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    El Chalateco

    3.6 (73 reviews)
    Closed 10:00 am - 10:00 pm
    Updated 3 months ago

    Order El Chalateco Takeout or Delivery

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    Business Info

    EL CHALATECO ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Moderate noise
    Outdoor seating
    Happy hour specials

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    Reviews With Photos

    Tacos Hawallanos (Al Pastor)
    Jeremy K.

    I've now been to this place twice. First time I was driving by and saw the Al Pastor on a spit in front of the restaurant when I was driving by. I turned around, walked in, and ordered tacos to go. They were excellent. The salsa is great too. I went again a few days later and had the chicken mole, so very good. Each time the service was good, the atmosphere is fine for a taqueria. Look forward to going again and working my way through more of the menu.

    The menu from their in restaurant qr code
    Victor C.

    Run from this place unless you want to pay $11 for ONE pupusa First off, their in person menu doesn't have prices on it. When the cashier rang up two pupusas, each one was charged at $6.75 base + $4.5 for meat making ONE meat pupusa $11.25. The workers don't understand the restaurant system, and told me they didn't know the prices, so it seemed right to them. Eventually an off duty manager or someone understood that I was being overcharged, but still didn't know the right price to charge. He ended up giving me $2 off and offering me a free drink for my troubles. After all that, my price was still wrong but I wasn't willing to hold the staff hostage anymore. Receipts and menu prices are attached. They skimped on meat and beans after all that too. Run from this place, don't eat here unless you know what you're being charged and even then, their food is just okay. There are two ways to look up prices: The qr code you can scan in restaurant doesn't match the price they charged. The doordash/online order system prices didn't match either the cashier nor the website (in person is actually the most expensive). The workers don't understand how their system charges things, so it's very easy to get mischarged, and it's inconsistent between workers They didn't give me salad and sauce for my pupusas. I had to ask, and they still forgot, so I had to go back again. I would be willing to revisit this review if management reaches out and corrects the issue.

    a restaurant kitchen with people working
    Sunil R.

    Lorocco pupusas for the win! They were SOOO good. I am craving them now as I am writing this. Clearly, El Chalateco is popular given the line to pick up food. Ordering on the phone was a little challenging since the person spoke very fast but the food is well worth this little challenge.

    tacos de cabeza

    pedi tacos de cabeza me dieron carbon!! muy mal servicio no recomiendo este lugar!! chalateco en saratoga

    Front of El Chalateco
    Ed S.

    I am not a big fan of Salvadorian food however I have eaten it in the past and it's been okay. I was driving on Saratoga Avenue in San Jose, CA when I saw El Chalateco. The outside tented area looked inviting with quite a few patrons. So I decided to stop by with my wife and see what was going on. Everyone was very friendly and one of the outside employees waved hello to us. Well if so many people are eating there and an employee stops what he is doing to wave-i'm trying this place! The food was absolutely fantastic! The best Pupusas I have ever had! It was nicely filled, fully cooked and fairly good size. The tacos (Soft/Crispy) were excellent tasting with fresh ingredients and the pork and chicken was cooked perfectly. To finish the meal, we had dessert Plantain with sweet cream milk. I like Plantains if they are fresh and properly prepared. These were absolutely perfect and I highly recommend them. Service was excellent, all employees were polite, friendly and in compliance with Covid 19 Standards. They do take credit cards for payment. This is my new favorite restaurant and I Highly Recommend El Chalateco!

    Rossewidge ..

    I usually get my pupusas from this chain. They make a nice tomato sauce and excellent curtido (fermented slaw) to go along with. Their Salvadoran tamales are ok. The reason I'm giving this location 2 stars was the horrible caldo de res I ordered from delivery. Had I been there in person I would have sent it back--something I never do. The problem? Take a look at the photo. Front and center there is, yup, a giant hunk of fat. The beef in this soup was all bone, fat, and tendon; the stuff you use to make the broth, not what you serve to customers. Unacceptable. (I only like tendon when I order it with pho, which is seldom. Surprise castoffs like this are thoroughly unappetizing.) Another factor in my low rating was the haphazard service when I did go in person. Inattentive and thoughtless. An employee mopped the dining room with a pungent cleanser while diners were eating and it was nowhere near closing time. Not pleasant

    Chilaquiles

    From the moment I arrived, the waiter greeted me with a very friendly smile, always very attentive, and the food was delicious and very affordable.

    A wire from the package of tortillas!! The bread was burnt.

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    10 months ago

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    10 months ago

    Great food, better people. Always my coworkers' first option for lunch. Highly recommended!

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    11 months ago

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    5 years ago

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    11 months ago

    El servicio excelente pero los tacos de chorizo estaban muy secos como que lla tenian rato de estar hay ocupan más supervicion en la cosina

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    1 year ago

    Has good food but has no prices on menu. Makes it easy to overspend when you order. Service is good though.

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    2 years ago

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    6 years ago

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    5 years ago

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    2 years ago

    Everything is good! They have pupusa. Al pastor is great. Mole is tasty, different than mole is regular Mexican restaurants.

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    2 years ago

    Friendly, great service. Delicious salsas, pupusas, Loved that they were grilling outside. Will be back!

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    3 years ago

    Pretty good food, pretty good service! Had a solid plate here that was filking and decently priced.

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    Page 1 of 2

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    L'Roco Grill - L'Roco seating area!

    L'Roco Grill

    4.3(204 reviews)
    5.8 miWillow Glen
    $$

    Ordered the antojitos platter, which is a great option if you want to try a little bit of…read moreeverything. The platter includes one pupusa of your choice, one pastelito, one chicken tamal, one corn tamal, fried yuca with chicharron, one empanada, plantains, sour cream, pickled cabbage, and pickled red onions. I chose the pork, bean, and cheese pupusa, which ended up being one of my favorite items. It tasted authentic with great tortilla texture and flavor. The pastelito was nice and crispy. The chicken tamal was good and similar to a Mexican tamale, but with a softer masa. The corn tamal was sweet and tasted like a cornbread muffin. The fried yuca was good and had a similar texture to potatoes. The chicharron was okay and was a bit bland. The empanada was more of a dessert, as it was sweet with a custard-like filling. The plantains were cooked perfectly and had a nice balanced of sweetness. Also ordered one pupusa with pork and cheese. Personally, I prefer the version that includes beans, but this one was still worth trying. The sopa de pata is a cow feet soup that includes cabbage, carrots, tripe, and yuca, served with tortilla, dried chili peppers, and dried oregano on the side. The broth was flavorful, but there were a lot of vegetables. The cow feet did not have a lot of tendon, so it was basically two pieces of bone that took up a lot of space in the bowl. The tripe was soft, and I like how it was prepared well without any unpleasant smell. The horchata Salvadoreña was refreshing, but okay. Plenty of parking. Customer service was good, and both the waitress and kitchen staff were friendly and welcoming. The indoor dining is small and can fit about 20 to 25 people. Overall, this is a solid spot for Salvadoran food!

    Stopped in late to pick up a snack And order three of their…read moregood pupusas. The food is still good, the only problem is I always get them burnt. I have to clean off the black spots making the size smaller. Also the prices are up

    Photos
    L'Roco Grill - Ceviche!

    Ceviche!

    L'Roco Grill - Sopa de Res!

    Sopa de Res!

    L'Roco Grill - Inside L'Roco grill

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    Maya's Cafe - Camarónes Aztecas ($24.50)

    Maya's Cafe

    4.3(754 reviews)
    3.5 miCambrian Park
    $$

    Small spot with a welcoming atmosphere and very friendly service. The carne asada plate was packed…read morewith flavor and the portions were generous. Everything tasted fresh and homemade.

    A Hondurian cafe that offers vegetarian, meat, and seafood options. My friend raved about this…read moreplace and I love supporting mom and pop restaurants so I had to try it. I tried the popular baleada, which is a home-made flour tortilla filled with a layer of mashed red beans, queso fresco, eggs and with or without meat (I got it with carne asada). The flour tortilla was just as other described - soft, buttery smooth, almost melt in your mouth goodness. The carne asada was dry and hard so I could've gone without. I bet a braised beef like barbacoa would've been perfect for this item. It also came with salsa and I selected mild which gave it a nice bright flavor. I also ordered a chicken tamale (they also offer pork) and I was surprised to find a whole chicken wing (no skin) stuffed into the tamale! I broke into it using a fork and hit something hard which turned out to be the bones. But honestly, this was one of the best tamales I've tried in a long time. Flavorful, moist, and a nice sized portion. It came wrapped in what I think was banana leaf. The service was fast on a Wednesday night and there were a handful of friendly patrons seated nearby. You could tell that they were regulars. The space was intimate with around 10-15 tables seating about 4 people each. Maya's Cafe menu has a wide assortment of dishes to choose from: serving breakfast dishes like chilaquiles, lunch items such as burritos, or soups and full on dinner plates with rice, beans, and choice of protein. There's even more selection and the whole menu is in Spanish so I'll be sure to use Google Translate next time!

    Photos
    Maya's Cafe
    Maya's Cafe - Tamarindo ($5)

    Tamarindo ($5)

    Maya's Cafe - Camarónes Aztecas ($24.50)

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    Camarónes Aztecas ($24.50)

    Pupuseria Delmy - Queso con loroco, revuelta

    Pupuseria Delmy

    3.9(146 reviews)
    7.4 miFairgrounds

    It had been a while since we came to Delmy's mostly because we don't frequent this area of San…read moreJose. It was super bowl Sunday and we had a great morning at Hellyer Park and we all agreed this was the place for lunch- my gosh this place is poppin! I called ahead and 25 min later the deliciousness was ready! I got mine of chicharron and beans (no cheese). They have two sauces on the table, on is the tomato based one and one is a spicy salsa. Both with the curtido is the best I have ever had. It is super crunchy and fresh and not too vinegary. The pupusas are so toasty on the inside and very large with lots of filling. Everything is absolutely perfect. Be prepared to wait if you didn't call ahead! There are about 4 tables with chairs in a half enclosed area against the food truck with street parking and the music jamming!

    First time trying this place out and I can honestly say their pupusas are top tier. Although the…read moremasa is bit on the thicker side, they loaded up with their filling which makes up for it. I love a good revuelta, but my favorite is the queso con loroco. Also their fruit salad agua Fresca was good and refreshing, but you definitely need a boba like straw for this as the fruit tends to get stuck on the thinner straws. Nonetheless this place is exceptionally tasty, I'll definitely be ordering from this place more often.

    Photos
    Pupuseria Delmy - Menu (5/7/23)

    Menu (5/7/23)

    Pupuseria Delmy - No cheese inside my cheese pupusa

    No cheese inside my cheese pupusa

    Pupuseria Delmy - Agua de fruta

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    Agua de fruta

    Best Artisan Empanadas - Mediterranean Salad

    Best Artisan Empanadas

    4.7(272 reviews)
    2.6 mi
    $

    A few years back I was on a major empanada kick. Unfortunately for me, I wasn't able to really…read morefulfill those cravings at any particular business. It's like an unobtainable quest but whenever I have the chance to fill that empty void, I do so by randomly sampling. So what makes a good empanada? To me, I look for a buttery and flaky outer shell. This should not be overly oily or dense. The dough ratio should not overpower the filling and the empanada should be able to hold the stuffed contents well. I personally gravitate towards savory fillings which should be moist but not soggy. Best Artisan Empanadas menu offers a long list of drinks ranging from espresso, teas, lattes, frappes, smoothies, and alcoholic drinks. The empanadas come in savory and sweet options. These can be purchases as is or served with sides, turning the item into a full blown meal. There are 4 different salads available for those who want a healthier alternative. As a quick snack and first attempt of trying out BAE, my sister and I made the purchase of: *Mango Tropical Shaker *Chicken & Mushroom Empanada *Traditional Beef Empanada *Argentinian Chimichurry Sauce The empanadas are amazing when it comes to the dough standpoint. Bae has the recipe down to a T and will make even the toughest eater a fan! The chicken and mushroom empanada was exceptionally delicious- creamy, flavorful, and very tasty. I would have easily grabbed another if we didn't already have plans for our next bite. The traditional beef empanada was good but the raisins totally threw me off. The plump, overly sweet raisins weren't a good combo with the salty olives according to my tastebuds. Again, this was still very doable but I made sure to remove each raisin I came across. The mango tropical shaker was okay, just a little too sweet for me. 5/5 stars for BAE's empanadas. I eagerly look forward to trying the panzerotto [pizza], chorizo, and assorted breakfast empanadas. Parking is disastrously busy so come here with patience- it'll be worth all the hassle. I promise!

    Food: Peach and Blueberry, Beef, Lomo, with Chimichurri + Mango Chutney…read more Price: $4.10 | $7.95 (Beef and Lomo) | $0.50 for Sauces Overall: BAE Empanadas are located in Campbell (where Bloom Bagels is!) and we wanted to grab something to go for lunch. They have a good variety of Peruvian empanadas and the place smelled really good. My boyfriend and I shared the Beef, Lomo Satado, and the Peach Blueberry! The flavors in both the Beef and Lomo was perfect with the seasoning and what was surprising is the Mango Chutney which made it even more tastier; it had a sweet but tangy profile. The peach and blueberry as a sweet treat was a perfect close out to our lunch.

    Photos
    Best Artisan Empanadas - Interior

    Interior

    Best Artisan Empanadas - Chimichurri

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    El Chalateco - mexican - Updated May 2026

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