Panchita’s Restaurant No 2

All I can say is AMAZING. Our first time here Easy to locate right off the Bart. Easy walk up and order and try to find a place to sit. This place is very popular. Consistent crowd. Food was great. The cabbage at the tables was a perk I love that stuff. Salsa is not spicy at all on the tables. Great place to go.

Best pupusas in sf! $ 3 each. What’s better than that?

I pushed boyfriend out of the car to pick me up papusas so this is my curbside review. The wait time was ages, this could be because boyfriend ordered five different papusas but most likely because I was sitting in the car salivating. Boyfriend reappeared with a steaming bag of deliciousness. Pork and cheese had me like woah; topped with pickled slaw and hot sauce I had a coming to Jesus (HAYY!-sus) moment. Panchita’s makes it onto my personal Mission Food Tour list.

The sorriest plantains in the Bay Area; burnt to a crisp like a pilgrim at the stake. The lack of culinary conscience is appalling.

Delicious, fresh, piping hot pupusas for super cheap! $ 3 each.
My boyfriend and I ordered 3 each, but 2 would be enough to feed a normal appetite (we were starving lol). We had pork, beef, chicken, and spinach. I’d recommend spinach for anyone who loves melted cheese because it had the most cheese out of all of the ones we had by far. Chicken seemed to have the most meat out of the meat options I tried.
But all of the varieties were great! Honestly hard to pick a favorite.
Make sure that you have the plastic containers with red sauce and pickled cabbage on your table. The containers themselves honestly look a bit unsanitary, but… they’re amazing on the pupusas. So pile them on your plate. I promise you’ll forget about your worries of possible health code violations once you start eating.

$ 3 Pupusas, of many varieties, that are sooooooo good.

Pupusas. El Salvadorian cuisine. They have tamales. Service is kind of, well,
very slow. And there’s not very many people here. I can’t imagine how it would be if it was packed. Took about 20 min to get 4 pupusas out.

Panchitas knows how to make a pupusa. Stuffed enough to ooze out and give you that crisp cheese on the outside. Located on grimy 16^th, but just like the block it’s even better after 2am!

We came for the pupsas, and we left it with bags of pupusas. This is right down the block from the 16^th street Bart station. They had a lot of different variety for you to chose from, and they will immediately make it fresh for you. I got one chicken, pork, beef and loroco. It takes a while for them to make it, and when it’s ready it’s perfect! Nice and hot right off the grill! My favorite was actually the chicken one. It’s actually a nice place, the décor was pretty cool and it’s also a pretty clean place. I love the vibe of this place, you can tell they do a lot of business with the locals, because they always greet everyone by name. I will def be back!

$ 3 fresh made Pupusas of all varieties
It doesn’t get any better
Pork, beef, Chicken, Zucchini
And coleslaw as well

These papusas gave me life! Okay, not really, they probably do nothing for my diet, but they were delicious to say the least. Let’s just say that I purchased one, scarfed it down, and immediately went back to purchase two more (what can I say, my inner day girl was screaming for more of that papusa goodness). Here’s the lowdown:
Likes:
–CHEAP! Only $ 3/​papusa (and who doesn’t love a deal)
–pretty fast turnaround service
–attentive staff
–did I mention the papusas are delicious?!?
–located near BART (for all you Eco-​conscious/​carless folks)
Dislikes
–not really any dislikes except for the possible health code violation/​food borne illness that could potentially result from eating the slaw (not sure how often its refreshed, who’s digging in it to eat with clean/​dirty paws, etc). But hey, that’s a small price to pay for some yummy goodness.
Definitely a must for anyone visiting the Mission and/​or has never had a papusa. Can’t wait to check this place out again!

Delicious pupusas ($ 3)!!!
Not too greasy.
Perfectly paired with the pickled cabbages (despite the slightly unsanitary set up of the pickle tub.) I liked the unpretentious setting, delicious food, and live music that comes around.
I also got the beef stew with lots of veggies ($ 7), which was hearty but light, great for a rainy day or pick up to go home.
Omg. the fried plantains (~$ 5). unexpectedly delicious. You have to try it at least once.
Definitely coming back again.

Best Papusas in TOWN ! thats all i gotta say.
yes there is a long wait, so call in your order like i do and walk in and out after paying, no wait no hassle, just good ol yummy papusas
so many flavors and at $ 3.50 you cant beat it
when they make them on the side walk they are ONLY $ 3.00!!!
Peace! IM OUT BXXXXES!
(Drops Mic)…

What’s a papusa you say? Think of a highbred between a tamale and a quesadilla. They create these lovely pillows using masa and just the right amount of cheese and the ingredients of your choice. You have to try them with the cabbage and red sauce that is already sitting on the tables.
How many times have I been here with the gang after a night getting intoxicated on 16^th or Valencia streets. Geez… I can’t even recall but I can tell you this, I have never left this place disappointed. There are at least 11 options available from mushroom and garlic to pork, chicken, spinach and zucchini. They hand make the papusas outside and heat them up on their propane fueled flattop while you grab a table and prepare yourself for a great meal.
Don’t forget to order some plantains as well since they are the perfect accompaniment to your papustastic journey! I will continue to swing by when in the hood, so keep on doing your think crew, we appreciate ya!

For $ 3, Panchita’s is a solid late night snack.
After wandering around the Mission for a bit, my friend and I stopped in at 1 AM to split a bean and cheese pupusa. The place was pretty packed, but there were a couple of open tables, and we managed to grab one.
It was actually a decently long wait for our pupusa. Our table was missing the jar of cole slaw, but we grabbed one from another table, and. My roommate, a Panchita’s regular, claims that there is a hot sauce I missed out on, but our table didn’t have anything on it, so I was clueless (in retrospect, that’s probably why it was open). :(
The first bite was pretty unimpressive, but by the time we were done, my friend and I both agreed we’d happily come back and try another pupusa (this time a different flavor!), though there are still probably better late night options in the Mission.

Having spent a lot of time in Guatemala, the El Salvadoran dish of pupusas is something I’m quite familiar with. And often long for. They’re tasty, they’re a little greasy, they’re cheap and they’re filling. Having been disappointed in the past with Latin American food’s US version, I didn’t know what to expect here. And I was very pleasantly surprised. Fast, friendly service and delicious food. All the cabbage slaw and salsa topping you want, served over hot and tasty pupusas.
I only knew to ask for fried plantains because I saw someone else get them to go. Maybe there’s a secret menu or something, because the only things up for offer on display were pupusa varieties. The plantains were delicious, too. Get them!

I hope this review is for the right place.
We went out for a friend’s birthday nearby and stumbled out of the bar around 1am. Obviously, we’re going to grab some late night eats before heading home to satisfy both an instant gratification for food and a preventive measure for the next day’s productivity.
Luckily we spotted the Panchita’s Restaurant No. 2 aka «The Pupusa Lady /​Pupusa Stall».
I had the chicken variety and obviously added the extra fixings: Cabbage and Sauce. My wife got the cheese version. The whole order cost less than $ 7.00, which is amazing and also makes me wonder what Panchita’s margins are on both a fixed and variable cost basis. I suppose the volume and operating leverage makes up for it.
This was a strong finish to a fun night.

Panchita’s pupusas are good, but not quite El Zocalo’s. Ever since El Zocalo closed their doors, I’ve been on the hunt to find a fulfilling, greasy, yet slightly crispy in texture pupusa that will blow my mind during the wee hours of the night. My boyfriend was craving pupusas and brought me to Panchita’s on a Friday night at around 10pm. Luckily for us, there was parking right around the block, which is a rarity in the Mission. Since it was Friday night, naturally Panchita’s was packed with a ton of people, but seats were plenty available once patrons finished their pupusas.
We ordered 2 chicken pupusas, 2 pork pupusas, and 1 beef pupusa plus an alfajore because why the heck not? I believe the total was under $ 20. The curtido and sauce is readily available on the tables along with utensils and napkins. Our orders came about 10 – 15 minutes later, so if you’re in a hurry to get something quick, Panchita’s might not be for you. The texture of the pupusa was fine, but the meat to cheese ratio was off for me. Unlike most people, I like my pupusas cheesy, so I was a tad bit disappointed to find that there was more meat than cheese. Also, the pork used was mostly fat, which was off putting.
Overall, the pupusas are good, however, I’ll still continue my hunt for something that is similar to El Zocalo.

Pupusas! At $ 3 each, these make for the perfect low-​budget meal. I had two and it was enough to fill me up. The pork pupusa was flavorful and cheesy, but there wasn’t much pork in it. The mushroom and garlic pupusa was my preferred pupusa.
These are made fresh and served hot. Each table has unlimited hot sauce and pickled cabbage to pair with the pupusa. Both are highly recommended to add acidity and texure to the pupusa.
The pupusas take a while to come out (about 20 min wait). If you want a faster option, consider the food stand they have outside of the restaurant where they also make pupusas on the spot. You can even take your meal and eat inside the restaurant.

Y’know I’m gonna have to wear my black mantilla and matching shawl as I enter my period of mourning for the impending demise of El Zocalo, home to my favorite pupusas in town. The mamacitas there pounded them to just the right consistency, and the curtido was always freshly made. As you can tell, I’m taking the break-​up badly, so of course, Jamie W. and I went to Panchita’s for a rebound pupusa. OK, that wasn’t really our intention, but Panchita puts herself out there with her sidewalk grill luring young hipsters who have no concept of what a carb is. When the grill isn’t out on 16^th, there’s always the cartoon sign with Panchita holding a tray of her papusas (photo:
).
Panchita looks like Lucy Ricardo during the pizza-​making episode, so the place put us in a good mood right away. All pupusas are $ 3 each which made ordering easy (photo:
). But first we indulged ourselves with a $ 4.50 plate of Guacamole with Chips (photo:
). Decent though a rather paltry portion with just a handful of chips to keep us occupied until the pupusas arrived. I had one Pork with Cheese and one Mushroom & Garlic with Cheese (photo:
). The «with Cheese» is an automatic if you were wondering. They were OK, nothing incredible, and I just wish they were accompanied by a better mix of curtido (photo:
). So it’s back to my black mantilla for me and a funereal procession with me carrying a gold-​framed photo of an El Zocalo pupusa.
FOOD — 3 stars… passable pupusas and nothing more
AMBIANCE — 2.5 stars… rather spartan setting but probably handles the shenanigans of drunken youth quite well
SERVICE — 3 stars… nothing I remember with any clarity
TOTAL — 3 stars… the search for the great San Francisco pupusa continues…