En este lugar las meseras si no les caes bien te traen la comida cruda en conspiración con la cocinera , es una pena porque fuimos clientes de este lugar por muchos años y me gusta mucho su comida pero mi queja es de parte del servicio fuimos mi esposo y yo y a mi esposo si lo antedieron bien y aunque ordenamos lo mismo a mi me trajeron mi comida cruda fue una experiencia muy desagradable pues mi pescado estaba gelatinoso mientras que el de mi esposo estaba muy bien cocinado nunca se disculparon conmigo y yo ni en cuenta que les caía tan mal , está bien nos vamos y nunca más regresamos. read more

I ordered the "3 pupusa combo".. & while eating my rice I see a random piece of CHICKEN SKIN, & a strand of HAIR! The beans were watered down, & the pupusas sucked. read more

El Carbonero - Random piece of chicken skin in my rice. - Salvadoran Near Me - Phoenix, Arizona

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This is the most nastiest place to eat don't walk by Run to find a strain of hair in your food is just horrible and they will not make anything up please do not eat at this place so nothing but filth and discuss and the and they really think they serve good food just finding a nasty piece of hair in your food can make you just throw up so don't walk by run when you see this place real talk read more

They must've been good 2 years ago since all the reviews are 5 stars from way back then. Not good anymore. Ordered pupusas for the family and they were flavorless and bland. More dough than anything else in the pupusa. The pics looked super cheesy and full of goodness but that was not the case. Also the toppings that go on top of the pupusas were flavorless. Plus they made us pay for asking for some more of one of the toppings since we ordered a bunch of pupusas and they only gave us one small container for all of them. We also ordered empanadas de plátano stuffed with dulce de leche and they gave us the wrong ones. Safe to say we will not be back here again. read more

I was visiting Phoenix for a conference and taking a tour of the area around GCU with my friend. Drove past this place and saw it was El Salvadoran and made my friend take us here for dinner. I love pupusas, who doesn't? Anyway the outside of the store isn't gorgeous but they've done a good job inside making it neat, clean, and cheerful. I wanted everything but got 3 pupusas: jalapeno, pork and beans, and chicken. My friend got shrimp and pork I think. We also had huge glasses of tamarind drink. I was going to order horchata but the waitress mentioned that El Salvadoran horchata is different and made from 'seeds' and she let me try a sip of it from a sauce cup. Definitely not the rice and cinnamon Mexican horchata but not bad, just thicker and different. I stuck with tamarind though and it was delicious and a massive cup. We actually ordered more than what we received which is why I take away a star. We came in when one person was inside and soon after the place was full, so I get forgetting our tamales -- also, if we had received them we wouldn't have been able to eat them, I was stuffed. However I would have liked to try them and an order of plantains. This is an excellent place for a cheap quick lunch or dinner that will be delicious and fill you up. Pupusas are $2 each and I couldn't finish 3. read more

El Carbonero - pupusas, fixings, and enormous tamarind drink - Salvadoran Near Me - Phoenix, Arizona

Came here with a friend bc she had a restaurants.com certificate. I'm so glad she did. We found a gem in discovering this hole-in-the-wall. At first glance of the menu, we thought we'd have a hard time reaching our minimum of $22.50 for $15 off. The pupusas and tamales were $2 each. By the time we were done ordering and got the bill, we had overdone it and had a bill close to $30. Thank goodness for the coupon. All worth it though and we wouldn't have tried all the dif. things if we limited ourselves! Seeing as how my friend is Salvadoran, I knew her approval was the icing on the cake. We ordered the following: 1) Chicharron con queso pupusa con harina de arroz. The dough of this pork pupusa was made from a rice instead. It was a little firmer texture than the standard pupusa. Pretty good. I prefer it softer but still yummy 2) Calabaza con queso pupusa Shredded zucchini and cheese. Couldn't really taste the zucchini as it was vey mild but good for those of you who want green veggies :). 3) tamale de pollo - my favorite!!! Salvadoran tamales aren't like Mexican tamales. The masa is much softer, moister and smoother (not as grainy). It came with meat and a small piece of potato. Not sure how much they cost here but back home I've paid $3-$5 for them and this one was certainly the best one. The masa was so well flavored and at $1.80 ea, it is well worth it. 4) Camarones de mojo al ajo-garlic shrimp Definitely garlicky. You get a small bowl of shrimp in garlic sauce with 2 plain pupusas, beans, rice and salad. The shrimp was a bit too firm for our liking. But the sauce was good. 5) Horchata Salvadorena This horchata is made from a seed called moro instead of using rice. It was nuttier and almost smoky tasting. It wasn't sweet at all but apparently it can sometimes be. My friend gave it a thumbs up. I thought it was a good change from the Mexican horchata but it's not for everyone. The waitress was really sweet and let us try a sample first. 6) Nuegados de yuca - friend yuca with sweet custard inside. At this point I am hitting my limit of being overly stuffed with carbs. Heck, I don't even know if I got the spanish name right b/c I am so full. It wasn't as "custardy" as my friend is used to. It was a bit firmer but you can't beat fried yuca with something sweet inside. It wasn't overly sweet. 7) Empanadas de platano (?) dessert - it was fried plantain with something inside I think and with a brown syrup to dip. As the first one to review this place, I say go go go to this great little place. They have specials on pupusas on Weds and Sats. If you're driving and you're going west on Indian School, there is a good chance you might drive by it. It's next to a tax service and a discount liquor store or something (it was dark). If you go east, you can see the name on the side of the building. read more

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LOVED my zero-waste experience at El Carbonero. I've been sticking to only eating vegetarian when i eat out and they had delicious vegetarian pupusas. The complimentary salsa, chips, and slaw all came in dishes and so did the pupusas! Styrofoam+plastic- NONE with pupusas order Straws- they'll drop off wrapped straws giving you the option to use them or not read more

El Carbonero - a man sitting at a table with a plate of food and a glass of water - Salvadoran Near Me - Phoenix, Arizona

Best place ever!! Love the food here and they have the best customer service which is a big plus. I live about 35min away but I don't mind driving that far for some good pupusas at all read more

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Terrible service this place definitely has gone down over the years there was no one inside we sat down ordered and a few minutes later a group of men came in and were immediately given chips and salsa and their food came out before us we had to get up and leave because the we were there almost an hour and never got anything very disappointed with the service read more

These are the best papusas I've had so far in town. Wednesday and Saturday they're only $1.50 each. We always buy 20 and their cabbage it get's served with is amazing. The staff is friendly and the food is much better than El Salvadoreno. The building however is very old and just due to it's age, looks dirty. I wish they would move to a cleaner looking building or completely remodel the walls and floors inside. Other than that I would have given it 5 stars just based on the quality of the Papusas. read more

Lovely service and good food !! Wish i knew about this place sooner! Love that Phoenix has a good share of Salvadorian restaurants. Old building and next to liquor store so not nicest outside but it's good inside. read more

Really good popusas and platano frito!! I'm not Salvadorian but I do love my popusas!!! Reminded me of El Carbonero in Cali-OC

This place is a hole in the wall next to a liquor store. Don't let the exterior fool you. Doesn't seem like much but the food was great. I had the $5.50 pupusa special it came with 2 pupusas bean and cheese (not very big) a side of rice and beans and couldn't have been more satisfied. I also got a chicken tamale it was Central American style wrapped in a banana leaf. Also very tasty. I went on a Saturday and found out they offer pupusa specials Wednesday and Saturday for $1.50. It did end up getting very busy and the wait was about 15 minutes but the food was amazing. Service was also great. I will definitely go back. read more

This is right next to my warehouse and I found this place by chance and was skeptical to go in due to the area but am very happy I did! I have only tried pupusAstwice before and never a fan but this place converted me to a soon to be regular! The young lady who helped me was extremely nice as she could tell I was so lost in ordering this pupusas. So damn good and filling! The cabbage alone was amazing! Will sure to be back this weekend w my bro in laws wife who is Salvadoran. Keep up the good work! read more

I definitely recommend this place, to anyone that is looking for the taste of deliciousness!! Also the workers and owner is very nice and helpful! read more

Excellent service, the Popusas are AMAZING. Would recommend this place. on Wednesday's and Saturday's they are only $1.50..

I'm super picky with my pupusas since I'm always comparing them to my grandmothers but this is the only place in Arizona that comes close. It is a hole in the wall type of restaurant but the food is what makes this place shine. Must try! Can't wait to go back. read more

As a Salvadorian I must say, this place is pretty damn good. I've only had the pupusas and quesadilla and they're pretty legit! They're stuffed and flavorful! Restaurants tend to forget that the essence of a pupusa is it being stuffed! Definitely recommend to a friend! read more

Took forever to complete our order, rude service and not the best atmosphere. Will not be coming back!

First clue was when we heard the sound of the microwave in the kitchen. The homemade drinks were okay. The tamales were microwaved from frozen, so scorching hot difficult to tell the taste. The pupusas were fresh made and looked nice, but they had no true flavor. Had to add salt and their salsa to make edible. Not too bad for price - $2 each. If I were to go back and were stuck hungry in the area I would eat pupusas with salt & salsa, but I would hope that wouldnt happen.... Still $20 for two to eat wasted. The staff was friendly. read more

Good Food but the place could be cleaner. The bathroom had no paper towels. The fridge in the front is dirty

Best pupusas in Phoenix. They have good specials. I bring my family from Cali to eat here too and they say it's pretty good. I love how they stuff it especially with cheese. It's not as greasy as the other pupusas restaurants. Don't expect this place to be fancy but that's one of the things I can appreciate....focus more on the food rather then the place. read more

I've only tried their pupusas and they're the real deal! Super delicious and the menu prices are amazing! Great deals on pupusas also. The cashiers are always very nice and friendly. I took my fiance' there because he had never had pupusas and now he's hooked ;) Try it out, you won't be disappointed! read more

Best pupusas! Come with time to spare. They make everything cook to order (which is why it's so yummy) so the wait time is about 15 minutes or so. Now if you are eating here, they do provide some yummy salsa and chips as you wait for your order. Wednesday and Saturdays are their deal days. $1.50 for each pupusa. read more

Yo I went here because i saw it as genuine Mexican food and was craving tasty pupusas. Well, to save you guys from getting ripped off into eating something possibly harmful, I'm just going to let you guys know that there was A HUGE roach by the table I was sitting at. Very dirty floors. I told them I wanted chicken in my pupusa and they literally got me frozen chicken and put it in the microwave. It tasted unpleasant. The cockroach part is the main point. Just imagine further how careless they may be. Disgusting!!! read more

THE BEST PUPUSAS! Ive tried many places but this is the best place to eat pupusas! Super fresh and enough crisp. 10 stars!