Pupuseria La Bendicion

I love this place, this was my first visit to this place. I order the cheese and chicken pupusa and a taco with beef, the taste was awesome and the best part of this place is the prices, its very cheap and the the food portion is adequate.

Loved the chicken and cheese pupusa. It was the best I have ever had. Awesome food!!!

Amazing Food!, The Steak Tacos were great, perfect amount and just enough cilantro. Chicken Pupusas were the best i have ever taste. Good amount and fills up for a little amount of $. Amazing place. Good celection of drinks. Especially being one of the few places you could find Passion Fruit Juice.
1Con– I do think some people could be a little bit more friendly (but everyone has their negative days) Although the bored face the person wasn’t rude.

Best pupusa revueltas, gets crowded during the day so I like to order and take out they always pack my stuff so perfect and the food is AMAZING.

We were driving through Cleveland trying to find a good lunch spot. Found this place on Unilocal.Simple store front. But the oupusas were huge and delicious! We tried the revuelta and pollo con queso. We loved the chicken and cheese pupusas! The owner gave us a ton of sauce and cabbage to put on top– so delicious!

Short version of my review for those of you who don’t feel like reading the whole thing: food is good, but not worth it if don’t have the time to spare.
Stopped in here on a Friday afternoon for lunch since I happened to be in the area for a work obligation. The place is, as you probably expect, a very literal hole in the wall. When I walked in though, it was swarming with customers, many of whom had finished up eating and were just chatting with the staff. I waited in line quite a while to finally be handed a menu. I ended up having to go back, grab a table, glance at the menu, then wait in line again to order. So minus a few points for not having menus readily available or posted conspicuously on the wall. I realized immediately that my Spanish was about to come in handy– no one around me spoke a word of English, so I quickly ordered off the menu in very simple Spanish (success– the woman actually understood me!) for those of you without any Spanish speaking skills, you could probably just point to what you want on the menu, but if you want any modifications, good luck!
I ordered two tacos carnitas, two different pupusas, and a horchata. I proceeded to go back to my table and wait as the woman indicated they would bring the food out. Well, they did bring the food out… but only after a whopping 30 minutes. Maybe I’m spoiled, but that seems like an awfully long time to wait for two tacos, two pupusas and a drink on a Friday lunch hour. I am sympathetic that this place seems to be family run, but I also noticed that there were only about 3 tables waiting for food (the rest were just camping after their meals). I do think they prepare the pupusas to order, so that could be why it takes longer than usual, but just something to keep in mind.
The food itself was very good, although very rich for me personally. The tacos were perfect, but I would probably choose to get tacos elsewhere if I had the craving, only because there are many other places you can get tacos much faster if you’re so inclined (La Plaza Supermarket comes to mind) The pupusas were delicious, but again, very rich. They are also much bigger than what I’m used to seeing in Pupuserias, the ones I’ve seen are about the size of a tea saucer, wheras these are the size of a small appetizer plate and bursting with fillings. The pollo con queso papusa was delicious, and would have been a very satisfying meal on its own, and a cheap one at that at only $ 1.90/ pupusa. The horchata was tasty, but really sweet for me personally.
I also want to add that this place is not clean at all. Now this normally doesn’t really bother me, but if you are in any way grossed out by unsanitary restaurants, do NOT come in here. The tables weren’t wiped off in between customers, the walls and floors are covered in grime, and I don’t even want to think about what the kitchen looks like behind the counter. While I was waiting in line, a 5 year old boy walked up to his mother, spat out a peppermint and told her he didn’t like it. She gave a look as to say she was grossed out at the thought of taking the peppermint he had been sucking on out of his hand, so he just spat it out and set it on the service counter. The woman working up front I can only assume didn’t see it, because she just left it there. As I said, I can take this all in stride, but may not be everyone’s cup of tea.
I left very full for not very much money, but honestly I don’t really see myself coming in here unless I had the extra time on a Saturday morning or something. So all in all, I would recommend if you really want to try authentic El Salvadorian food, but I don’t see this being a place I’d frequent very often.

Pupuseria La Bendicion is one of my favorite places to eat in Cleveland. The flavors are crazy! I mean, it’s authentic El Salvadorian food. I tried everything from the fried tilapia and chicharrón to the weekend stews and protein plates. The tacos are amazing. The pupusas are good as I like to drench mine with cortido and tomato sauce. I order the Horchata EVERY time if they have it.
Most of the time I come here, it’s packed with families and people who just got off work. I think it’s family owned. The same lady always makes my pupusas. I could easily eat this stuff everyday if I had to.

I constantly crave latin food and this is one of the rare places in Cleveland that offers food well done. It really is a «hole in a wall» sorta restaurant but it definitely is worth a try. Main dishes are pretty huge and their pupusas are tasty. The place at the time had one cook and a server, I was impressed by how efficient they were even with the amount of customers they had. One thing to point out is that the place can get a bit stuffy. Overall, their food is great and well worth it.

Disclaimer: I have never tried Salvadorian food before. I found this restaurant on Unilocal,and I was surprised at how good it was! I never had a pupusa before, but I had two of them with beans and cheese, and they were delicious! Really big though — I only finished about one and a quarter. They were fresh, soft, creamy goodness. I had also never had horchata before, and that was delicious too. I liked how the sweetness of the drink balanced out the pupusas. I didn’t try the tomato sauce on the pupusas, but I had the coleslaw on them, and the coleslaw was good, if a bit too spicy for my liking (I am a wimp about spicy foods).
The restaurant is very small, with only a few tables, and you should be prepared to wait for awhile for your food, since everything is prepared to order and the lady behind the counter didn’t seem to be in too much of a hurry. But that was okay. I also don’t speak any Spanish, but it wasn’t much of a problem — I pointed out what I wanted on the menu and I got exactly what I asked for. And the food was definitely worth the wait! I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. If you’re ever around Cleveland, go here!

La Benedicion is hands down some of the best food I’ve had in Cleveland. Your whole meal is made by El Salvadorian grandmas who barely speak English. We tried the bean and cheese pupusas, chicken pupusas, plantains, and tamales. Everything was fucking delicious. The chicken was so succulent and perfectly salty. The pupusas were perfectly fried without being overly oiled. The tamale melted in your mouth and was vaguely sweet. The plantains were perfect.
Anyone who complains about the lack of sanitary conditions needs to get out more. These El Sal abuelas are pupusa geniuses. This is ethnic food at its best.

So glad we tried this place that we never would have even known about had it not been for Unilocal.Delicious food (we got a lot of it too!) I can’t even remember everything we got but everything was good so just go out on a limb, I bet you’ll enjoy whatever you try. The only thing we didn’t like was the horchata. I don’t think that’s their fault I just think it’s not our kind of drink.
Be prepared to wait, we waited about 45 minutes but good food takes time and as another reviewer stated you can see and hear the woman making your food fresh. I didn’t have a problem with it but if we ever went back I would call in our order ahead of time.

This place is truly a hole-​in-​the-​wall! There’s no signage outdoors (other than a misleading Gyro sign out in the parking lot) but the restaurant definitely doesn’t need any marketing to keep itself busy. The place was packed at noon on Sunday, with plenty of people buzzing in and out for take-​out.
For only $ 3.80 I was completely stuffed from a horchata drink (a nutty/​cinnamon-​y/​milky beverage), a revueltas pupusa (stuffed with pork rinds, cheese, and refried beans… the beans definitely had a dominant taste), and a queso con loroco pupusa (suuuuper cheesy but still tasty). The pupusas were served with a side of cabbage slaw and tomato salsa, which were great complementary toppings.
Service was slow but it’s such an authentic and delicious experience that it’s worth the wait. I’ll be back!

After trying El Arepazo, I wanted more. My daughter recommended this little bitty place.
While El Arepazo is a mix of Columbian and El Salvadoran food, this place is more El Salvadoran. I did not understand the difference, but she assured me the pupusas here were better. Holy pupusa heaven! We had the chicharones and cheese. (Yes, she mocks me every single time I attempt a word in Spanish.) I was so full, but I kept taking bites.
I also had the fajitas with steak, chicken and shrimp. The veggies were perfect, and the meal was incredible. I could not come close to finishing it.
The menu is in Spanish, but with enough English for someone like me. My daughter helped navigate anyway. (Whew!)
There is no sign outside, so as another reviewer mentioned, look for the Gyro George sign.
The place could not be smaller. But, the space is used well. The folks are friendly, and seem to tolerate poor attempts at Spanish.
The food more than makes up for the lack of ambiance. This place is rough. But the food is freaking heavenly.

Finally checked this place out and all of the other reviews are pretty spot on:
1. NO ONE speaks English in this place, not even the 20 other customers surrounding you. So unless you can speak Spanish you should know what you want to order beforehand, don’t ask questions, just point at the menu.
2. The food is simple, good, and cheap with generous portions. We got 3 pupusas with salsa and slaw, 1 tamale, 1 quesadilla with lettuce and tomato, and an order of 3 flauntas with sour cream, avocado, lettuce and tomato for $ 20.
3. This place is not very sanitary. It’s definitely a hole in the wall with dust and grime, but what made me cringe was the cook who kept nibbling on the food as she made it. I’m talking no hand washing, just direct contact with your food and their hands then pinches of the food off of your plate into their mouth.
Sooooo, if you’re looking for good cheap Salvadoran food and don’t care about the conditions it is cooked in, then this place is for you. I mean, I saw what they were doing and I still ate the food. I don’t know if that says much about me and my standards though…

I am giving this place 5 stars based on uniqueness, authenticness, value. It’s simple food but seems real and has good texture! And is unlike anything I’ve had before. Loved this little place! I ordered 2 pupusas, the pollo y queso and the lorrocco flower one. The lorocco flower looked like tiny chopped up asparagus IDK. BOth were good. I ordered a bean tamale and they said no. I couldn’t quite understand why. No biggie!
Just know… Sometimes it’s slow! They have to plant the corn, grow the corn, harvest the corn, turn it into pupusas… This takes time I suppose. I can’t knock stars if food just takes time to prepare. I was the only one in there and 2 pupusas took 30 mins almost.
I didn’t think the place was dirty, IDK. MAybe I’m jaded. For my take out order they did include the slaw and tomato sauce in case anyone wondered. I’m no scientist but they put hot tomato «salsa» in a simple ziplock bag for take-​out. Lol I do not care tho cause DOLLA NINETY! But wait there’s more! You can also buy cologne from a display case while you wait. Maybe it’s mouth cologne! Again! I’m no expert and I’m not salvadorian!
Here’s some menu pics.

I have been wanting to try this place for a very long time. Finally made a trip out to try the pupusas. I ordered 14 $ of food: horchata, pupusa with the pork rinds and cheese, pupusa with the flower cheese, yucca, and beef tongue taco. Horchata is way too rich and grainy for me. I guess I am not a big fan of sweet drinks. Pupusas were flavorful but I wasn’t a big fan of the cornmeal. They did taste very good with some lime juice though. Beef tongue taco was refreshing but again, I wasn’t a fan of the corn tortilla. Yucca was very very oily but flavorful. They came with several large beef chunks which sort of reminded me of chinese beef stew meat, lol. I ordered everything to go and they gave me a ziplock bag of the slaw and the sauce. I wasn’t sure what to do with these so I just dumped it on everything I ate hahah. Overall, not bad. I think I am just not a fan of corn-​based food.

I’m not going to find anything to say that hasn’t been said by the other fine people of Unilocal who sent me here. The food is good enough to make up for the slowing service and bare bones environment. The store is clean, everyone behind the counter is busy.
We started with horchata. Best I’ve ever had. So rich and cinnamon, but not to sweet.
We ordered the chicken, herb and cheese, and bean pupusas. They’re a corn meal pancake with a delicious filling. Each one was unique and fantastic. Crispy outside, gooey insides. Very flavorful, perfect texture.
We also ordered one of the beef plates. A lot of beef – it tasted like it had been marinated in citrus juice and spices. Very tender, extremely flavorful. Just delicious. It came with soft, fluffy, homemade tortillas, spicy cabbage salad, incredible rice and beans, half an avocado, queso fresco, and house made salsa.
The only latin american meal that has ever surpassed this for me is when my friend’s sweet mama from Mexico made me the best Easter dinner I’ve ever thought could exist.
This was so good. And so much food for a really low price. Definitely come here. We will be back with friends.

My review is pretty much the same as Karyn’s below. Between two of us, we got the fried fish dish (tilapia), two pupusas (the one with pork rinds and the other with the cheese and herbs), and two tacos (pastor and beef tongue). It was a little over $ 20 for all that I believe. I’ll start with… holy smokes that was so much food. The tilapia dish alone is enough for 1.5−2 people. The pupusas are cheap but super filling as they’re stuffed.
The tilapia dish was good, didn’t have a fishy smell. But like Karyn said, a little too salty. You need to eat it with the rice provided. Good crisp level without being over burnt. The papusas were really good, star of the meal IMO. The one with pork rinds was really good, the other not as much. Tacos were pretty good too. I’ve had better al pastor tacos, but the beef tongue was quite good and not something I see in many Hispanic restaurants.
We went on a Sunday, on which they have a beef soup special. To be honest, it didn’t look that good, but perhaps it tastes very good as most people seemed to have gotten that while we were there.
Lastly, the place is very authentic, from Spanish only speaking cashiers to the clientele. If you’re expected some super clean place, you’ll be disappointed. The place is gritty and looks like a home kitchen in the back.

You have to communicate in whatever Spanish that you might know or point to the menu really well. I’ve been here twice now and I’ve been satisfied each time. On weekends, this little hole in the wall is quite full. It doesn’t really focus too much on setting (some might be turned off by it) and the patrons are mostly Hispanic — all good indicators of its authenticity.
Food: while the pupusas are not listed in main entrees, a couple of those can be quite filling. This was my first time trying them and they were delicious. The coleslaw and tomato-​y sauce balanced well with it. The beef tongue taco also stood out to me. I’ve had the fried tilapia dish and while it’s good, it was a tad salty. I would stick to the smaller dishes that they’re known for.

Be prepared to either know Spanish out know how to order in Spanish. The pupusas area very reasonable and a good size. I like the chicken one the best.
The entrees are also large. I ordered the bistec (steak) and my boyfriend ordered the pescado (whole fried fish). The proteins and the refried beans were delicious. The rice was fine. The meals come with corn tortillas which is a lot of food. Be prepared to take food home-​good thing the food is great for leftovers and to re cook into an omelet. Finally, adding the picked vegetables was great-​I didn’t care too much for the sauce they have you.