El Guanaco

Really great Sopa de Res and popusas. This place is very under appreciated. Overall the food here is very good.

Delicious pupusas with UNLIMITED cabbage slaw thing (not sure what it’s called). The red neon lights add a unique warmth and other worldliness to the place. Service can be a bit slow, so don’t go here if you want a quick bite.

My mom and I went here and ordered some Tamales and Pupusas months ago and they were pretty good, so for Easter we decided to get some food from here and it was a BIG disappointment. The texture of the tamales was gooey and of pudding consistency. Not only that, they tasted funny, had odd ingredients they never had before like string beans which is not the end of the world but the pork had a gigantic bone in them. They couldn’t take the bone out? Awful. Definitely Never going back again.

When people ask me what I miss most about Central America (gew up both in Costa Rica and Nicaragua for 6 years in each country), I tell them for Costa Rica, it’s the NATURE/​ECOLOGY of the entire country. They have absolutely stunning beaches, volcanoes, rain forests, cloud forests, and the list can go on forever. The nature is well-​protected and it’s the greenest country in the world! On the other hand, Nicaragua has probably the BEST food in ALL of Central America. So diverse, hearty, and yummy! Gallo Pinto con Queso y Tajadas, Quesillos, Cuajadas, Pio Quinto, Pinol, Arroz con Piña, Cajetas, Corvina al Jalapeño o al Ajillo, Churrasco, Buñuelos, and the list goes on and on!
That being said, Washington Heights (especially the area near GW Bus station), along with East Harlem is a FOOD DESERT and definitely NOT the best «hood» when it comes to dining options for lunch. There is absolutely NOTHING edible in this part of town except Fast Food like McDonalds, Subway, Dunkin Donuts, a handful of Delis offering mediocre heroes, some Dominican eateries, and the usual MSG infused Chinese take-​out restaurants.
For lunch today, decided to try something different and found a restaurant not too far away from where I was that serves Salvadorean food. I was excited since although it would not compare to Nicaraguan food, it’s still freakin’ Central American cuisine that is pretty rare in New York!
Place is not that big nor does it have a lot of décor. The décor consists mostly of El Salvadorean flags and that’s just about it lol. I sat down and was given the menu by the Salvadorean lady and I ordered the Combinacion Tipica or «Typical Combination Plate» that consists of two tamales (Sweet Corn and Chicken) and two pupusas (Pork/​Cheese and Cheese). They didn’t have Diet Coke so I got their CHAN (Chia seeds) drink which was refreshing and not too sweet!
My food came out in about 10 minutes and the portions were pretty generous and the food was good too! I LOVED the cheese that was stuffed in the Pupusas as they reminded me of Nicaraguan Queso de Crema which is probably the best (sorry Euros) which reminded me of my second home. The sweet corn tamale was good and couldn’t definitely pass for a dessert and the chicken tamale was a hearty dish as well.
Service was normal but not over friendly nor not friendly just one lady doing her job as order taker and working the cash register. It wasn’t too busy when I went and it was Lunch hour. I guess the reason behind might be that the prices are bit
high for the area ($ 12 – 15 for main entrees (all served with rice and beans) since the area consists mostly of low income people and they would never want to pay more than $ 10 or even $ 5 for food.
Don’t get me wrong. Food was food but prices need to be adjusted slightly to fit the demographics of the neighborhood.
CASH ONLY

Pupusas were pretty good… though they messed up our order and we ended up getting 3 of the same cheese pupusas. Tons of cheese, good flavor, decent size and only 2 bucks each. The best though was the tamale — delicious!

I can’t believe this restaurant only has 1 review! I think almost all central american uses the same recipe because they all taste delicious especially this one. Their Horchata are absolutely delicious! I love their pupusas and their elote de tamal. You can get full on a scrumptious meal spent less than $ 10.00 if thats not a win, i dont know what is.

The best pupusas in Manhattan. Have not found another place as authentic in Salvadorian cuisine as this one. The place is not large, not too bright, or elegant but it serves its purpose. Pork/​cheese and bean pupusas are my favorite! Don’t stop at one. They’re made from scratch so make sure you’re willing to wait for 20 – 30 minutes for your order at least.