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    Pupuseria Vanessa

    4.0 (24 reviews)
    Open 7:00 am - 11:00 pm

    Pupuseria Vanessa Photos

    PUPUSERIA VANESSA ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Moderate noise
    Good for kids
    Good for groups

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    Pupusas with cabbage and tomato sauce condiments. Delicious value for money!

    According to my Latina spouse, these are the best pupusas in the Takoma Park area. Having tried many places in the area, I agree. They even give you a buzzer, so you know when your order is ready. Located in the parking lot of Bestway on the corner of Piney Branch Road and Greenwood Avenue.

    Yuca fries, pupusas
    Caitlin D.

    Vanessa's has the BEST pupusas. My favorite pupusas are the bean and cheese. Their yuca fries and plantains are to die for. They're efficient, affordable, and always open. Could not recommend enough!

    a man standing in front of a food truck
    Alex H.

    If you're not Mexican, they will service every other Latino first before they get to your order. On multiple occasions I've seen the woman move your ticket instead of making them as the orders have come through. At first I thought my order simply took longer to make except a person who came fifteen minutes after me walked away with a massive three-box order (and you can't call ahead). It's a shame bc they work hard and long hours but they are definitely partial towards other Latino customers and will make you wait 20-30min at a food truck.

    Chicken & steak tacos
    Gen S.

    Chicken & steak tacos were well seasoned. Unfortunately, the fajita combo was too salty for my taste. My biggest complaint would be for an order that I was told would take approximately 15 - 20 minutes took over 30 minutes.

    Steak tacos
    M. B.

    Been here twice so far. So delicious!! I highly recommend. I wish I didn't live so far because I would eat there more often!!

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    4 months ago

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    1 year ago

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    2 years ago

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    5 years ago

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    2 years ago

    I loveeeee pupuseria vanessa!! They have a great selection of El Salvadorian food on their menu and it's always so so good!

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    5 years ago

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    6 years ago

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    4 years ago

    Had the pupusa de ayote and pupusa de jalapeño. Felt like a warm hug by an abuela or tía. A must go when you are in town.

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    5 years ago

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    6 years ago

    Always solid and great prices too. I've only had pupusas but I would like to try other items one

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    7 years ago

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    5 years ago

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    6 years ago

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    5 years ago

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    11 years ago

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    12 years ago

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    13 years ago

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    12 years ago

    Pork & Cheese, Bean & Cheese, and the Cheese pupusas were all very good.

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    12 years ago

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    11 years ago

    OMG, not sure what the hype is on the tacos, but I got some shit! straight unseasoned (Capitol) Garbage and it was about 7pm.

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    Cielo Rojo - Come to mama, chicken tinga tostada!

    Cielo Rojo

    4.5(614 reviews)
    1.5 mi
    $$

    Really understand why this place is so popular! Came here with some friends and had a lovely…read moreexperience. We were sat right away and I was surprised at how big the restaurant is (way bigger than it looks from the outside!). I started with a hibiscus margarita, which was delicious. Then we ordered a few things to split, including: guac and tostadas, charred cabbage, gorditas with chorizo, aguachile negro, and the beef short rib platter. The charred cabbage was the biggest sleeper hit. It was so flavorful and unlike anything I've ever had before. Everything else was delicious, although the aguachile was probably my least favorite of what we tried. We finished with the rose water tres leches and the dulce de leche crepes. The tres leches were pretty good but the crepes were amazing. I don't usually love dulce de leche, but it was definitely a standout.

    Overall, I had a positive experience dining at Cielo Rojo. The restaurant has a very inviting…read morespace, and it appears to be very kid-friendly. If you are planning to visit during popular dining hours, it might be worth it to make a reservation. We arrived during a weekend around 5:30 pm, and the place was somewhat empty. However, by 6-6:15 pm, the place was PACKED. I was a very surprised (in a good way) that the menu was a bit smaller compared to other Mexican/Tex-Mex restaurants in the area. I necessarily do not think the smaller menu is a bad thing because, with a smaller menu, a restaurant can focus on preparing everything well (i.e., it's easier to do a good job with 20-item menu versus a 50+-item menu). For my dining pleasure, I went with the enchiladas suizas with a few margaritas. Overall, I thought my plate was very delicious; however, other diners at my table and I noticed that the portion sizes were a bit small for the price. Perhaps, the restaurant uses higher quality ingredients for its dishes. Although the margarita sizes might appear to be small, they definitely are not "small" in power/punch, so the $13-$18 price range is appropriate. My favorite margarita of the night definitely was the El Jardinero, which was a wonderful mix of carrot, cilantro, peach, lime and a semi-spicy pepper of sorts. Collectively, we all thought the service was exceptional because our waitress constantly visited the table. Personally, I thought it was a bit overkill, but that's a very, very minor complaint based on my very, very personal preference.

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    Restaurant

    San Pancho

    San Pancho

    4.5(139 reviews)
    1.7 mi

    As a Bay Area native who has eaten a lot of authentic Mission burritos, I was extremely skeptical…read morethat I would like/be impressed with San Pancho but it is truly worth the hype and is delicious. I knew it was going to be busy on a Saturday night, so I wanted to place my order in advance to minimize wait time but the website was not accepting orders at the time. So I drove down and took my chances, knowing I would have to wait. And honestly, even though it was packed, it took a total of 30 minutes from walking into the building before I had my burrito in hand. They were processing orders from UberEats, DoorDash, you name it, and also processing the dine-in and other take out orders. I waited by the bar with my Arnold Palmer (so refreshing) just watching the sheer magnitude of kitchen orders they were processing. Now for the most important part - the burrito! I went with a classic, the chicken super burrito. It was fantastic!! The guacamole was fresh, it was the perfect amount cheesy and moist from the cheese and sour cream, the chicken was tender, the rice and beans were flavorful, and the tortilla was perfectly warm and tasty holding it all together. I also loved the salsa verde on the side, it was punchy and so delicious. I had have had so many meh burritos in the DC area and this one truly stands out and is so good, even if it is double the price of those others. It is also a HUGE portion so you at least are getting a good bang for your buck. I definitely need to go again for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and try the entire menu, and all of the coffee drinks - I had my eye on the horchata latte but not with my dinner. I literally can't stop thinking about how good it was and I cannot wait to go back.

    The drinks were just fine to me but the burrito was very yummy and filling! Big portions, fresh…read moreingredients, and flavorful sauces. I got the Barbacoa and it was pretty delish. Would come back if I was in the area to try their breakfast burrito. That one looks even better!

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    Juneberry Garage - Arugula salad with chopped veggies and cranberries.  Very Good at Juneberry Garage

    Juneberry Garage

    4.6(8 reviews)
    2.3 miShepherd Park

    Solid place in the neighborhood! Especially great when the weather is nice and you can sit outside…read more Lots of kids there too; good family spot. We sat inside at the bar and got a couple bites. A friend got the chicken sandwich and really liked it. I had the sausage pizza and the Thai cucumber salad. Wish the cucumber salad was marinated a little more, all the juices were on the bottom. The pizza was fantastic! Perfect. We saw a few people order the burger and definitely think you should try it; looked so good! Beer selection is also solid, we had the sour which was very good and refreshing.

    Imagine you're a hapless catfish, swimming along, when suddenly a wave forces you from a bayou to…read morethe Dead Sea, where you die from the high salinity. But, the salt gives you the one and only intense flavoring. You are then chopped up and forgotten on the seabed where you become encrusted with barnacles. Congratulations, you are now ready to be plopped into deep fat fryer to be served at Juneberry Garage. For those industrious enough to chop through this thick outer encrustation of rock hard tasteless black barnacles (nee' "breading"), there is a bit of catfish in the center like a geode pebble in a bolder. I'm not expecting haute cuisine from any place with "garage" in its name, but c'mon folks, have you even looked at what you're serving? On the other hand, the arugula salad with cranberries was quite good (surprising for a burger/beer kind of place trying mightily to evince a sort of casual 1950s retro vibe). I would have given them a single star, but I don't want to discourage would-be customer or the new proprietors who are surely struggling to make a go of it. I am hoping they are still working out the kinks because I really want them to succeed so we have a medium priced place to eat in the Shepherd Park neighborhood. I plan to return when the outdoor seating is open.

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    Juneberry Garage - Cute outdoor Restaurant- Juneberry

    Cute outdoor Restaurant- Juneberry

    Juneberry Garage - Sausage pizza

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    Juneberry Garage Entrance - VIBES

    Lime & Cilantro - Chicken empanadas

    Lime & Cilantro

    4.5(105 reviews)
    2.2 mi

    Oh, I can't believe I didn't leave a review for the spot, even though I've been a few times though!…read moreIt's been a while, but man are they delicious. I would describe them as a combination of classic and elevated Latin food. The vibe of the restaurant is very casual, but the presentation of many of the dishes takes it to another level. They also have a wide selection of beer and wine. I have had tacos, octopus, breakfast tacos, and tamales. Everything was flavorful and quite tasty. I will admit service was a little slow the last time I went, but given the weather and the fact that we weren't in a rush it wasn't a big deal. If you haven't been yet, you should go. The colorful presentation reminds me of Palette 22, and rumor has it they are expanding to the Ethiopian restaurant that closed next door. I hope that's true!

    Nice ambiance and good brunch menu offerings. I didn't know that they only offered brunch during…read morethe weekend so I was a little disappointed as I wanted to try something more complex but we enjoyed what we ate. Could work on those fried plantains as they were a little soggy. The quinoa salad was good, a bigger portion would have been nice for the price paid and maybe if it would be easier to eat if served in a bowl. The chorizo sandwich was okay. Presentation and bread could be better. We left curious about their regular menu so we may give it a try some other time. Their staff were nice but not very knowledgeable about their menu items. They didn't really know how to answer my question about their vegan tres leches and told me it was not actually vegan after indicating it had condensed milk and heavy cream.

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    Empanada

    Lime & Cilantro - Cilantro rice.  A simple dish, but a level above any I've had before.

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    Cilantro rice. A simple dish, but a level above any I've had before.

    Pupuseria Vanessa - latin - Updated May 2026

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