El Chalate is my favorite place in Colorado to grab pupusas because they are delicious and at the right price. I Always grab 2 combination pupusas for $2 each and I am at the perfect level of full. They are extremely delicious and I love the cabbage and sauce that goes on top. The service is always great and the people are nice. I've been coming here for almost 10 years and I don't see that changing. read more

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This place is still the best you can get out here. If you want any real Salvadorean dish, this is where you go, hands down. Best place out here period. read more

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OMG abueloabuelo, this restaurant is great especially on East Colfax. For a working man and familia the food is delicious, in large portions to share, and affordable. Salvodoran at its best; tamal, pupusas, and the guisada all outstanding. Thsxs & gracias El Chalate for warming me corazon and estomago! read more

Food was so good and such big portions especially for the price! Come hungry and ready to enjoy good service and a lovely ambiance.

I was looking for carne guisada and this place was mentioned on yelps best. Honey please. I'm from San Antonio, so, obviously the bar was too high. I don't know about Salvador food, but don't go for the Mexican. read more

Best tamales de pollo in all of Denver! We've been coming here for years. It's authentic Salvadoran food.

I had never had Salvadorian food before. I was pleasantly impressed. First, we ordered the special nachos with ground beef and were blown away. Honestly, I do not expect to be blown away by nachos, but these were really good. I also ordered the bean/cheese and Zucchini/Cheese Pupusas, they were delicious. $1.75 each is darn good price too. My meal was less than 10 bucks. The issue was the confusion with what to do when you walk in and how long it takes to be served. If you are not in a hurry, then I highly recommend this establishment. read more

Food was great and came out quick. Such a kind and attentive server. Clean, comfortable, and authentic space. I will most certainly be back :) read more

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Delicious papusas. Bean and cheese is my go to. Do be prepared to wait a half hour tho for them to be freshly made just for you. Nice cabbage salad and a runny but flavorful salsa that accompanies the Pupusa's on the side. Check out your small local restaurant. read more

I recently moved here from Miami and have had trouble finding other South American food lately. Anyways one day I was looking for a pupusa place with caldo (soup) and came across this one, yeah it's far but I'll make the drive for it ANYDAY, ANYTIME. The service is amazing too! I feel like everyone loves working here and they have the biggest smile on their face. The pupusas are also top notch! I like how everything is also very inexpensive anytime my boyfriend and I go eat here it's less than $30 with food + tip which I feel nowadays can be hard to find. read more

El Chalate - Caldo Sopa De Res - Mexican Near Me - Denver, Colorado

We have ordered from them two times and been told that our order would be done at a certain time. When we went to pick up the order we were told it wasn't ready and wouldn't be ready for another hour. We love this place but hate the lack of customer service. We have taken our time to order ahead to help everyone involved and the responses we get from staff are confusing. We have been told to place our order through the app then told that that is wrong and we need to place over the phone. When we did that we were told that we need to place on the app. Wish we could've continued to be customers here but after the bad taste left in our mouths with the customer service we will not be ordering from here again. read more

The best pupusas in Denver area! I have tried other items in the menu and they are just as great. Great service. I usually do take out and the order is always ready when I arrive. read more

The food was excellent and the service was so delightful! We had a wonderful experience and the food was definitely affordable! I highly recommend trying El Chálate! read more

I love a good papusa and was hoping to find a good place in Denver. While this wasn't as good as my place in FoCo, I was still excited! Today I ordered the loroco with cheese Papusas. I actually ordered two with a small Mexican Coke for $4.55. I was pleasantly surprised when I also had chips and salsa brought to my table. The cabbage slaw was really good combined with the mild hot sauce. I like a little more heat typically. Overall you can't beat the price for typical authentic El Salvadorian food! read more

El Chalate - Loroco papusa with cabbage slaw. - Mexican Near Me - Denver, Colorado

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If you want authentic. Here is the place to be. My family and I have been coming here for years and the owners are hard working and kind!!

East Colfax Taco Tour UYE! Sunday October 30th 2011. 2nd STOP: El Chalate Bigger establishment. UNFORTUNATELY, they dont offer much of Taco. I had no choice but to order something, and it was the Beef Tacos (3 pieces) ($3.80) from the A LA CARTE Section from the Menu since I DONT EAT ANY FORM OF PORK. At first I ask the server if I can only have one Beef Taco, she told me, yes I can. It went down the hill MAJOR MAJOR disappointment. The tacos I received was FRIED TACOs and the server told me I cant order just one, and have to have all 3.... Dont fancy it that much. They offer chips and salsa to all the tables. Like the "bottled" sauces they offer. SPICY HOT, I like. Oh well... but the other Yelpers like or love what they order such items like Tamales, Yucca what nots. In addition to this, I order the Empanada De Platano ($1.25) to go. Dont fancy this dish either. read more

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Really fantastic meal with great pricing! Got the flautist and my partner got the enchiladas. They did not disappoint!

My husband and I stopped by to have lunch together. They asked if we were eating there and directed us to the dining room. We sat there for 20 min waiting. Another family came in. Sat down. And weee served immediately. The only difference e between us and them.... We are white. Beware of this place and it's behavior. My husband was mortified and extremely upset. This discrimination wasn't necessary or called for. Don't give this place your money. read more

A Saturday lunch visit. There were lots of tables when I arrived (a little before noon), but it filled up quickly. I ordered the sopa de pollo. The food took a little while to arrive, the was plentiful and tasty. Not being too familiar with Salvadoran cuisine, it tasted like a well-made chicken noodle soup. Quite satisfying and filling. The server was friendly, attentive, and patient with this non-Hispanic diner (= me). read more

El Chalate - Sopa de pollo - Mexican Near Me - Denver, Colorado

I lived in El Sal for more than 3 years, eating homemade pupusas every night from the Dona's little stand in the park. Literally.... two pupusas, a fresca and all the cordito one could eat...every night. And ever since, that is my comfort meal. The pupusas at El Chalate remind me of my village and my nightly meal, and are just as good! Serious that good! Beyond pupusas, the casamiento is amazing (and made without lard so veg friendly), all the sopas are excellent and anything pollo is legit awesome. Haven't tried any Mexican here....why would I when the food reminds me of my second home and is sooooo good! read more

Told me was gonna be a 45 minute wait, I arrive 45 minutes later, and they just barely started making them. 16 pupusas. Carry out sucks.

The food here is AMAZING, but it took over an hour and a half to actually get our food--30minutes to get seated and over an hour before our food arrived. We came on a Saturday and it was PAAACKED. The staff was very nice and helpful but clearly stretched too thinly over all the tables. But on a weekday, I reckon the service will be much quicker, so I'll have to report back on that another day. The menu is very affordable. You can easily get stuffed with delicious food for under $5 here. So yay for your wallet. And honestly you can't go wrong with anything here. So if you have a couple hours to spend for some cheap Salvadorean food, I would definitely recommend giving this place a visit. read more

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Los caldos muy ricos, solo las pupusas deben mejorar muy pequeñas y no están tan buenas

Food is delicious. And not expensive must try the pupusas, tamales de pollo and the platanos Fritos.

I often crave fresh salsa and chips. I called here first to ensure they would sell just chips and salsa to go. They confirmed that they would. I swung by and was in and out in less than 3 minutes. Price: $2 -- WINNING! Taste: Delicious and fresh. Parking: Ample street parking out front. I'm a fan. This will be my go to location in the future. read more

El Chalate - Chips and salsa - Mexican Near Me - Denver, Colorado

Showed up here the other day having just moved to the area it was 745 I was going to order like 20 tacos for the family they said they were closed for the night lmao place is a joke read more

There's a small parking lot around the back of the building, and some street parking in front. When we entered there was some confusion, as there's a take out window and a little shop before you enter the actual restaurant. A waitress directed us to sit down around the corner and gave menus. The papusas were a great price ($1.50/) and served with a big bowl of cabbage mix. 2 were plenty to fill up on. Service could be a little slow (1 server for the whole place, which was near capacity on a Sunday around noon) but she was friendly and got our order right. We got the empanada de platano for dessert, but it was way over-fried. Everything else was totally worth it. read more

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When eating at El Chalate for the first time I suggest the combo place. It comes with a pupusa, fried yucca, and chiccarones (crispy fried pork bites.) You get a taste for lots of things, but really you get to eat the pupusas, which are the star of El Chalate's show, and fried yucca, which is a delicious carb. Best of all, you can get it for about $6 which makes this one hot deal. read more

Ok, I really wanted to like this place. I came here because of the hype. I have know idea where all the people who have given this place great reviews have ate before, but in all fairness. I come from Los Angeles, and it's not fair to compare. So, first the service was horrible. The waitress had an attitude about every question we asked. I order pasteles con pollo, and they were salty like there's no tomorrow. Unfortunately, that is the only thing I ate because my order brought out was wrong. I ordered pollo asado, I especially ask if it was breasts, and with attitude "of course" the waitress said... food comes out and I get a leg and thigh, and to make it even worst it was undercook. When we told her we had asked for breast, she said "I can do anything any more because you already too a little piece" everyone at my table was shocked at her reply!! So, if I had not touched it, would they have saved it and given it to someone else???? So, she still charge me the plate, but not the chicken???? How does that even make sense?? Then, she goes to the corner, and starts laughing with her co-worker about us asking to change it!! Idk about you, but I'm definitely not coming back, wasting my money else where. read more

El Chalate - Mexican Near Me - Denver, Colorado

Stop #1 on the pupusa tour did not disappoint. I ordered a pupusa de queso y loroco, which is one of my favorite foods in the universe. The pupusa was good, with the mild taste of loroco permeating the gooey cheese. The curtido was fine but not my favorite. The cabbage was coarsely chopped; I prefer mine cut more finely/thinly. There were large jalapenos in the curtido, something I have only encountered once before. I don't know what is truly authentic to El Salvador (though the curtido made for me by Salvadoreans didn't have much heat), but it's not what I've come to expect and was not really to my taste in this instance. I also ordered my second-favorite thing to get at a Salvadorean place: yuca frita con chicharron. This dish seems to vary greatly from place to place. Here, they use a lot of thick red sauce on the yuca, small bits of meaty chicharron and a heaping side of curtido. It was, again, quite different from my experience but I really enjoyed it. Best of all, the food was dirt cheap. Two pupusas are enough for me for a hearty meal. Here they were just $1.35 each. With a deal like that, how can you go wrong? read more

Best ever! Love the food and the staff, recommend the pupusas! Will forever continue to go to this place and recommending to friends and family! read more

A-OK. Authentic, like you just took a plane somewhere, like El Salvador, just minus the humidity. This is perhaps the first $5 dinner I have had in 20 years, and boy it was good and filling. I enjoyed combination #16- Tamal, Yucca, Pupusa, and chicharrones. Apologies If I am misspelling any of these! Our group of 12 had no problem getting served in a timely fashion with separate checks. There were all manner of exotic things showing up to our table. Plaintains, Steak, Giant grilled Jalepeno peppers. The vegetarians and gluten/dairy free folk managed to do ok, though there was the usual whining. The big wins were the pupusas! A pupusa (Spanish pronunciation: [pupusa], from Pipil pupusaw) is a traditional Salvadoran dish made of a thick, handmade corn tortilla (made using masa de maíz, a cornmeal dough used in Latin American and stuffed with a variety of beans, cheeses, and meats- something for everyone- and DEEELICIOUS!!! Second place were the tamales- everyone was happy! The chicharrones were a hit or miss, we called them "popcorn pork", bits of deep fried pork-el yummo in my opinion. The yucca was also surprising- crunchy deep-fried and very starchy. Interesting. None of us tried the tacos, oops. This low budget but awesome eatery is worth a drive- but come HUNGRY! read more

El Chalate - Lots of yummy condiments!!! - Mexican Near Me - Denver, Colorado

Well, definitely not in the greatest of neighborhoods as exemplified by the aggressive homeless guy that I gave a buck to before entering the restaurant... I found street parking next to the restaurant easy enough. There was only one other person eating in the restaurant. Later, a couple other groups stopped by to pick up take-out orders as I dined. The restaurant was clean, bright and cheerful. The kid who served as my waiter was friendly and provided useful recommendations on what to order. I ordered two papusas - one chicharron and one queso con loroco. They were both very good but I preferred the pork. At $1.35 each the pupusas are definitely an awesome deal plus it came with chips and salsa. Though I wasn't very hungry, I also ordered the yuca frita (Chalateca style with chimbolitas) for $3.75. What I didn't realize until after the fried yuca arrived is that chimbolitas was some kind of little dried fish. Fortunately, I was able to push the fish aside and still enjoy the yuca. Next time I visit here I would order the yuca frita with chicharron. http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/UsPJg4eTjcvEdixt3ogC4Q?select=wYsVdf93xU37M3jPkUeHxA http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/UsPJg4eTjcvEdixt3ogC4Q?select=U0ukJz4Ih0tYz7MnTgpWlQ For $7 including tax this was a really good and inexpensive dinner. Even including the $2 tip and the buck that I gave away, the visit to El Chalate was only $10 and well worth it. read more

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Yep, I can see what all the fuss is about! El Chalate is difficult to find and I imagine parking could be a problem too when they're busy, but on the day I visited the restaurant was practically empty and so was the tiny parking lot behind the building. It's not much to look at, definitely matches the ambiance of other greasy spoon/ taquerias/ Mexican eateries in the area. But, man, the food is good and the prices are ridiculously affordable. I ordered two pupusas, a tamale, and a plantain empanada. Oh, and a soda. Total bill - under $10 with tax! At that price, it seemed like stealing when they gave me free chips and salsa to boot! The tamale was just okay, but the pupusas and the empanada were excellent... and much bigger than I was expecting! Between the chips, pupusas, yummy pickled coleslaw, and tamale I was stuffed and had to take the empanada home with me. It was devoured about two hours later. I'm on a mostly vegan diet right now that makes El Chalate a big no-no, but once I lose the weight I'm looking to lose, this will definitely be on my list of places to have rare and appropriate exceptions! read more

Fantastic!! Great, friendly service. Had the Soup Pollo...insanely good...and more chicken on a plate, w/ rice and salad...alll for $8.50!! Great lunch...have to go back for dinner. Thank you!! read more

El Chalate - Mexican Near Me - Denver, Colorado

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You know the issue with Food Poisoning? Not knowing for sure. I loved eating at this place. I had this Venezuela stew, my wife got tamales and the kids were all happy. We swore we would return. That was Saturday, Lunch. For dinner - salad, olives, cheese (it was a big lunch). I was sick by breakfast the next day. My wife was sick by that evening. I ate 90% of my dish, she ate 10%. My wife and I were the only ones to get sick, and it was 100% gastro. So I'm not coming on yelp saying 100% for sure that this place made me sick. I don't know for sure. . .but I have enough evidence that I will avoid. I know it wasn't the whole foods cheese and salad.. .we ate that again. read more

Yes give it a try! Can't miss it look for the building that is painted as la bandera de El Salvador. The atmosphere has a luncheon hall vibe. Reasonably priced extremely flavorful made to order fare (we've gone 3x since we discovered it two weeks ago). I just can't bring myself to give a full five star review because of the service, it feels pretty unorganized. Even when you're ordering non made to order items like chips and salsa or aguas frescas (which are all natural by the way) overall we're for sure returning and you should also! read more

I wish they had more stars to add to the five that they already have the place is immaculate it's always clean always acknowledge the customers and the food is wonderful I feel good when I go up in there goodbye and the man the man the man all the employees have great customer service skills you can tell they was raised by good parents to be a family business they treat us like family as a customer thank you all at El chilate I recommend you going there hamburgers and french fries are the best chicken is the best everything is the best this is Mike Lowry speaking reporting live read more

Absolutely DANK chicken enchiladas plate for $6. Gringos go locos for this type of stuff. Came w beans and rice and 2 big chicken enchiladas. Place doesn't look like much but way better paying white folks to make your tacos for $16 downtown. So holler. read more

Growing up near Colfax, we are very much aware of its vast majority of growth that we've seen in the last 20 years. My family love El Chalate because we are naturally drawn to it. We ourselves are Salvadoran and take pride when more of our culture expands in the states. Not a lot of people are familiar with Salvadoran dishes and I brought my best friend to try some Pupusas and she absolutely asked herself where she been at all this time?! There is strictly only street parking, DO NOT PARK IN THE DISPENSARY NEXT DOOR. There is a creepy guy who is going to try to write down your plate and get your car towed. Please listen to this advice. Otherwise, when you walk in, lines are literally out the door. They sell Pan Dulce, Quesadillas, Curtido, etc., so much. Super busy, so prepare to enjoy dinner here and call ahead at least 1 hour to get your lunch in on time. read more

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