I often daydream about what it would be like to have every possible ethnicity is represented in my neighborhood’s restaurant scene. That may never happen, but we just got one step closer with the grand opening of Guanaco’s Pupuseria on Broadway. I love pupusas so this news is quite exciting. Pupusas are El Salvador’s most notable dish. They are thick handmade tortillas stuffed with a variety of fillings ranging from chicharrón (ground pork) to refried beans to cheese with loroco (a tropical vine flower). Most commonly, pupusas are made using corn masa although some regions in El Salvador use rice flour. They are traditionally served with curtido, a lightly fermented cabbage slaw. I personally love having them for breakfast with refried beans, scrambled eggs, hot sauce and sour cream.
My primary experience with pupusas thus far has been at Salvadorean Bakery in Seattle’s White Center neighborhood. Their pupusas are dense and hearty. By contrast, the pupusas at Guanaco’s are very soft and practically overflowing with fillings. The thin, slightly charred exterior of the tortilla is just strong enough to hold in the soft, melty center. While I prefer the denser pupusas at Salvadorean Bakery, Guanaco’s pupusas are tasty and I’m certainly not going to complain about cheap pupusas a few blocks from my apartment! In addition to pupusas, there are plenty of other tempting items on the menu including fried plantains, yucca fritters, baby corn tamales, dessert empanadas and pastelitos (fried corn flour pockets filled with beef, onion and carrot). Everything at Guanaco’s is super cheap so there is no excuse not to try something new with each visit.
Guanaco’s is located at 219 Broadway E. Suite 14 (inside the Alley Mall).