El Chalate

This is by far the best spot for pupusas in Denver. The staff is super friendly and attentive. The food is spectacular, with super flavorful salsas and fantastic meats. Found this spot about two weeks ago and have already gone multiple times. Highly recommend to anyone craving authentic El Salvadorian food.

Meh… Didn’t like the yucca at all (so called «subtle» flavor to me was just bland, plain watery tomato juice). The pupusas were OK (again, lacking flavor, served with sauce that helped some and the cabbage side was good on the pupusas). Empanadas OK. Best dish by far was the chili relleno plate. Served with a thick corn tortilla and beans and rice sides were very good. If I went back, I’d explore the Mexican offerings more. Service was slow on what was a light night of tables. And not that cheap considering…

wouldnt give me the wifi password because the server said it was for employees only. a rude asshole too!

We have always been looking for a great pupuseria, we were very glad when we found this place. All because our youngest daughter wanted pupusas after a Volleyball tourney!
We have been coming here ever since, this is a great place to have pupusas, yuca Frits, pastel iris, etc…

Decent rice, good beans, decent meat, good prices. Plenty of room for groups, and they have really nice staff. A good place to bring the kids for an authentic El Salvadoran dining experience.

This place isn’t very good at all. Service is slow even for the typical salva restaurant, food wasn’t great or appetizing, presentation is poor. I’m from Dallas and decided to try some salvadorean food here in Denver. Very disappointed. Pupusas and yuca were just slopped on a plate. The «Curtido» isn’t up to par with other ones I have tried.

Ok, I really wanted to like this place. I came here because of the hype. I have know idea where all the people who have given this place great reviews have ate before, but in all fairness. I come from Los Angeles, and it’s not fair to compare.
So, first the service was horrible. The waitress had an attitude about every question we asked.
I order pasteles con pollo, and they were salty like there’s no tomorrow. Unfortunately, that is the only thing I ate because my order brought out was wrong.
I ordered pollo asado, I especially ask if it was breasts, and with attitude «of course» the waitress said… food comes out and I get a leg and thigh, and to make it even worst it was undercook.
When we told her we had asked for breast, she said «I can do anything any more because you already too a little piece» everyone at my table was shocked at her reply! So, if I had not touched it, would they have saved it and given it to someone else???
So, she still charge me the plate, but not the chicken??? How does that even make sense?
Then, she goes to the corner, and starts laughing with her co-​worker about us asking to change it!
Idk about you, but I’m definitely not coming back, wasting my money else where.

Yep, I can see what all the fuss is about!
El Chalate is difficult to find and I imagine parking could be a problem too when they’re busy, but on the day I visited the restaurant was practically empty and so was the tiny parking lot behind the building.
It’s not much to look at, definitely matches the ambiance of other greasy spoon/​taquerias/​Mexican eateries in the area. But, man, the food is good and the prices are ridiculously affordable. I ordered two pupusas, a tamale, and a plantain empanada. Oh, and a soda. Total bill — under $ 10 with tax! At that price, it seemed like stealing when they gave me free chips and salsa to boot! The tamale was just okay, but the pupusas and the empanada were excellent… and much bigger than I was expecting! Between the chips, pupusas, yummy pickled coleslaw, and tamale I was stuffed and had to take the empanada home with me. It was devoured about two hours later.
I’m on a mostly vegan diet right now that makes El Chalate a big no-​no, but once I lose the weight I’m looking to lose, this will definitely be on my list of places to have rare and appropriate exceptions!

Pupusas here are quite tasty and you get free chips and salsa when dining in. Did I mention it’s comically cheap? Pupusas are not light and healthy fare so don’t come here expecting that.
Try the fried plantains — they are just the right side of carmelized and have a correspondingly delicious sweetness. Their horchata wasn’t very good and isn’t served in a metal cup (so isn’t über cold) so I’d pass.

The fried yuca with «pescaditos» is what I regularly order here. It is highly recommend it! It is a small family owned business who always find themselves packed on weekends. They have been in the city for quite some time and for that I support this place!

Authentic and cheap, so I guess you can’t complain too much. The portions were really big. The papusas were pretty yummy. Overall, most of my complaint centered around the food just being too greasy and too salty. Our group of 6 was a little hungover so it hit the spot but I don’t think I would enjoy it on a regular night. But the food is so cheap that you’re not really giving anything up by checking this place out.

Our first experience with Salvadorian food. Stopped on our way to a show at the Aurora Fox. An open parking spot on Colfax immediately in front of El Chalate meant we were destined to eat here. Had a tamale each, shared the pupusa combination plate and pastilles pollo plate. Not that crazy about the lime dressed shredded cabbage that accompanied each. The pastilles are deep fried & the chicken filling very tasty. The pupusas include a lot of cheese which made them very filling. With 2 sodas our bill for two was under $ 20. Very basic atmosphere, Spanish TV not too loud.

I’m no expert on Salvadoran food, but I have made a fair number of soups using only animal parts, and their sopa de res and sopa de pollo are to die for. Bring a bib though because it’s an visceral experience, in a good way. My family told me the papusas were wonderful, but I have yet to experience them beyond a few bites. Inexpensive and delicious. That’s 5 stars.

Went out on a limb based on Unilocal reviews to try something new and we are glad we did. Not sure we will go back but we like to try new places/​cuisines and we enjoyed our visit and meal. Warmly greeted when we arrived, very family oriented establishment. Hispanic TV station on and menu is all Spanish. Our server helped us with the menu and answered our seemingly endless questions
We had to try papusas based on the reviews so we ordered a queso and an ayote (squash). We also ordered fried yuca with pork (chicarron) and pasteles de papa con pollo (a chicken and potato pastry/​empanada). They brought the papusas first and they were tasty with the cabbage. The pork with the yuca was over cooked and a bit dry but the pasteles were good. I also tried horchata to drink and that was sweet and interesting. As someone else posted this place is inexpensive
Our total bill was $ 13 so I double tipped for December and made it $ 20. We left full, satisfied and glad we tried Salvadorian food

you know it’s good when the people eating here are NOT white. Pupusas and fried yucca are amazing. I bet you that you wouldn’t be able to spend more than $ 20 a couple + tip eating here.

A-​OK. Authentic, like you just took a plane somewhere, like El Salvador, just minus the humidity.
This is perhaps the first $ 5 dinner I have had in 20 years, and boy it was good and filling. I enjoyed combination #16– Tamal, Yucca, Pupusa, and chicharrones. Apologies If I am misspelling any of these!
Our group of 12 had no problem getting served in a timely fashion with separate checks. There were all manner of exotic things showing up to our table. Plaintains, Steak, Giant grilled Jalepeno peppers. The vegetarians and gluten/​dairy free folk managed to do ok, though there was the usual whining.
The big wins were the pupusas! A pupusa (Spanish pronunciation: [pupusa], from Pipil pupusaw) is a traditional Salvadoran dish made of a thick, handmade corn tortilla (made using masa de maíz, a cornmeal dough used in Latin American and stuffed with a variety of beans, cheeses, and meats– something for everyone– and DEEELICIOUS!!!
Second place were the tamales– everyone was happy! The chicharrones were a hit or miss, we called them «popcorn pork», bits of deep fried pork-​el yummo in my opinion. The yucca was also surprising– crunchy deep-​fried and very starchy. Interesting. None of us tried the tacos, oops.
This low budget but awesome eatery is worth a drive– but come HUNGRY!

Fast and tasty food. Also, it is easy to eat well without spending very much.
The pupusas and fried yucca are quite good.
Ambiance ain’t fancy.

I love a good papusa and was hoping to find a good place in Denver. While this wasn’t as good as my place in FoCo, I was still excited!
Today I ordered the loroco with cheese Papusas. I actually ordered two with a small Mexican Coke for $ 4.55. I was pleasantly surprised when I also had chips and salsa brought to my table.
The cabbage slaw was really good combined with the mild hot sauce. I like a little more heat typically.
Overall you can’t beat the price for typical authentic El Salvadorian food!

You know the issue with Food Poisoning? Not knowing for sure.
I loved eating at this place. I had this Venezuela stew, my wife got tamales and the kids were all happy. We swore we would return.
That was Saturday, Lunch.
For dinner — salad, olives, cheese (it was a big lunch).
I was sick by breakfast the next day. My wife was sick by that evening. I ate 90% of my dish, she ate 10%.
My wife and I were the only ones to get sick, and it was 100% gastro.
So I’m not coming on Unilocal saying 100% for sure that this place made me sick. I don’t know for sure.. .but I have enough evidence that I will avoid. I know it wasn’t the whole foods cheese and salad. .we ate that again.

When eating at El Chalate for the first time I suggest the combo place. It comes with a pupusa, fried yucca, and chiccarones (crispy fried pork bites.) You get a taste for lots of things, but really you get to eat the pupusas, which are the star of El Chalate’s show, and fried yucca, which is a delicious carb.
Best of all, you can get it for about $ 6 which makes this one hot deal.