by the lady owner’s husband who likes to behave like a loud, control-​freak gorilla whenever he chooses to waltz in and out. Apparently if you don’t welcome his loudness and accept his complete dominance, you are not welcome there. Up until then, I had been going there for years and loved the food and staff. Honestly, I had even seen small roaches on their floors and stepped on them but decided to think that I didn’t see anything — the food is that good :) Too hot during the summer and too cold during the fall. Besides that, I’d try it if I were looking for a good Salvi food place. Enjoy! just make sure you look down and respect the lady owner’s husband when he comes in. He looks and behaves exactly like the late president Hugo Chavez.

A little hole in the wall, the pupusas are awesome and the «sopa de pata» is the business!!! Will definitely come back.

This place is not at all fancy nor do they have the best service. The food is definitely delicious though.
I was here after a long shift at work and decided to order two revueltas (pork and cheese) and one with beans. I should have remembered to order ahead because sometimes when you’re starving, you don’t want to wait and you want to chow down asap. Well anyway, I ate right there in the restaurant. The pupusas were a bit greasy for my taste but I just dabbed off the excess. They had a good amount of meat and cheese and not too much masa. It was a nice balance between the two. I also added some salsa and curtido. The salsa was okay, watery and not too flavorful. The curtido was the best though. I even ate the curtido by itself.
Overall, good food for a good price. It definitely satisfied and I’ll definitely be back.

Thank goodness we didn’t have a huge wait like the other reviewers. I’m glad I didn’t consult Unilocal on this one and just went to the nearest pupusaria. It is a tiny place with a few tables but most people were taking their food to go. We got 2 revueltas and 1 loroco. Yeah, they’re greasy things but just cut the grease with extra sauce and slaw. Wish there was an El Salvadorean place in Irvine… SIGH

I give this restaurant 3 stars only because their pupupas are delicious!
It is not a big restaurant or anything fancy so dress casual because you WILL be stared at if you look like you came out of a quinceanera.
If you are a woman and if you are alone, guys especially the old ones will try to flirt so unless you like that sort of thing, avoid it at all cost and bring a friend!
I can be a very impatient person when it comes to food. So if you are coming here very hungry for pupusas and also hate waiting then I warn you of how much time they take to bring out the delicious morsels out. I suffered through that long wait but you can say it was worth it. (in my opinion of course.)
One thing that annoys me will be the tight space they have. One good example will be the entrance where people can only get in if they get in a line.
You are basically screwed if their biggest room is filled because then you will be stuck on the tight space they have left. If you are in that kind of situation I highly suggest you just order and leave.
One thing I admire will be that they do all their dishes by hand and they start making it when you order it so it is fresh out of the stove! My mother loved the chicken soup but sadly she did not finish the side dishes.
I do not mind coming to meta once in a while but not when I am starving.

i love this place! i’ve only had the pupusas but I love them.

Disappointed in the pupusas here. They’re like little flattened tortillas with scarcely any meat or cheese. If anything, have the owner of the restaurant make them for you, for she makes them good.
The other thing I’ve eaten here is a plate called ‘Salpicon’ and their chicken soup.
Not a fan of this place, would rather go to the pupuseria around my house.
I don’t mind the look, ’cause I’ve been to the «ghetto-​est» of the ghetto restaurants, but I really dislike not being able to step inside without all the men trying to hit on me. Eww

This place is horrible! My hubby and I tried this place TWICE and it sucked big nalga both times. The pupusas were greasy and bland. HE ordere sopa de pata which is the salvi version of menudo and it was cold, old, and had a greasy film. EEeeh! Do yourself a favor and avoid this place!

This place is in the ghetto of gardena. So don’t expect nothing fancy. Yeah you need to understand some spanish to make an order. The pupusas were too oily yet still good. But I was too scared to eat the curtido and salsa because it didn’t look safe to me. Well for #1, I saw the salsa sitting out uncovered. And it wasn’t even refrigerated!!! That’s not sanitary to me. So as I ate the pupusas, I avoided eating the salsa and curtido. I wouldn’t go to this place again because the area sucks and the food isn’t all that good anyway to make up for it.

Good pupusas. However, they grow the corn themselves, harvest it, soak it in the lye to soften the shells, grind the corn, mix in the requisite fat and make the dough for pupusas. Then, they feed the pigs, fatten them, slaughter, boil the meat and then prepare it for the pupusas. So, when you order, be prepared to wait for seasons to end before you get the pupusas. They will, however, be tasty.
The place is small and can get loud. The «ensalada» drink isn’t too bad. I like their curtido, but I don’t care for their salsa. The other things I’ve had on the menu were ok, but not spectacular.
Do yourself a favor, call in your pupusa orders and pick them up later.

a real hole in the wall… i’ve been here twice. and the food is good. but just doesnt’ do it for me.
i ordered 2 pupusas revueltas (which is pork and cheese).
it comes with a tomato sauce and cabbage salad. When taken to go, they put the sauce in a bag and the cabbage in a different bag. Something about SAUCE in a bag grosses me out. but that is just ME. Sauce in a bag is just messy and dampers the appetite. But i’m not really docking points because of that alone. The pupusas were OK. really just mediocre. there wasn’t much cheese in it and the taste was just OK. a lil on the soggy side once the sauce is put on top. I’ve had better pupusas (particularly Delmy’s at the torrance farmer’s market, and Arsence in El Segundo). the cabbage salad, like other places is tasty, but not any better than the other places. I’d come back. but only for a quick pupusa fix. Given a choice of the best pupuseria. this wouldn’t quite make it. Cheap and quick it is, though.

I’m giving 5 stars on the food and service only. It’s not in a 5 star location or has 5 star décor/​ambience. With that being said…
This is a small Salvadoran restaurant located at the corner of Rosecrans and Van Ness in Gardena in a run down strip mall next to a liquor store, bar, and massage parlor. Stopped by there this past Saturday for the first time after driving by there so many times. I driven by that place at 2am or 3am, and seen people there cleaning up and getting ready for the day. During the day I had always seen people in and out of there, so I thought I would just try it one day. This place is a pretty hard core hole in the wall only for the more adventurous chowhound fanatics. There’s a small seating area up front and looks like there’s more seating in another section out back. Next to the counter where you order your food, there’s a huge wall sized set of pictures of the dishes they have. They have a nice variety of Salvadoran dishes (breakfasts, too) and them pictures looked really good. The young ladies behind the counter looked at me kinda strange when I first walked in, not expecting an Asian person to walk into their restaurant, much less speaking Spanish with slang (I grew up with raza). One of the young ladies came around the counter to show me a menu. I ordered four pupusas for about $ 7.50. Two were chicharron y queso and the other two were frijol (black beans) y queso. She said 15 minutes, so I eagerly waited while they made my pupusas (kitchen is right behind the counter) and stared at the big picture menu on the wall. In less than 15min I was driving home with my hot pupusas. I gotta tell you I didn’t expect to eat all four in one sitting… but, I did. They were really good! I’ve had others from other places recommended to me, but these were better. They were extremely fresh and the masa was cooked with just the right texture… fluffy, not hard, not too soft. I’m sold on these pupusas and I will definitely be back for some of their other dishes like the Salvadoran sausage with queso y frijol dish.