El Zunzal Restaurant II

Was so excited to introduce a co-​worker to El Zunzal’s amazing pupusas only to find that they have shut down and the lot is being built on. This stinks. Not sure if they relocated or anything, but def cant go there anymore.

Went here for dinner on Tuesday night to celebrate National Margarita Day! My friend from Baltimore was in town and her friend googled and found this place which is close to the State Theatre where they went to see a concert.
$ 1.75 pupusas!
$ 1.75 a la carte tacos!
$ 7.50 margaritas! The margaritas weren’t too sour and weren’t too sweet. We thought they were pretty perfect.
I didnt think the chips were that great but the salsa is good.
The dish with plaintains, sour cream and beans is AMAZING!!!
My husband liked his steak dish and ceviche
I was happy with my cheap chicken taco and bean taco. Their beans are really amazing.
Our other friends appeared to like their tamale and pupusas.
I’d probably go back again if I was in the area. They say they are El Salvadorian/​Mexican. They had some pretty awesome music playing too. The restaurant was pretty empty on a Tuesday night.

As a West-​Coast guy who has been mostly unimpressed with the Mexican and Latin food out here, this place was a nice surprise. Tasty al pastor and good carne asada with fresh pico, as well as some nice, cheesy burritos. The burritos were a hit with the kids. I’m not big on the South American style well-​done steaks, but I guess that’s how they’re supposed to be. I’ve only had take out from here and it seems like a working class bar crowd. Good stuff.

Would go zero stars if we could…
Possibly the worst «Mexican» meal we’ve ever had. Disgusting, greasy, oily food. Drinks were very expensive, food was expensive, service was inattentive at best, and felt unsanitary all around.
On top of that, halfway through the meal a «DJ» started blasting karaōke louder than any club or concert. We like authentic, but this tasted like reheated Mexican from two weeks before.
Steer clear!

This place is as authentic as it gets. The tamales and pupusas are really good. Food comes out quickly. Other highlights are the friend yuca and the plato tipico. This place is low on frills, but really who cares? If you want cheap, authentic and tasty latin american food, this place is definitely worth a visit.

I also «stumbled» upon this place after getting out from work really late and needed to grab something before getting home. I pulled into the parking lot and there was plenty of parking, especially for a week night of course. I walked in and there were guys playing pool to the left side and the bar is right in the center as soon as you walk in. Immediately to the right is the dining room, which was totally empty but I didn’t care. I was greeted by this blonde waitress who looked like she had her blue jean painted on because they were so tight. Well, I sat down and scanned through the menu only to find the typical Salvadorian/​Mexican entrees. So I ordered the carne asada with camaron (shrimps), rice, beans and salad and I also had the jugo de tamarindo (tamarin juice).
Well, after she took my order she brought over my drink and some chips and salsa. The chips were fried on the premises so they were crispy and the salsa was ok. My drink however was too sweet for my taste but I didn’t say anything, just washed it down with water and I will be fine. After about 10 minutes my food came out and it was surprisingly decent. The meat was juicy and tender, the beans were nice and creamy, and the shrimp were covered in a tomato base sauce placed over the meat. I even ate the salad it was that good! Overall I think this is one of those «Salvadorian/​Mexican hooters» joints. I just happen to come in on a slow night because they only had one waitress there and it was also a weeknight.

Ordered a chicken tamale at lunch. The only chicken in it was some skin and neck bones. I told the waitress, who didn’t think there was anything wrong with it, but didn’t charge me because I «didn’t like it». It actually deserves no stars, but I couldn’t figure out how to cancel the one star.

Growing up in El Salvador was a treat — I got to eat the best pupusas ever! So naturally, I am very very very picky when I go to a Salvadorean restaurant. We (the family and I) used to eat at El Zunzal but stopped going because of the change in ownership. We decided to give it a try two weeks ago and it was worse :(
The family owned and operated place has now turned into a «second hand bar» There was a DJ, karoeke bar, and some drunk singing. Atmosphere was awful.
I can look past that except for when I got my food I could tell by the smell of the pork that it was old… needless to say we payed or bill and packed it «togo». :(

Several years ago this was a nice place. Now it’s just another place for 25 young South American guys to hang out and drink beer. Typical of Latin places, the music volume is ear splitting at 5PM. It’s just idiotic that music is so loud at dinner hour.
The food is OK.
If you speak English, you are in a small minority.

stumbled upon this place returning from a Washington D.C. visit. we were hungry and it was there.
the atmosphere here is interesting. i and 3 friends were pretty much the only non-​mexican people in the entire restaurant. needless to say, i felt like we were being looked at a lot.
the waitress brings tortilla chips and «salsa» out. the chips were cooked in house and were nice and crisp. the «salsa» on the other hand was more like tomato soup. it was like having great chips with a V-​8.
my friends had some margaritas and said they were a little watery and small.
i ordered a steak burrito which was pretty large and i had to wrap up half and take it home. it came with big tasty chunks of steak, rice, cheese, bell peppers and onions wrapped in a big flour tortilla.
the rice that came with the burrito had good flavor and the refried beans were O.K.
the other half of that burrito came in pretty handy later that night when i was faced with the late night munchies. even cold — it was good.
i would have given a higher rating if it werent for 2 things — the lame ass «salsa» and the fact that smoking was allowed in the restaurant — ugh, disgusting.

knew nothing about this place
walked in. pool table to the left. lots of what i assume were regulars playing pool. 10 waitresses straight head. sat in the dining area. maybe 1 patron in sight.
i started to feel like i was in a different country. which was kinda cool.
dirty table cloth
ordered 2 beef tacos and a tamale de elote
tamale was good. sour cream was liquidy
the beef tacos weren’t ground beef, which is what i was expecting… which is what i wanted. oh well.
when i picked up my first taco, tons of watery liquid flowed out onto the plate, and therefore, the other taco got soaked, and i had no place to set my taco in hand down
the taco was meh
it was Very inexpensive. spent around $ 8 total.
will i go back? probably not.