Monday, March 9, 2009

my new culinary obsession: pupusas at atlacatl

my friend matteo suggested that we have dinner at a salvadorean spot on our way downtown last night.  "they have the best pupusas in town," he told me.  a few months earlier minnie had mentioned these pupusa things as well, so i figured it was time for me to get in on the culinary train.  atlacatl, which is located on beverly and north berendo, is hard to miss with its vibrant canary yellow sign.  a charmingly rough around the edges building, i got the central american vibe before i even walked in.  once the door opened, the enrique iglesies type music poured from the juke box and the room was filled with chattering salvadoreans chomping on their stuffed corn tortillas.  framed el salvadore posters cling to the white walls next to random paintings of chickens and bunnies and atlacatl himself.  looking around, i noticed that we were the only gringos in the whole joint, which was a good sign in my book.  we ordered a bunch of stuff off the menu: pupusas, tamales, and chilate, nuegados, platanos en miel y camote (corn atole, fried pastry, fried plantain w honey & sweet potatoes).  the food takes a little while to come out, but it is definitely worth the wait.  everything we ordered was delicious.  the pupusas were seriously to die for.  they remind me of a cross between a tamale and calzone, and are fille
d with various items of your choice.  they suggest that you eat them with this sort of cabbage slaw and special sauce, which gives them extra flavor.  order a few different types: plain cheese, cheese and loroco (a salvadorean vegetable), and pork.  the cheese is insanely gooey and delicious.  the best part about atlacatl, is that it is insanely cheap.  each pupusa costs about $2 and entrees (think whole fried fish, rice beans, tortilla) run around $10.  if you craving latin american cuisine and are down to try something different, i hi
ghly suggest atlacatl.  


atlacatl restaurant
301 north berendo street
323.663.1404

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