Playa Dorada 10522 South Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles, California 90044 is one of those neighborhood gems that doesn't need a concept or any neon signs because the food is that good. The food is straight-up good, the kind that makes you pause mid-bite like, "Yeah... they understood the assignment." Service is good, friendly, and attentive without hovering like a probation officer. And the rarest treasure of all in L.A.: ample parking. That alone is basically a five-star amenity. Wham-bam thank-you ma'am. Now here's the official co-sign: this is my best friend Ronald's favorite restaurant. Ronald comes here all the time and he's not guessing--he's dialed in. His go-to are the pupusas de chicharrón, and at this point he's so consistent Ronald should have his own plaque on the wall. So do yourself a favor: pull up and ask for "the Ronald Pupusa de chicharrón with extra love." If they laugh, you're in the right place. If they don't laugh, order it anyway because the food will still do what it does. Quick reality check for outsiders rivals visitors: this is the hood. I'm from this hood, so it's normal to me--but if you're not from around here, don't slide down Vermont dressed like you're trying to get "checked" for fun. No loud sports jerseys, no sagging, no hat cocked sideways like you're rehearsing a persona. Be low-key, be respectful, move smart, and you'll be completely fine. Bottom line: Playa Dorada (10522 South Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles, California 90044) is worth the stop--great food, good service, parking that won't ruin your mood, and a real local vibe. And if you leave without trying the Ronald Pupusa de chicharrón with extra love, that's on you. Jordan read more

See all

Muy mal cervicio nunca más una pupusa 40 min de espera y quemada y mi horchata sin yelo noooo muy mal todos pidiendo sus cuentas no avía quien se la diera no no pero si tomaban nuevas órdenes read more

Playa Dorada - una pupusa 40 min de espera mi horchata sin yelo no no súper mal muy mal cervicio - Salvadoran Near Me - Los Angeles, California

Rating this restaurant with 4 stars because I wish the food had a bit more flavor. Overall the staff are nice / helpful . This establishment is clean . This place also doesn't have a parking lot so look out for some on the block read more

Playa Dorada - Pupusas ! - Salvadoran Near Me - Los Angeles, California

I really love this place! Their pupusas are so good honestly some of the best I've had. The soups and plates are also really tasty, everything has that fresh homemade flavor. The service is great too; everyone is always so nice and makes me feel welcomed and comfortable every time I come in. An clean environment. I understand that sometimes the food can take a little longer, but that's because it's all made fresh and they get super busy, especially with phone orders. It's always worth the wait, and I'm just glad I still get my order every time! Also, I saw a comment from Liseth Najera on safari website about something she supposedly found in the foil paper where they pack the pupusas but that doesn't even make sense because they don't use that kind of paper to pack their food. It's unfair to say that about such a hardworking place that clearly takes pride in their food and service trying to bring them down with such miss information because I haven't had that problem everytime I come in! I Definitely recommend this spot if you want delicious Salvadoran pupusas and friendly peaceful service! read more

My go to Salvi food spot, food delicious and the price is right. I recommend the hen soup and the pupusas.

Great place. Went to the restaurant after a catered event to give this place a try! The traffic of customers is a good sign of fresh food till order! We tried the pupusas again and the are worth the price! We also tried there caldo de pollo it was greatttttt Went to a private party with a catering from this place! Pupusas are huge & Flavorful! Staff were very attentive. I'll be back again! read more

I only go for the pupusas nothing else! I give 3 stars because the pupusas are always good HOWEVER! The place has went down from its traditional vibe in the last 7ish years. The place is empty no decorations unless it's a holiday. The music is too damn loud. It's not a club! Literally have to raise your voice to converse with one another. The service is always friendly but not as fast since they do take in Call in orders & that takes away the server from serving their dine in customers. The glass soda are overpriced! Bring your own drinks in. Be carefully when you order to go. They will not honor your pupusas deal if you don't make it known that you want the special pupusas not the regular priced one. They are smaller but still good. If you pay with card you will pay a card fee. They have restrooms inside. Park on the street. read more

See all

Decepción de lugar!!! Hemos sido clientes por un tiempo pero lo que no tolero es robo y mentira. Hablo por telefono, ordeno 14 pupusas revueltas, 2 de queso y un tamal de pollo para llevar el señor me dice el total y cuelga. Llego al establesimiento pago y recojo mi orden en ese momento veo un papel con promoción : PUPUSAS REVUELTAS Y DE FRIJOL CON QUESO $1.50 c/u LUNES Y MARTES 10 PUPUSAS O MÁS Miércoles , Jueves y Viernes cualquier cantidad. Quando le pregunto porque la cantidad de 40 y algo si estan a 1.50 las revuetas? El señor reponde "esque ordenaste regulares, las especiales son chiquitas ". Si pero TU trabajas ahí, TU saves las especiales! Que tal si tienen mejor servicio al cliente y me pregutas en la llamada, ¿Quieres la especial o regular ??? No se si es negligencia de el empleado o estratejia de la dueña pero de cualquier manera esta MAL!! Summary : If you phone order and don't specify that you want the special of $1.50 for certain pupusas for the days stated on their promotional flyer they will NOT mention the special and charge you regular price. Maybe you will see it on the flyer maybe you won't . Not sure if this is the employee's fault or owners bad buissness practice, regardless THIS IS WRONG! Let ME decide if I want small cheaper pupusas or big regular priced ones ! read more

Playa Dorada - Salvadoran Near Me - Los Angeles, California

El servicio de attencion de cliente es horrible. La orden incorrecta. Nos cobró 2 pupusas mas que no ordenamos. Puras fallas con la muchacha que nos iso la orden y también lidiando con la manager fue una completa falla y pérdida de tiempo. ni la menor comprensión departe de la manger por falta de comunicación. Hablamos para hacer una orden en grupo. Mi compañera de trabajo hablo primero para asegurar que las Pupusas costaban $1.50. Después de verificar el precio hablamos para hacer la orden. Cundo preguntamos porque fue tan caro...Primero que disque porque nomás las pupusas revueltas y frijol con queso eran las que tenían en Especial... I después salieron con que nosotros tuvimos que averles avisado antes que no queríamos pupusas regulares que queríamos las pupusas especiales ‍ So tengan cuidado. No es ningún especial de pupusas en días selectos.... La promoción es un anuncio engañoso. Para terminar de chingar. nos cobró también por pupusas extras que no ordenamos. (2 extra. Ni la orden se iso bien) Por unos $15.00 perdieron el negocio de nuestro grupo ‍ Que idiotes mas estupida.. Tengan mucho cuidado no nomás al ordenar pero también la calidad de la carne.. pues obvio ya ven que no es buena. Tal vez por esa razón no tienen mucha cliente en las mesas. Mi tía siempre decía... si hay mucha jente o hay una linia es porque es un buen negocio y porque la comida está rica. Y pues.. para terminar. Tiene mucha razón. No thank you. Primera y última vez. read more

Playa Dorada - Publicidad de "Especial de Pupusas" engañosas. El "especial de Pupusas" no son 1.50 c/u - Salvadoran Near Me - Los Angeles, California

See all

Not to be that guy but, if you not mexican they will take forever to server your food. I've been coming here time to time and order simple food like a taco, etc... Many of the times they will serve a group of mexicans while I been waitin 20 minutes for three tacos. read more

BE AWARE OF THIS PLACE. I came this morning to order 3 pupusas + pastelitos and got 4 drinks and my total was $46?!! I made the math according to their menu prices and it was all wrong. I went up to the front counter to ask why it came out so much and the lady at the front was honestly not the most helpful. She said the prices were different. The pastelitos on the menu was $10 and so i asked her how much those were and she said $13??? That's $3 difference and to me that's a lot to not be told to. Their whole menu should be updated with the current prices because that's straight scam. Their pupusas aren't $3.50 but $4 each PLUS TAX INDIVIDUALLY. She said each was $4.40. I told her if she could change what we got for a different plate, for the same price of what I said I ordered about, I switched it to (2) carne asada plates and two drinks. I asked that instead of rice if I could get casamiento on one of the plates and she said yeah I can do that. I said okay great thank you so much and went back to my table. We waited for our food, the food came before the drinks and on top of that, there was no casamiento on one of the plates. I was confused and when she came back to give us our drinks, I told her about it. She made a face as if she knew and was like "yeah they forgot" and so i asked if i can still get it and she said no and gave some reason I can't even remember anymore because it made no sense. Unfortunately This would be nicer review if the food was good but everything was cold. Literally the meat felt like it had been sitting out. Barely any flavor. Even the tortillas were cold, not even warm. Horrible service, I don't ever give places bad reviews but this genuinely has been the worst service I've ever had. The lady was so unhelpful, the prices are a scam and the ambience is terrible. I'm so disappointed. TEN CUIDADO CON ESTE LUGAR. ¡¿Yo Vine esta mañana a ordenar 3 pupusas + una orden pastelitos y 4 bebidas (2 fueron soda de lata) y mi total fue de $46?! Que ridiculo. Hice los cálculos de acuerdo con los precios de el menú y todo estaba mal. Fui al mostrador para preguntar por qué salió tanto y, sinceramente, la señora de la parte delantera no fue la más útil. Dijo que los precios eran diferentes. Los pastelitos en el menú eran de 10 dólares, así que le pregunté cuánto me cobró y ella dijo 13 dólares. Esa es una diferencia de 3 dólares y para mí es mucho que no se lo digan al cliente. Todo el menú debería actualizarse con los precios actuales porque eso es una estafa directa. Las pupusas no cuestan $3.50, sino $4 cada una MÁS IMPUESTOS INDIVIDUALES. Ella dijo que cada una costaba $4.40 con el tax. Le pregunté que si podría cambiar la orden original por un plato diferente, por el mismo precio. lo cambié a (2) platos de carne asada y dos bebidas. Pregunté que en lugar de arroz si podía cambiarlo por casamiento en uno de los platos y ella dijo que sí estaba bien. Le di gracias y volví a mi mesa. Esperamos nuestra comida, la comida llegó antes que las bebidas y, además de eso, no había casamiento en uno de los platos. Estaba confundida y cuando volvió a darnos nuestras bebidas, se lo conté. Ella hizo una cara como si lo supiera y estaba como "sí, se olvidaron", así que le pregunté si todavía puedo conseguirlo y ella dijo que no y me dio alguna razón por la que ya ni siquiera puedo recordar porque no tenía sentido. Desafortunadamente, esta sería una mejor revisión si la comida fuera buena, pero todo estaba frío. Literalmente, la carne se sentía como si hubiera estado sentada afuera. Casi ningún sabor. Incluso las tortillas estaban frías, ni siquiera calientes. Servicio horrible, nunca doy malas críticas a los lugares, pero este ha sido realmente el peor servicio que he tenido. La señora no ayudó, los precios son una estafa y el ambiente es terrible. Estoy muy decepcionada. read more

Playa Dorada - menu prices not correct, they all have changed and they won't tell you but charge you without you knowing. - Salvadoran Near Me - Los Angeles, California

See all

I would 100% recommend this restaurant, I hired them for a catering event and my guests were delighted! Everyone went in for seconds. Their Pupusas are authentic and fresh. Staff was super friendly....they were on time and catered to all of our needs. I'm hiring them for all our events. We love PLAYA DORADA! read more

The food is good the service is good as well. The ambience is wonderful as well. Stop and get a good meal

Pupusas were salty and the service really lacked. Went for pick up and the forgot half of my order. I had to drive back from home to ask for the other half. read more

Always one of my favs, the first time I gone the tomato sauce did have a scent of gasoline. But I gave them a second chance and I love it. I only get the fCQ because the R have weird look inside with pork. read more

Absolutely delicious and authentic! Ordered the revueltas regular size for $3.00 ! More than enough ! read more

Playa Dorada - a plate of food on a table - Salvadoran Near Me - Los Angeles, California

OMG the pupusas here are amazing! I've tried many pupusa places and this one is by far the best. They pupusas are fresh, you can tell the ingredients are high quality. I will definitely be coming back. The service is also great, very friendly staff. 10/10 recommend! read more

Yo personalmente recomiendo este lugar ordene una sopa de Patas muy deliciosa lo mejor que he probado y también las Pupusas que tienen en especial. Recuerde preguntar por la especiales por que son pequeñas y las regulares son grandes y tienen diferentes precios los flanes están muy ricos read more

Food is good but they over charge $15.80 for 2 pupusas and 1 ensalada pupusas are supposedly $3 each and ensalada $6 for a large don't know how that adds up to almost $16 read more

I just ordered for the first time, food is so good and fresh, I love it , best empanadas and pupusas I ever tried. I definitely recommend it. And for sure will order again. read more

Playa Dorada - 11. Empanadas Leche - Salvadoran Near Me - Los Angeles, California

See all

First they they gave us the wrong price to pay when we ordered through the phone. Second, they did not call us to pick up our food until we called to ask after 40 mins when it was only 10 pupusas. When we arrived there they tell us the actual price, and when we point out the price we were told on the phone and the fact we had only brought the quantity, they tried to do nothing to fix their mistakes. I then had to go back to the bank through traffic to get money from the bank to pay the amount, at this point my food has been ready for more than an hour. So not only did I ate way later, but I also had to go out of my way to the bank to fix their mistakes and pay full price for cold food that had been sitting for almost 2 hours. bad experience overall. Primero nos dieron el precio incorrecto cuando ordernamos por el telefono. Segundo, no nos llamaron a recojer nuestra orden hasta que nosotros llamamos de regreso despues de 40 minutos cuando solo eran 10 pupusas. Cuando llegamos nos dicen otro precio, y les decimos que nos dieron el precio equivocado y que solo traiamos ese efectivo no hicieron nada para arreglar sus errores. Tuve que ir lejos al banco en medio del trafico para sacar dinero y pagar, y a este punto mi comida ya tania mas de una hora de estar hecha.Al final comi tarde, tuve que gastar mi tiempo y dinero en ir al banco y pague precio completo por comida frio. Muy mala experiencia. read more

Really solid Restaurant. I've been ordering from them consistently for about a year and I love the food every time. I order the breakfast because Salvy breakfast is a guilty pleasure of mine. The pupusas are so good and the service is great. I call my order in and it's usually ready in 20-25 mins. Also, this is a family business and I 100% support that. read more

I went to Playa Dorada Restaurant 10522 Vermont Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90044 Order pupusas of Wednesday special but when I ask the cashier for plates and forks told me that they do not give any for 12 pupusas they only give me 1 fork and 1 knife and no plate and with a bad attitude came home all the pupusas were not cook call the restaurant and ask for the owner and a lady that answer say was the assistant but I know the owner voice from the past orders and was her and she just also rude and told me that at her restaurant when you order pupusas you have to tell her how cook you want them well done or not so cook and she was arguing with me it was a very bad and messy service I will not buy from this restaurant again food no taste and other salty. Place was dirty and plates on the table not cleaning after the clients so bad experience. read more

So against my better judgement I gave them a second shot (walked to location) pupusas were average not better than your local street vendor but what disappointed me the most is there unwelcoming attitude they are so rude and unwelcoming don't care to explain pricing when advertised price has changed or when you don't understand what you've ordered no greeting and very dismissive read more

Came in and one girl smiled at me but no one said anything for about 5 minutes before someone came to help me. I came on a Thursday because I saw the sign says pupusas are 99 cents that day. I ordered 2 pupusas and my total was like $4.20 and I was like, "I thought they were a dollar?" And the girl said, "if you want the special you have to tell me that" It was my first time going there so I didn't know that, seemed like she expects to know that Took like 10-15 min to get them so that didn't take too long. And they were honestly so good. Oh and it's CASH ONLY. read more

Very surprised at the wonderful taste of the pan con Pollo. Super good! The pupusas and the sopa de gallina with the dinner were delightful as well! Will definitely order again! read more

Me gusta las Pupusa's...... esa es mi favorita comida pídelas con extra queso y saben mejor

This place serves some of the best pupusas I have tasted. Order ahead to save you time unless you are dining in. The restaurant is modest in size however the food is fresh and is so delicious. It is a must try, it is close to a freeway off-ramp. The prices are fantastic and they have specials on certain days, it is worth the trip to LA. read more

Worst worst worst experience ever! I order a plate called picado something. When I got my plate I was shocked I literally had 3 small pieces of meat one potato there was rice that wasn't cooked fully through and the typical salad on the side. The beans tasted so bad also. I honestly I almost vomited! Customer service sucked! There food is over priced and bad quality! We payed 52 dollars. I was so disappointed and when I asked her about my plate she was rude and said she couldn't answer why she gave me 3 pieces and for 11.50. First and last time me and my family go One thing I was concerned about and maybe health inspector should go checked out is kids being in the kitchen running around while there was a huge pot of oil boiling while they fried food. So dangerous! How can we report that?! read more

Small place in the corner outside is pretty dirty they should clean up the weeds etc I know it's not their job but it's their business to keep it looking great. I came here for the .99 cent pupusas not bad for a buck the yucca and chicharon is not good tasteless. Come for the cheap pupusas. NoThing special read more

Rude to customers and not professional at all.The food was not even cooked, when I advised them they were simply rude.wouldn't recommend...

This is my stop for fast homie salvi food! Never fails! Good for the price! usually takes about 20minutes (which is fresh). I usually order breakfast, the #15 which has eggs plátanos crema and beans! My favorite! Also their pupusas are good ( a lil greasy) and there soups are delicious when you have a hangover or stomach ache it usually hits the spot! Overall it taste good and the price is great! read more

I tried pupusas here and it's delicious you can't go wrong definitely coming back if you're craving Salvadoran food you should come here

Excellent fried plantains, Salvi beans and cream. Plus their loroco and cheese pupusa is yum. If you aren't familiar with Salvadorean food, this is a good place to try. read more

Over priced!!! On the menu the popusa said $1.50 each on the purchase of 5 or more, I bought 36 and the total was $82.50 when I asked why so much if they're only $1.50 they said that the price is no longer what's on the menu. I do not recommend!! read more

I've lived in this area for almost a year and have never been curious about this restaurant. I told a neighbor I was craving a Salvadorian breakfast and he took me to this location!! I ordered #15 and this breakfast hit the spot! I was beyond satisfied!! The food was tasty and delish! I ordered to go and everything was well packaged. The ladies who worked there were very nice! And they cooked my fried plantains just as I requested! The only bad thing is that they only take cash. I only carry cards so my neighbor lend me cash so that I could purchase a meal. read more

Playa Dorada - #15 - Salvadoran Near Me - Los Angeles, California

See all

They have bad service the lady is rude and mad dogs you. Also the food was raw would not recommend!!‍

Slow service, the food took too long and it was not worth the wait. Tamales tasted washed off and the breakfast food was bland.

The cheese Pupusas were huge and delicious. Each pupusas was $2.20. I found this restaurant by using Yelp. They have variety of dishes. Make sure to bring cash. It is a cash only place. They have specials during the week and Sundays. read more

Playa Dorada - Salvadoran Near Me - Los Angeles, California

See all

I work nearby and order from this place ahead of time often for pickup. They are always friendly, ready, and food is great!