It's been a long day, but I decided to checkout the Goodwill Store for big spoons... and was on the way out when I remembered that I have been meaning to check out the Salvadorian restaurant that had recently opened in an old Una Mas that had been carved out of an ancient Taco Bell site on El Camino, just South of the 85/El Camino junction. I walked in determined to make a to-go order. The interior is big and bright yellow and orange. I liked it at 7pm after a long day, but I would not go there if I had a headache! I was handing a huge, laminated menu that was bold and bright with HUGE (and I mean HUGE photos of the plates of food, bright font and explanations that pretty English friendly. The menu was pretty overwhelming, though, FULL of tasty choices. I chose the Lengua (tongue) plate and the Alhambra tacos, corn tortillas and then said, "Oh! ...and I want some papusas!" I ordered up 4 papusas of the beans, meat and cheese variety. The food did take a little time to be made, but that this because everything is made fresh on the grill. The papusas, which are a thick tortilla stuffed with your choice of fillings, was hand-patted and cooked as I watched. There was no microwave in this kitchen! The cashier who took my order was cheerful and upbeat. I was able to watch the cooks prepare the food as I waited, and watch the big screen t.v. that had no sound. The music that was playing in the background was upbeat and on the loudish side. Since there are two "rooms" to this tiny restaurant, I think conversation would have been difficult in the first, but easily heard in the second. Now to the FOOD! MMMMMMMmmmm! Wait, is that even a word?! ::laugh::: Let's see, the papusas were thick and warm, think Latin Keema naan. It is an extreme comfort food. I was just going to taste one while I was driving home and I ended up INHALING two of them! OMG! The Alhambra tacos (I paid the extra 2.00 for cheese) were small, but extremely delish. There were four of them to an order, which came with a wedge of lime. The meat was tasty and warm, sitting perfectly in their dual small tortillas. They were about four bites apiece... and I think the cheese was a good thing (as Martha Stewart would say). Thin slices of lengua (beef tongue) were sitting in a pepper and tomato type goulash. The tongue was melt-in-your-mouth tender and the accompanying stew was heavenly. One caveat, be sure to check for bay leaf before consuming! The tongue came with rice and beans (and tortillas). Also in our meal was a spicy, but not sweet or hot shredded cabbage (cole slaw), a thick green hot and spicy salsa, a baggie of hot sauce, about a hundred napkins (needed) and a fork and knife. I sincerely hope they didn't think that I ate this entire feast by myself! :::laugh:::::: (They only put in one fork and one knife). This was ALOT of food, enough for three people. Next time I won't order quite so many papusas, or I'll order _only_ papusas!! While, I was waiting, I noticed those big sandwiches that looked like they were put on Indian Fry Bread looked realllly good, next time! Ok, obviously I will be back to this restaurant if I am already planning my next order. Total cost for this humongous amount of food was thirty-three bucks. Oh yeah, I will be back! read more

Went here for the 1st time after passing by it all these years. Boy, have I been missing out! I was in a hurry and decided to order take out. I was initially planning to order the standard taqueria fare when I noticed the Yuca con Chicharron plate. I was curious so I ordered that instead. When I arrived home, I found fried yuca with some fried pork chunks supplied with a delicious, slightly spicy "coleslaw" and an ok red sauce. What a real treat to partake of! While I was waiting for my meal, I had the opportunity to go through their extensive menu. First thought...this isn't a standard taqueria shop even though it's located in a former Taco Bell! Second thought...how can they offer all these items, especially so many types of Pupusa? Answer...they make it all from scratch. I was entranced as I watched the cooks hand making each Pupusa. The first cook grabs a handful of the masa de maiz, flattens it out, makes a pocket, grabs a handful of the filling, seals it, then hands it to another cook. The second cook starts slapping the pupusa flat then puts it on the flat top to cook. Wow! There were 3 cooks working harmoniously in the kitchen to put out all the food. The place was half full but the energy was relentless. I plan to take my sister and her daughter there tomorrow! We'll most likely try the tacos and the empanadas de plantano! read more

LOOOVE their pupusas! I only eat pupusas when I'm really craving it and i visited my best friend in mountain view in my hometown and its good to just catch up with some good Salvadorian food in this hole in the wall Salvadorian restaurant along el camino. I got the mondongo and the pupusas! read more

Chalateco - Mondongo and chicharron con queso - Mexican Near Me - Mountain View, California

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Went on Friday at 2:30pm and I was the only one there, by 3:30 half the place was full. You grab a menu and they take your order at the table and bring your food, when you pay, you go to the cashier and you give them your table number. I ordered a chicken taco and a pork and cheese pupusa. The chips were the rounds costco style but the fresh cut salsa was good and had a little bite to it. The taco small, just ok. $1.89 but the pork and cheese pupusa was great, plenty of cheese. $1.99. Can taste the meat. I got full off of one. Curtido was a nice touch, didn't try the tomato sauce. They had sampler platters of salvadorean cuisine I would like to try next time. read more

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Speechless... I ordered a chicken tostado and I got a Togo box with a pile of chicken and beans Such a disgrace. I would be ashamed to serve it to my dog!!! I don't know how a so called business can be in service with such low quality food and service and presentation! IRS should investage businesses that only take ,"cash only!" There's a reason for that .... Picture uploaded read more

Chalateco - Here's the disgusting chicken tostado I was charged 10.99 for ...I gave it to my dog! - Mexican Near Me - Mountain View, California

I am sooooo happy I got to come here for lunch today with the girls from work. I was almost not going to go as I am always very iffy about trying new places. I tried the pupusas revueltas. Bomb!!!! Then after for desert I tried the flan. That blew my mind also. Super delicious read more

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Muy caro y no tiene sabor la comida, el mondongo no tenía nada de sabor...las pupusas están bien pero lo demás no tiene sabor

Delicious papusas!! Friendly server and terrific homemade salsas. We are coming back!

Mmmmmmmmmm, the papusas are amazing here!!!! You want a tasty papusa...? Then you better head to Chalateco!!! read more

Chalateco - Tacos - Mexican Near Me - Mountain View, California

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holy smokes, if u like fat this is as good as it gets! my favs: Quesadilla Gus - like pupusas deep fried with juicy chicken or chorizo inside Beef Tongue Tacos - best beef tongue ever (deep fried crispy bits) Tripe Tacos - deep fried crunchy goodness Tamales - i love all their tamales. I like the soft texture for the chicken and pork and i like that they have veggies inside. the tamales con crema has a nice texture, goes well with their spicy sauce and is even better if you buy a good quality sour cream to go with it. good: Mondongo - very tasty and filled to the brim with tripe and hock. it is very big and enough for two dinners. Plantain with Bean and Rice - good, but probably something you want to share with several people. bad: Empanadas de Plantano - not into the white stuff inside Flan - heh, i make a good flan that is hard to live up to. apart from the tacos, everything is enormous and it is too easy to order way too much here. read more

Love their pupusas! Used to be around $2 each when I first started coming here but prices have gone up over the years. Probably has to do with wages going up in the area. I don't mind the higher prices. I'll gladly pay to have these delicious pupusas. My favorite would be the revueltas. It has beans, cheese, and pork inside. Best to call it in first because they can take a while to make them if they're busy. Biggest gripe is their phone system. Have called on numerous occasions where they don't answer and the line says the caller is not accepting any calls at the moment. What gives? I want to order some pupusas and I can't. Sorry, but I ended up going somewhere else for lunch since you can't answer your phones. Oh well, I'll try again next time. 4 stars for the pupusas and 2 stars for their phone system. read more

Solid solid solid micheladas. The have them to-go and they are made with care and worth every dollar. Get a super!

I've eaten here couple of times and both times it was pretty good. The portions are huge. They have a huge selection and prepare things as you order. Plenty of tables and they keep the place nice and clean. I thought it was a mom & pop shop but it's actually a chain. But the simplistic look and feel of the place is very relaxing. read more

Mmmmmm! I just wrote a review on pupusas I recently had in Hayward, so don't think that all I eat these days is pupusas, but when I heard Chalateco was near my work now, well....I just had to have some pupusas. VERY good! Even though it was a little rainy today, I still like the open air feeling of their little place. I'll be back cause I got my TO GO menu at my desk now :) read more

Chalateco - Pupusa de queso mmmmmmm! - Mexican Near Me - Mountain View, California

The food here is great!!!!! Mix of ..... Mexican and Salvadorean food. That have something good for everyone the customer service is OK.... But you should deff try it at least once! read more

Chalateco - Mexican Near Me - Mountain View, California

Im really disappointed in customer service 1st they told me there was a mistake with my order so I had to wait I waited 45min for 5 tacos and a burrito I can't believe I paid 19.50 for 5 tacos that were really small & to top it off when I got home I realized they only gave me 4 so if you don't want poor customer attitude or your order messed up while waiting or what your order shorted don't go there I've been to other chalateco's and they were great loved them this was a huge disappointment not worth $40 bucks lol. read more

This was a drive by discovery. We ordered different items here they were I between ok and good. This place rocks for their papusas. They used to be cash only but now they are pretty open to any payments. read more

Their carne asada in tacos had too much fatty pieces every bite had pieces of chewy fat. But their appetizer choriquezo was delicious

This is a great place to eat fresh food. This is not a taqueria this is a full restaurant with many dinners to choose from, I had "quesadillas Gus" they are hand made crispy light and flakey tortillas, not bought in the store. You can actually watch the chef flatten and cook the tortillas. I also had a gordita de pastor excellent with lime don't forget the lime. This is not a fast food joint come prepared to wait for fresh food made to order! Rather than eating a huge combo dinner try sampling different items.price is fair and worth every penny, a little greasy. read more

Chalateco - Quesadillas Gus de pastor - Mexican Near Me - Mountain View, California

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I love me some pupusas, and seeing this place next to my cousin's house, I had to drop by. Actually took these to go, to have the family try, and they were just alright. They have about 10 different kinds, and I was excited to try the potato and chorizo. But for some reason, I didn't enjoy it because too much potatoes inside. But, I will say these pupusas are pretty damn big!!! Too much dough for me though. The slaw that went with it was okay. Service here was quick and good, and they even provided chips and salsa with the to go order which was nice of them. Truly, I think I am a pupusa snob, so it's hard to impress me because the first pupusa I had was the greatest in LA. So if you want to try pupusas, come try here, but definitley not the best I've had. read more

3.5 stars - I was going to give 4 stars, because despite the slow service the food is pretty good. However, the service got bad enough that I'm rounding down instead. We grabbed a couple of menus and sat down at an empty table. Almost immediately we were given chips and salsa. +1 As another review mentioned, the menu is difficult to read. I just look for prices and read descriptions, and then see if there's a corresponding picture. There are a lot of pictures. The hubby ordered the megatacos. which are larger than the regular tacos. I got 1 pupusa, 1 tamal, and 1 regular taco. About 7-8 minutes after ordering, I got the tamale. Cool. I take my time eating it, and ~5-6 minutes after I was done the hubby's order came. A couple minutes after that I get my pupusa. Excellent. Good food, and was thinking this place should be at least 4 stars in my review on yelp. 15 minutes after the pupusa arrived, I'm still waiting on the taco. We ask, and say if it isn't ready then we'll just cancel it. Our server talks to the kitchen. At this point we can see all the finished food waiting to be served and none of them are tacos. The server comes back and says it's ready. We're pretty sure they just started making it, because we had to wait another 2-3 minutes for the taco. No apology about the wait. Just a single "sorry about that" would have kept this rounded up to 4 stars. oh well. The salsa they give you with the dishes is different from (and spicier than) the salsa they give you with the chips. We asked for more salsa that came with the chips and they obliged (just the salsa) without extra charges. So that was nice. It's not as terrible as other reviews make it out to be, but it *is* quite cold in there right now so you do have to keep your jacket on. Probably better to visit during warmer weather, if you have some time to kill. read more

I took a bite off my tortilla and my meal and it was like I was at an old relatives house in rural Mexico. The food is amazingly good at reasonable cost. The waitress are very friendly and efficient. I totally recommend this place . I uploaded what was left of my meal. Too bad didn't get a before pic. read more

Chalateco - Mexican Near Me - Mountain View, California

This place honestly doesn't even deserve 1 star I received the most petty and un friendliest customer service ever. AND also I'd like to say that I placed a phone order and the person on the phone clearly didn't understand me at all and forced me to buy things I didn't want. So I go in and I asked for a pick under my name and asked if I can split the check and she told me that I have to pay as I ordered. Which made no sense. And then I told her that I didn't want her plantain dish because it was too much food, and then she made me feel bad and she kept telling me that I have to pay for it. And then she asked one the cooks and the cooks told her " yea ofcourse take it off it doesn't matter" and the cashier tried to make me feel like shit for changing my mind. Like what is wrong with you. And also this cashier THREATENED me and told me that I would need to pay next time if this happened again.. UH NAH IM GOOD FAM. U and ur ugly petty ass can enjoy those shitty Disgusting restaurants. read more

This is a very well-run family establishment that is very good food for the price. It has a very extensive menu of of genuine Mexican food. Although it looks very unassuming from the street and you could easily pass it by, you might want to stop once. read more

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Beware the bill inflation! Every item on our final bill was priced more than was shown on the menu. Not sure how they expect to last much longer if they do this to their customers. Avoid this place! read more

Best place in Mountain View: excellent food + warm personal service + super-cheap. Must: nachos al pastor + tacos (carnitas, pollo and chuleta). Thank me later. read more

Chalateco - Nachos al pastor. 5$ (yes, super-cheap and the taste is amazing and fresh) - Mexican Near Me - Mountain View, California

10:05pm We walk in trying to get something to eat and seems like they were in a hurry closing the restaurant, I ask the server, can you look for the Warriors game, and she ask me if I knew the channel, so I didn't know the channel and I ask if I could look for the game myself, she makes a face and she said NO, like if I don't know how to change a channel or how to look for something, OK So we order gorditas and pupusas and two H orchartas, like I said seems like she was in a hurry and she drops the horchata on the floor, food arrived and we starting notice that the food was super greasy and over cooked, on top of that she started mopping the floor with a strong chemical, the smell was very strong, there are times to clean up and ways to make the customers happy, I'm a local restaurant manager and I have a different concept of customer service.. Horrible experience never again! read more

Chalateco - Food super greasy and over cooked - Mexican Near Me - Mountain View, California

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Ohhh no ordene in pambazo no se si es salvadoreño o mexicano pero nada que ver jamás vuelvo a regresar una el pan todo aguado el chile salado read more

Sorry, not for me. I looked in the menu and my girlfriend and I thought we'd split a Fajita plate. $17.95. Guy rings it up and says $37. I said "no we just wanted one". He said they only come in two's. I don't know what that means. Doesn't say anything like that on the menu. Guy seems to understand what I'm asking for. I said, ok let's try something else. Three fish tacos and 3 chicken tacos. $32. What? something's gone wrong here. Anyway, he got it all figured out and we waited for our food. First of all, the place is rather disgustingly dirty... for the customer. Black crud on all the lower walls like where they mopped. Grout is jet black. Just dirty and grimy all over. Haven't seen the back. Food comes. Three fish tacos were minuscule. About 2-1/2" in diameter with just a blob of chopped iceburg lettuce. I wish I took a picture. I could eat one in two bites. I knew there was fish hiding underneath, but couldn't have been much. After spending like $28 on barely any food, and a filthy environment I definitely don't recommend this place. read more

This was papusa heaven! Perfectly warn and crispy papusas with pickled veggies = a very happy tummy. I also had some a lengua taco so that helped a lot in making my tummy happy. Lengua = beef tongue and I seriously think it's one of the most underrated meats in the US. My friend got a really yummy grilled steak thing which I will post pictures of soon. Now, I am one of those people who has eyes that are bigger than her stomach - so I ordered 2 papusas and 1 taco and I have leftovers... (not that I am complaining though, these will make some GOOD leftovers). Next time though, maybe 1 papusa and 2-3 tacos for my tummy (tacos are small so heads up). Another great bonus? Papusa's are like $2 so it's great bang for your buck. YUM! read more

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Pickups and workers galore having lunch. Simply authentic Mexican food. None of this California taco / burrito mania imitation Mexican. Skip their french fries, they have no idea how to cook french fries. read more

Located right beside a Goodwill, I promised myself to check out the place when I made my next GW drop off after seeing so many people during lunch time and a sign that said 'pupusas'. Did someone say 'pupusas'?!? Was excited that I had a bundle of Goodwill stuff to drop off and waited to go after work. Surprisingly, the place was completely empty compared to the very-busy lunch crowd I had always seen. The place looks ghetto outside, it's prior life most likely an old Taco Bell joint now painted a bright yellow/orange. Inside, it was clean, the fans were on full blast to cool down the place with 2 very big 57" flat screens blaring very loud house music on one, and a muted CNN on the other. I felt like I was in Cancun. I ordered 2 revueltas pupusas. Sat down and was served round chips and very yummy salsa. Not the watered down salsa, but very flavorful and full of cilantro and onions (if you like that sorta thing). My pupusas came and I dug in. One cut with my knife and fork and meat juice spewed out everywhere... juice? The cheese was overpowering and I felt like I was eating a pizza: all the fixin's in the middle and nothing on the edges. It was also quite doughy. Runny/juicy... cheesey.. and very doughy. Not good for a pupusa. I like my pupusas crisp on the outside and moist on the inside, this was almost like a flat pork bun. Boo. I tried my second one and the juice spewing out from the first one caused the bottom of it to become all mushy. Now it was a doughy mush. Double boo. Although because I think it was 'sitting' for a bit, the cheese had calmed down and the 'juice' was absorbed into the pupusa dough. But still a mushy mess. The texture wasn't great but the second one was definitely better than the first fresh-off-the-grill one. Maybe I'll go back to try it again and let it 'rest' first. Got a to-go burrito for the Canadian: Pork burrito with no rice and add jalapanos. I got home and after he ate it, asked me if I forgot to tell them no rice and add jalapanos. I did! His burrito was full of rice.. and no jalapanos, and had lettuce in it? Not good when you're trying to reheat it back up. Maybe I should have ordered in Spanish? Average 2 stars for the food and for messing up the ONE to-go order I had. Add 1 star cuz the food has potential and being so close to my work, I'd be willing to go back and try it again to see if the pupusas are better the second time around. read more

The food here is actually really good. read more

Chalateco - Alambres - Mexican Near Me - Mountain View, California

I ordered Alambres with a horchata and although it was really good, I felt that it was pricey for mexican food. I noticed that the regular tacos were much much cheaper as I was paying for my meal, so if I come here next time, that's probably what I will go for. Or maybe the tortas...they sounded good too. *sigh* i'm really missing some SoCal CaliMex food right about now...open 24/7 massive carne asada burritos, nachos or fries for a fraction of the cost my meal was tonight. read more

Chalateco - alambres especial - Mexican Near Me - Mountain View, California

I really wanted tacos and noticed this place while I was at Goodwill right next door. The bf and I were a little hesitant to try it because it looked a little sketchy from the outside. But, we were pleasantly surprised when we tried their food! First of all, the inside isn't the nicest place ever. It's pretty small with about 10 or so tables. But, there were 4 flatscreen TV's with the Mexico vs. Uruguay soccer game on and everyone was glued to the screen. Anyway, it's fairly clean and it reminded me of an old Taco Bell. Really random I know... The menu was overwhelming to be honest. There was so much food to choose from either Mexican or Salvadorian. But, anyway, I ordered 3 chicken tacos and a chicken sope. The bf had 4 alambres tacos and the yuca con chicharrón. Yes the tacos are small, but I like them that way because they're easier to eat. Even though, it could be bad because you could eat more than you should...but whatever. I liked how the pieces of chicken weren't too big, but they were still juicy. Their green salsa was good and so was the salsa that came with the chips. I had never had a sope before so I was curious to try it. It made me full right away, but it was really flavorful. The bf enjoyed his tacos, which were made of carne asada, bacon, grilled onions and peppers, and cheese. He described it as sort of an In-N-Out "animal-style" taco. We shared the yuca and it was so good! It had great texture. It wasn't too mushy or too hard with the perfect crunchiness. He had no complaints with the chicharrón and their curtido was pretty good. Overall, good food with a lot of variety. We spent more than we normally would having the same food in the city, but it was well worth it. So, don't overlook this place! FYI: there's a $10 minimum for debit/credit cards. read more

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I pass Chalateco often, and finally I popped in to get a burrito to go while running errands. I waited 5-10 minutes for my chicken burrito. The burrito was perfectly average; I have no complaints, but I've had better burritos in the same neighborhood. However, Chalateco is intriguing because it has a large menu with options one doesn't see everywhere else i.e. not just burritos, tacos, and quesadillas but also gorditas, other sandwiches, soups, and plates. I would come back again to try the more interesting brunch options! read more

Chalateco - Chicken burrito - Mexican Near Me - Mountain View, California

The menu is CRAZY! It was overwhelming since I'm always so indecisive on what to eat. Everything sounds delicious!!! Since I was full still full from the lunch at Sushi Tomi, I opted for 2 tacos - lengua and pollo. The meats had excellent flavor to them. The tacos were extremely small for $1.85. I ate them in 2 bites. My hubby got the Apreritvio Salvadoreno ($16.99) which was a sampler platter. There was two tamales (corn and chicken), pupusa, yuca, fritas, empanada, pastelito de crema, fried plantains. Oh goodness. There was a lot of food. I tried a little bit of everything. Definitely not a diet friendly meal since everything was either deep fried or super sweet. Haha. The pupusa was really good. Yum yum yum. I would order that again. My friend got the polo queso enchiladas (2 green; 2 mole) which was also a lot of food. Everything seems super-sized here. haha. We got free chips and salsa before we got our meal. The chips were not good since they were from a bag. The salsa was spicy. I would come back again. There are plenty of Chalateco restaurants to choose from in San Jose. read more

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It was across the street from that hotel where we were staying and looked authentic. First impression was that the place reeked of disinfectant. Like a freshly scrubbed restroom. We let that slide. It took us awhile to realize the menu was a QR code on an empty plastic napkin holder. The server brought paper menus when he came to take our order. We were gracious. Chips were basic. Salsa was pretty good. Order process was OK. My burrito showed up reasonably quickly. After 10 minutes. But we had no silverware or napkins. I had to go get them. The staff seemed to be in disbelief that I asked. Maybe I was just supposed to pick it up. Still, a napkin would have been nice. Figured my girlfriend's simple cheese quesadilla would be right out. Ten minutes later we checked. We're told "It's coming." Ten minutes after that the sad little thing shows up with nothing else on a big plate. No salsa or sour cream. Just two crummy tortillas with a little melted cheese. They might as well have microwaved it in 30 seconds. Two dishes twenty minutes apart.... ruined the meal. My meal got cold because I was waiting for hers to arrive. We asked for the check... 10 minutes later I just went up to pay. She wasn't busy and seemed annoyed. I've been dining out for over four decades. I'm also in the restaurant industry. I stiffed them on the tip. I've done that one other time. The service was that bad. Even with bad service I'll leave at least 10%. If the food was amazing or they were super busy or it was a new location, I might have been more forgiving. The food was disappointing. I've read other reviews that suggest a bias against non-Hispanics. My girlfriend is a pretty blonde with blue eyes. Serving her 20 minutes after me suggest those comments are correct. read more

Big menu. Big portions. My papusa prayers have been answered. I have been searching for a good papuseria, and with the help of Yelp and a friend's recommendation I was directed to Chalateco. It's great that they are open later than most restaurants, especially when those cravings hit. I ordered a Large Horchata, and WOW. That was one HUGE cup or horchata. No refills, unfortunately. I also ordered 4 pork & cheese papusas. I think next time I'll only order 3, because I was only able to eat 2 1/2. The price per papusa was pretty expensive too, almost $3 for one. read more

Chalateco - Cheese & Pork papusas - Mexican Near Me - Mountain View, California

First time ever eating at a Salvadorian Restaurant and I came with a Native who now lives here in Redwood City and this restaurant is her go to spot. Pupusa's are on hit. It's like a pancake with cheese and meat and you get a dipping sauce which is so good. They also give you a slaw to put on top. Mmmmmmmmm! I am now a fan of Papusa's! Oh the service here was kinda of slow but I think it was they may have been short staffed that night. But regardless... It was worth the wait. read more

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