Ara’s Kitchen

I eat this once in a while shopping at the Encino Farmers Market.
I find this place to be overpriced at $ 4 per pupusa no matter what kind you want. I don’t think any Salvadoreno would pay that much for a pupusa. I often see signs at restaurants charging $ 1 to my latest experience $ 2.75 in a sit-​down restaurant.
These people cater to Caucasians and push you to buy a drink with your pupusa.
I’ve had better and less expensive pupusa and would only eat here out of convenience and would not go out my way to eat here.

Their pupusas are pricey; they have no flavor; they use poor quality ingredients; and they’re sheisty on their fillings.

So I stumbled upon this place at the farmers market. Umm. Can say delicious…
These pupusas were made just right. The right consistency of masa with meat and cheese. So good and fresh. She made them right on the spot. Next time I go will try the cheese and spinach.
Also try the fried plantains and fresh watermelon juice. Sooo good.

I stumbled upon Ara’s booth at the Eagle Rock Music Fest recently and was pretty well blown away. I had the combo plate which included two papusas, this rad latin-​inspired coleslaw-​ish stuff and plantains (not a huge fan of those in general, but Ara’s were pretty good).
There are tons of options for papusas. Fourteen in total. I had the «Cheese and Lorocco» (some obscure South American flower) and the «Cheese, Mushroom and Green Onion». The Lorocco didn’t have as much character as I wanted, but the mushroom was awesome.
The agua fresca’s were good, too. Watermelon was a hit, so was the «Lemon, Lime and Mint.»