El Chipilin Restaurant

I used to love their pupusas until I recently placed an order of 14 pupusas for my family. They told me that they were going to be ready in 20min maximum. I even took a little longer just to give them extra time. When I arrived in the restaurant they didnt have them ready yet and they took extra 15min. I took them home and the pupusas were not tasting good anymore. The chicharron was old and tasted like if they had it there for months and just reheated it. I had a really bad experience to the point that my stomach got upset.

There I was at home fiending for something delicious and satisfying. Hell, I’ll go to Hollywood to Square One and get me some eggs and French toast and check out the crowd I said. As I was driving I began to have second thoughts. I drove past this place and I said to myself: I don’t need a hipster crap meal; I need some pupusas, a seafood cocktail of some sorts, and a Latin-​American brew.
I’m glad I did. This place is a hidden gem. The pupusas were great, thick, and tasty, oozing with cheese and flavor. The shrimp cocktail was also great, well-​balanced, clean, and super delicious – and the serving portion was generous. This comes from a guy that has been around town and has sampled many cocktails at different establishments and food trucks. So I am used to the occasional stomach pain and funky tastes if you will. But this place was not that. I will definitely come back.

OK. I have to say the food is good and prices are reasonable. We tried several different things from the menu and it was all good.
The hostess was friendly and helpful. The place isn’t big and nothing fancy but who needs that when the food is good. If you want to watch sports they had a few big screens. If you are into karaōke I think they have that to.
If in the area I will go back. You should check them out.

The worst experience! this is more like a bar not a family restaurant. It’s not appropriate for a family to eat here. The workers are dressed inappropriate and there are drunk people that make a mess and shout very loud, they disturb others. the music is way too loud not somewhere where u want to go and eat and enjoy. You could even hear people shouting from outside. Don’t come here!

I ordered food to go, it was really quick and easy to order over the phone. The staff is very friendly. And of course the food was really good.

This place has some of the best Pupusas I’ve ever had. Hands down. I got revueltas and I must say they are the most authentic ones you can get outside of El Salvador. I went with a large group and we got and order of oysters for the table, they were really fresh and so good. The staff was really nice and they were really attentive to our needs. Everything was reasonably priced as well. Great spot to get good food and cheap drinks with friends. I was informed that they also have a karaōke night which sounds like a lot of fun!

Great authentic food, I’m glad I found this place. The service was great and the staff took care of anything I needed. I will definitely be back.

So the food was alright. I’m actually salvadorean and appreciate good salvy food. The pupusas were good BUT… I came in a wed 5:00 pm, and oh my gosh literally a ball of old obnoxious drunk pathetic old men. They totally made me and my mom uncomfortable. Literally the worst experience! Don’t come here!

The best out of east Hollywood, this place accommodates Latin American food to the most Authentic taste. Karaōke at nigh «unbelievable» you gotta check it out my peeps.

Terrible la atención eran las 2 de la tarde el jueves y sólo mi esposa y yo estábamos y la mesera tardo 1 hora en servir la comida y para colmo la comida está pésima mente mala Sorry pero es la verdad (y creo que tienen que canbiar la mesera del jueves van a perder mucho con jente sin experiencia)

Was seriously craving pupusas and El Chipilin hit the spot. One of the best queso con loroco pupsas I’ve had outside El Salvador!

Found this place late in the evening, and stopped in spontaneously with a friend visiting from out of town. It was almost closing, but they offered us seating with no complaints. The sweet gal waiting on us helped explain the dishes and was very friendly to a couple white girls! We had some wonderful pupusas, great beans, rice, bananas, chicken! Loved the small feel of this place, the cleanliness was obvious, and the folks in there at 1030pm (a half hour after closing) were friendly and thankful we stopped in. I promised them this white girl would spread the word about their goodness.

Hidden little secret… this place is great and the price is right. The food is home made and the chief is the best in the pupusa world. If you have a hang over or you need the extra energy for a hot date the «soap de gallina india» is the best. (chicken soup)

great place for central American food
Has music on the weekends
also good for watching sporting events, has 50″ LCD’s all over the place
lots of Laker and Dodger fans…
great beer specials and food is cheap and taste good
I had a pupusa and it was the best… food is fresh and tasty
main meal was a sopa de res and that was Delicious
all of this well i watched a dodger and Laker game.
and the people are cool

$ 1 pupusa deals are NO steal here…
Is cheap food always good? NO!!!
Pupusas do not need to be greasy to be good. The best places do not sell really greasy pupusas anyway. A greasy pupusa is likely one that has been sitting around for awhile. Pupusas SHOULD BE made on the spot to be good. I saw another Unilocaler mention the pupusas at El Chipilin are greasy. The time I was here I do not recall them being overly greasy though. The pupusas were not really the problem. Here the pupusas are ok…
A pupusa is not much more than a Mexican gordita unless you get it with really good curtido! El Chipilin has POOR POOR curtido. It is too spicy since it includes jalapenyos and the seasonings are not as good as they usually are in the Pico Union area. Ok so Pico Union can be rough but that is where the really good pupusas are. BTW some people call curtido a slaw but a slaw it is not. It may look like one but curtido is vinegary and should have some really tasty spices in it.
If you are a pupusa fan go there. But wait… there is… anotherrrrr… In my opinion the best pupusas I have had lately are at El Buen Gusto in Atwater. Not greasy and just the right mix of beans, cheese and chicharron or pork rinds. Only go for the pupsas though for their Salvadoran menu is very limited. They pretty much sell more Mexican stuff than Salvadoran haha!!!
They do not have TONGS for the curtido?! It can get pretty messy at the tables here when you try to take the curtido out of the container without the luxury of tongs haha!
The color: Nice lady served us but service is slow. I realize that fresh pupusas do take longer to make but still. They were not playing tropical music haha… they were playing Mexican rancheras. I love them but I love tropical music with my pupusas.
I’m still on my quest for the holy grail of pupusas near to where I live and this place fails the curtido test…

This place is supposed to be the «spot» for Papusas according to other Unilocalers. I went to 4 different places all within a few blocks of this place and all of them were better then here. The food was good but the Papusas were cooked on a greasy grill so they were VERY greasy but tasty.

I am writing this review in a state of serious food coma, so it’s not going to be long. My friend was craving Salvadorian food and we’re always on the look out for new dives to hit up. I believe he found this place while on his way to my apartment and wanted to give it a try. We started off our meal with Baleadas and Papusas, I had the Mojara Frita (whole fried fish, eyeballs and all, so keep in mind if you’re weird about knowing what you’re eating) and my friend had Pollo Encebollada. All dishes were amazing. The papusas were to die for! They serve them with a giant jar of a kind of cabbage salsa (I can’t remember the name of it, forgive me. Food coma!) that you put on the Papusas. The baleadas had an amazing texture and just the right amount of cream. My friend’s Pollo Encebollada was good, but I believe he was looking for a more «3^rd world» flavor and this tasted a little too «normal» for him. I tasted the chicken, it was great! My fish was cooked to perfection. I love eating fish whole because you can get down and dirty with it. My only complaint about this place would be that there isn’t a lot of parking in the area and the music was a little too loud at times. Not a huge deal. We circled the block and found a parking spot. As far as the music goes, everyone there was having a blast, so it felt like a big party.
One piece of advise though: bring cash! I knocked one star off of my review because they charge $ 2 for a credit card transaction and trying to do the debit rout makes it difficult to tip.
Enjoy!

Gluten free friends will delight in this tasty dive. On the south side of Beverly Blvd, in a colorful neighborhood sits this small El Salvadorian restaurant. Not just any ordinary pupuseria, this one also caters to Hondurans. It is unique.
On the weekends, you will find the regulars sitting at the bar, chatting up the owner, while nursing a cold beer and watching a soccer match. Families share platters of their native nostalgic specialties, and almost everyone speaks Spanish.
The menu has a variety of refreshing fresh fruit beverages. A glass refrigerator is stocked with domestic, exotic beers and sodas where you can point and choose.
I ordered the ensalada. (my favorite drink from El Salvador) Ensalada is a refreshing fresh fruit punch with minuscule diced fruit. It is usually composed of red apples, mango and melon.
The ensalada is unique here as it is filled with fibrous yellow cherries. While I appreciate trying anything new and exotic, the cherries had a large seed and were largely inedible. Unlike the usual ensalada where nothing is left behind after every tiny fruit square has been sussed out by me and my spoon provided.
One amazing thing about Central America for my gluten free friends, is the empanadas which are commonly made with corn instead of wheat flour. If you like the samosa or the empanada, you are going to love this. The beef corn turnovers are for you. About four dollars, about two inches squared, four to an order. (five stars)
These tasty corn shells are filled with ground beef, potatoes and vegetables, fried until golden brown. Crunchy on the outside, soft and savory on the inside. Like Shepard’s pie in a corn shell, this dish is very mild. Do NOT order these if you are dieting! *smacks wrist*
Most of the menu is gluten-​free and mildly flavored. The chances of cross contamination is mild to impossible here. Pupusas here are made with rice or corn and many appetizers are corn-​based or rice based, without soy.
I ordered a mixed pupusa, a corn patty filled with cheese, beans and pork then grilled until crunchy on the outside and bubbling cheese on the inside. Think corn tortilla size in diameter and ten times thicker and heavier. Pupusas are no joke friends. I need to limit my pupusa intake to spare my pants size number from drastically increasing fast.
I was served the El Salvadorian slaw which accompanies pupusas in a large jar with a plastic fork to dispense it. This slaw was fabulous (five stars) and crunchy. I like to match my pupusa with 50 percent slaw to keep the vegetable factor high and to undo a little of the cholesterol damage caused by any good pupusa.
This place is very casual. the restroom is a little grungy and the tables are a little worn. You might get discouraged by the limited street parking. Search just south of Beverly Blvd in the residential area where I have always gotten lucky.
How much did this meal run me? Around seven dollars friends. How much did I eat? Not even half! The leftovers were not as good here the second time around so I suggest coming with friends and family if you plan on trying anything more than a single pupusa. +Even then, only try to finish one at your own risk.:-D

Would usually go to Atlacatl for pupusas, then tried this place for the first time a few months ago.
Ordered my fave (cheese & loroco), and I think I like it better here. Why? Pupusas seem cheesier, giving the pupusa an awesome texture! I love cheese! Always makes things better. :)
What else? Order some Ensalada to quench your thirst! You’ll be a happy camper!
This place has a small mom ‘n pops feel! Nothing really special about the atmosphere. Different from the more traditional home-​y looking Atlacatl for sure. What this place lacks in pizzazz though, it makes up for in AWESOME PUPUSAS!

This is a Salvadorean/​Honduran restaurant. It’s right down the block from my apartment. Right now it has a A health rating, but few weeks ago I did see a B health rating.
It looks very clean to me. Very small place but good ventilation and good atmosphere. They have a jukebox playing good punta, salsa, cumbias. They also have a TV showing a spanish show, usually.
The handmade tortillas are BOMB! The pupusas are very good as well. They serve your food with an «encurtido» which is pretty good.
I must say I was not impressed with their Honduran Pollo Frito. It was lacking this sauce that is typical in Honduran fried chicken dishes.
I should also point out that in their menu they separate the Salvadorean and Honduran dishes. They explain well what the dish consist of in case you’re not familiar.
Overall is a decent place to eat Central American food. Definitely go here if you are craving some pupusas.
Only 3 stars because they don’t carry my favorite Honduran beer (barenas) and also they are almost always out of other Honduran beers like Port Royals and Salvavidas. They also do take a bit long to serve your food.

Mmmm, this place is pretty good. They should be a 3.5 though in my opinion, but maybe I caught them on an off day. They have a B health rating, which is pretty common in LA but unheard of in SD, so you figure it out. God made dirt and dirt don’t hurt… but rats and roaches do. Not to slander this place, it seemed pretty clean to me. They have pupusa specials on their revueltas for .99 mon-​thurs, and $ 3 beers as well.
I came here with a friend and got a few little things. I got three pupusas (.99 each), the platanos fritos con crema y frijoles ($ 4.99), and one tamal de pollo ($ 2). My friend ordered the same but also threw in a tamal Chipilin ($ 2).
The platanos were thin cut, lengthwise like the Salvadoreans tend to do it (not like us Ricans), and did not seem to be ripe enough as they were not as juicy and melty as I typically like them. the beans were good and the crema was what you expect. My pupusas were on point, but my friend complained that his did not have enough queso. What does he know though, this was his first pupusa. Mine were plenty cheesy and delish, but the ones from El Palmar up the street are still better (review coming soon).
The tamales came wrapped in the platano leaf as usual, but were much smaller than what I am used to from Salvadorean places. They were very moist though and the chicken was good. I wouldn’t recommend them though because they were really small. The Chipilin was much bigger and looked like it had some kind of spinach mixed into the maza. I think it also had some yuca or potato in it, but I’m not sure because I didn’t try it. He said it was good though.
All in all, not bad. the prices were pretty good and it is definitely a whole in the wall, but I have had better Salvadorean food. There are so many options in the area and I personally like El Palmar better. I just wish they had tamales there.