Gracious service and yummy food. We were very pleased with the tasty queso birria tacos, mojarra frita, revuelta pupusas, agua de piña (pineapple) & pepino limón (cucumber & lime juice). Everything was cooked perfectly and delicious. Their salsa was just the right amount heat with flavor. We enjoyed the music that enhanced the authentic food. We'll be back to try other items like campechana (shrimp cocktail), plátanos fritos (fried banana) & menudo. read more

El Chinaco - Queso Birria Tacos with Consomme and onions with cilantro. - Mexican Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

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Freshly made pupusas just hit differently. I haven't had fresh made pupusas in over 10 years, so I was really happy when my friend recommended this place for lunch last week. The pickled veg + hot sauce that came with our pupusas were just *chef's kiss* so delish. My friend has been coming to El Chinaco for the past decade or so, and I can see why he keeps coming back. Also, I ordered some more pupusas to go as well as 4 carne asada tacos. These were not street tacos - these were giant tacos! Glad I found a yummy pupusas place close to home. Will def be back for more! read more

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I've been dropping in when the occasional pupusa craving hits since my undergrad days, and frankly, it's one of the few reliably consistent tasting pupusa spots in the area. Pros: Pupusas are great! Generous with the curtados and salsas. Cons: High cost per pupusa and 20-30 wait time. I call ahead to place my orders, but the success or ease of the phone order is dependent on the person who picks up. read more

Ordered yummy pupusas from this spot! The pork pupusas are yummy! I liked the curtido which had great flavor on its own. I also got the revueltas but it only had pork and cheese, no beans in them. We ordered the horchata and Jamaica which were just ok. The horchata was too grainy but good flavor. The Jamaica was too bitter for me. I enjoyed the pupusas and would get them again but there are better spots in the area. read more

Tip: come for the pupusas. Likes: + Scrumptious pupusas along with the side cabbage and carrot and yummy red and green sauces. + Polite, helpful staff. + In recent years, they've diversified their pupusa menu. + Pupusas are large yet cheap. Totally get your money's worth. Non-likes: - Pupusas take 20-30 min to make. Wish they had a fast way to dish out pupusas just as hot and good. - Have to ask for the key everytime you wanna use the restroom. - The kicker: for some reason if you don't speak their language, they don't take you seriously. When I called and asked questions in English, they ignored and hung up on me. I called again and asked again, they hung up again. Hope they have bilingual staff soon. - For the past 8 years, they still haven't fixed the parking spot uprooted by a tree. read more

Food has really gone downhill. Very salty, all sour cream. Nacho cheese is edible and absolute garbage. We used to LOVE this place and it's really gone downhill read more

My grandma used to say a proper pupusa has as much filling as possible and as minimum dough to hold it together. These are just like grandma and mom used to make, authentic. read more

One of the best restaurants around!! Everything is so good!! The ladies who work there are all super sweet and helpful!

Extremely oily, and stiff pupusa. The cheese is not stretchy and has flavor of overly used dirty oil, it's hard to explain. When you have had good pupusa, you know these are bad. I got extremely gassy also after eating those when I usually don't. Pupusa's are supposed to be soft on the bread with a bite and cheese, stretchy and favorable.. the worst pupusa I've ever had in my entire life, and they're overly priced. Most places to sell them at $3.75 this place sells them at $5.25 each, I'd rather go by In-N-Out for that price and poor quality read more

El Chinaco - I suggest San Sivar better tasting & half the price of all things. They wanted to give us reheated coffee brewed this morning. - Mexican Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

I got the frijol pupusas and pollo quesadilla. I was hungry when ordering and definitely had lots of leftovers after this, so it was great for 2 meals. Both were really really good, they seem to be known for their pupusas so I'd try another type if I were to return read more

El Chinaco - Mexican Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

La comida era mucho mejor antes Antes tenían una barra de salsas ahora tienes que pedir todo y no te lo dan a tiempo , las popusas antes eran muy ricas ahora saben a pura grasa de echo cuando entras al restaurante huele a pura grasa esta es quede muy desepcionada del lugar read more

This is more Mexican style food, not salvadorian. Pupusas of chicharron had no flavor. I ordered a salvadorian breakfast at it was not an original Salvadorian breakfast. read more

Food and service are great! We are repeat customers. Definitely try it! You will not regret it!

We drove all the way from Riverside because this place has the best pupusas. It didn't disappoint! Used to come here around 20 yrs ago when I worked in CM and it's still worth the drive. Btw..the pupusas are huge! And customer serve is awesome! read more

El Chinaco - Quesobirra and pupusas! - Mexican Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

I have not visited since it changed ownership, but over the last 20 years I have loved their food! read more

El Chinaco - Truly the best Salvadoran food in the USA and I have sampled from coast to coast. - Mexican Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

A bit disappointed with my order today. I order from Chinaco often. I always order two chicharon pupusas and an adobada taco to go. When I got home to eat after a long day, I realized the pupusa I was eating had cheese, which is not what I ordered. I threw it away because I don't consume dairy. By this time it wasn't a big deal, when I started eating the second one it tasted burned. I flipped the pususa and it was not eatable, too burned. I called Chinaco, a lady answered and told me to go back now to get a refund, but I don't live close, that's why I call to place my order and take it home. Anyways wrong order and burned pupusas, not the best experience today. At least my taco was good! Hopefully they quality check from now on, it sucks to eat burned food. read more

El Chinaco - Burned Chicharron Pupusa not eatable - Mexican Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

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Absolutely the best! Pupusas are phenomenal, from cheese to squash blossoms, and everything is so authentic. Roasted jalapeños for all, enjoying for 35 years. read more

Get ready to be nickel-and-dimed!! They increased the prices however, the quality and quantity, has decreased. This is now the 3rd time I come to this place and they mess up my order! While eating at the restaurant they didn't give me 2 pupusas I ordered. Another time they gave me the wrong pupusa and today, they failed to pack my plátano frito! I didn't realize until I got home and when I called, the lady ask if I could comeback to get it. When I got to the restaurant, the plátanos and beans were already cold. Also, the pupusas are mostly masa and no filling. The revuelta has probably one piece of pork, and the cheese pupusa is mostly masa as well. The plátano frito comes with a tiny side of beans and sour cream. This is the last time we eat at this place. read more

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Ordered on here on Door Dash for the first time! Pupusas were hot & fresh! They were huge and delicious! Thanks to the staffs for providing extra curtido when asked. Really really appreciate it! Will definitely order again! read more

El Chinaco - Mexican Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Queso pususa- 90% masa, 10% queso. Revuelta pupusa- 80% masa, 10% pork, 10% queso. Rip off!!! Never again! read more

El Chinaco - Queso pususa - Mexican Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Great pupusas. I always call my order in for pick up with no issues. I don't know about any other food items because I always order pupusas but they are delicious. read more

If you're from Costa Mesa, you probably have tried El Chinaco.. a staple restaurant of Mexican Salvadorean food combined. My family and I have been customers of El Chinaco since I was 7 years old.. I am 30 now. I came in Friday April 7th, and was stunned to see the sign outside that indicated "under new management" when entered the lady at the front just gave me a stink eye and said in Spanish what can I help you with. She was not pleasant and welcoming.. I ordered my food and waited for my drinks which from the looks of the containers de agua fresca they looked absolutely dirty.. I was concerned that my family and I would get sick cause the rims of the containers just looked like they had not been deep cleaned in years. Waited the normal amount of time for the food to come out.. I ordered a taquito plate with the beans and rice which had no complaints, my son got the quesadilla with fries, so this plate had a normal sized quesadilla and the rest of the plate was covered in soggy greasy fries. The plate was not proportionate for a kids meal. I got 3 revueltas and 3 frijole con queso. My total was about 70$ dollars.. I'm wishing now I would've requested my money back. I attempted to eat one of the revueltas there and it was by far the worst pupusa I've ever had. No flavor, no amount of salsa or salt or pepper I could add would rectify what they did to this pupusa. The thing that really stood out to me though was the lack of customer service, if you do not like being a cashier or server, like you should definitely find another job to be in. You set the tone for the interaction of your customers, the cashier lady did not look like she was happy to be there. I'm glad that I won't be contributing to going to this restaurant any longer. The original owners should've just closed down and left their legacy intact. read more

El Chinaco - Frijol y Queso Pupusa - Mexican Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

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I was an employee at El Chinaco just two hours before they let me go and I want to share with you that my experience working with them, sucked! The food is alright but the pork and beef that they prep in the kitchen looks nasty! Sometimes their kitchen is has some flies flying around the food and thats when I decided to stop eating pupusas from them! The owner name is Sal and his wife loly. They're both are pretty scammy, if you ask for a refund they'll will only return half for what was worth from the menu even if you didn't touch your food they'll still give you half. That's why no wonder the pupusas are very pricy and the agua frescas are made from the dish washer fountain that's all I know guys, this place looks nice but the management and the food prices are ridiculous. read more

At first, I wasn't sure why this place needed a coupon, because it was busy. However, I was drawn here by a coupon, and will be a repeat customer. The marketing worked! El Chinaco has a mix of el Salvadoran food and Mexican food. There is a sign that says pupusas take a little longer since they make it fresh, but it is WORTH IT. Each pupusa came out hot, fresh, and with a side of pickled veggies. I tried the cheese with loroco (an edible flower). There is also a salsa bar with a specially labeled tomato salsa for pupusas. The salsa bar has lime slices, picked carrots (yum!), and 3 other salsas (a mild verde, a roasted, a spicy red). We also got their vegetarian burrito, which was a good size as well. With 2 people, we were stuffed sharing a burrito and 1 pupusa. The prices were also very affordable. The burrito was fresh but standard (rice, beans, lettuce, scoop of guac, cheese). The salsas made the burrito better. I'd definitely back if I was in the area. The service was also very nice. read more

Hi all! We haven't been to chinaco in a long time and so happy we came back! Food was delicious! My husband got the chinaco birria burrito which he said was really good, i got a cheese pupusa and the tostada camaronas AMAZING! The young who helped me was so nice! They were not busy! We need to help our little local places stay in business! We will be back! read more

All good things come to and end... and unfortunately this business has gone through several ownership changes the last 3 years. Possibly due to Covid or personal reason's related to the economy. I ordered my food over the phone and the guy on the phone said I had to pay over the phone. That should of been my first warning to avoid going through with my order. Apparently a lot of people have been abandoning their order when they find out it's not the same anymore. He also never gave me my total or my receipt . I had a heart attack later when I saw my bank statement. I cannot oversee the newest owners allowing to charge people $6 for one pupusa. GTFO here!!! The pupusas aren't as good anymore and they're a little bigger than before. The only good ones are the queso con loroco & bean and cheese. The rest claim they use chicharon but it tastes like chicken and there's hardly any filling. $6 for a masa pancake is outrageous!!! The pastelitos are sadly a thing of the past. These are not well made and have a chemical taste to them. All in all, it's time to move on.. Try San Sivar around the corner on Harbor. You'll save nearly 50% of your money. 2 stars because I ate my queso con loroco pupusa, but threw away the rest of the food. read more

El Chinaco - Most terrible tasting pastelito I ever had. It's got a hole on the bottom. Why? - Mexican Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Let me a start saying that the food wasn't that bad but for what you spent on the Salvadorian breakfast with those type of tortillas it's not worth it. Today I was craving some Salvadorian breakfast. And this place opens earlier than my favorite Salvadorian restaurant here in Costa Mesa so I decide to order my dish with Uber eats. When I received it I was so disappointed it does not look Salvadorian,no queso fresco and especially with those type of tortillas. I called The restaurant to ask them why they send those tortillas and they told me that you need to request the Salvadorian tortillas and they will charge you extra for sending them. Lol this place is charging more then other places and they all include everything already. You wanna try good salvidorian food go to San Sivar in Costa Mesa. read more

El Chinaco - Salvadorian breakfast - Mexican Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

I have been going to this place for 3 years. Under recent management the quality has changed. I always make phone orders to go. About a month ago a young man employee took my phone order and once I got there he told me he probably didn't put it in, I left with no food as I didn't want to wait another 20mins. This should have been my sign to never go back, but I gave it another try today. Wow almost $6 for a pupusa that has way less cheese than ever, on top of that the salsa is half way filled in a small container. If this is how management intends on making profits, I feel bad for customers who will be receiving poor service and poor quality food because $6 for masa is not worth the price. Rua read more

El Chinaco - Half way filled - Mexican Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

This is a joke right? You call this plátanos fritos with crema and frijoles? My question is 1. Why the hell are my beans in a SALSA cup? And 2. Why the hell aren't my plátanos RIPE?! If you don't have ripe plantains for a proper plate, then DONT SELL THEM. This is what we call in my country (HONDURAS) CAMULIANES.. meaning between being green and RIPE. The fact that your plate of plantains is at almost $12 compared to other geniuine salvadorean places priced WELL BELOW THAT in the OC, is crazy. I even debated ordering them when I saw the price on the menu, but because I've been here SEVERAL times and never had any problems with your plantains, I gave in. This is an embarrassment considering the cook is salvadorean. The pupusas would always hit the spot and I always paid the extra $2 (because these damn things are $6 each, but are big), but this was a complete disappointment to the point where I don't think I'll ever be back. To the point where I was recommending this place to all my friends, to now letting them know Anita's in Santa Ana is WAY better, and my opinion was the opposite before. What a disgrace; stick to the Mexican food and quit trying to fuse it with Central Americans! You're clearly failing in quality. I'll be back during my lunch to return your nasty plate and get my money back. read more

Not only does this place have false advertising, their cashier insults the guests too! Upon walking in, I noticed their Monday special on the wall menu. I asked the cashier about their specials and she said they don't have any. I was confused and referred to the ad and she said in Spanish "yeah but I asked the owner if we were still having it and she said NO". I told her okay but that was false advertising and that they could potentially lose business because it comes across scammy. She didn't seem to care in the slightest bit. I continued looking at the menu to see if there was anything else I felt like having, and she asked me when I am due (in 5 days). She said "oh porque te ves bien gordita". I was taken aback by her liberty to call me fat and told her it was inappropriate to say that to a pregnant woman or any woman that she doesn't know personally. She tried to say I look pretty, but no I let her know it was insulting. At that point, I was fed up with her careless attitude about the false advertisement, the owners poor business practices and her insulting disposition. Stay away from this place if you want a peaceful and enjoyable meal. read more

Here my score from 1 to 10: 8.25 People 8 Food 9 Price 9 Place 7 * you got to try the popusas . read more

The worst, pupusas They are stuffed with pinto beans and cheddar cheese WTH! Revueltas -pupusas forget it No chicharon in it nothing but cheddar cheese! Never again!! There's no way not even a 2star read more

Delicious variety of homemade vegetarian pupusas, with generous portions at reasonable price.

I ordered pupusas and shrimp tacos, wonderful taste! The service was absolutely great, all the workers were so nice, they will do anything for you to be comfortable and that makes the ambiance even better. read more

Pupusas here are a bit pricey but totally worth it !! Add some extra cheese and even more delicious !! Also they have a really good spicy sauce for those Chile lovers ! read more

The food is incredible and the people are sooo nice and accommodating! So much great food to choose from!! Love it!!

Pupusas are big and delicious. Prices are steep for Pupusas but it is a worth while Test if you want an authentic El Salvadorian experience.

Great food, great service! Never eating there just delivery and pick up but always on point!

I have been coming here for years and I decided to leave a review since it looks like it is under new ownership and they are getting hit with some negative reviews. Honestly it made me worried to come try it under the new owners. I had the mixed pupusas and the fried plantains and honestly I thought both dishes were still very good. Definitely better than a couple places that I've tried in Orange. Service was great too. Order was ready and all complete. No issues. Would definitely go back again. read more

Omg this place has changed. The pupusas we expensive and they were not delicious as i remember. We ordered pupusas to go and my son said they had no cheese and they forgot to put salsa. The worse part of our experience was finding a long hair in our plantano plate. Talk about ruining our appetite. Save your money and go somewhere else this place is a rip off. read more