El Guanaco

There has to be a better place to eat, this restaurant (if you can call it like that) is absolutely terrible, not to mention that the hygiene is extremely questionable. Do yourself a favor and please don’t eat here. Service was terrible, food was even worse!

My first time having Salvadoran food. While the atmosphere is plain, the service and food are excellent. Our server was very friendly and cheerful and did not appear to be offended when I asked her to describe some of the items on the menu. I had the BISTEK ENCEBOLLADO, which was so delicous! Perfectly tender strips of steak, flavourful peppers and onions, light and fluffy seasoned rice, and traditional refried beans. The portion was generous but not ridiculous. Complimentary tortilla chips and salsa. Thank you!

A hidden treasure. The restauratuers know their cuisine. The pupusas are great. The liquor is cheap. It’s usually not busy at all. Wonderful date spot!

The food here is really good! Authentic Mexican and El Salvadorian cuisine with good service. We ordered 2 different burritos, enchiladas, pork tamale, the plantains, and the carne asada. Everything was fabulous! The food is made to order so it comes a little slow, but it is well worth the wait. They have a great beverage list of non-​alcoholic traditional and non-​traditional drinks, beer, cocktails, and wine. Everything is very fairly priced. Will definitely be frequenting here!

My husband and I had the tacos carbon with rice & beans — both pork and chicken. The food was excellent and the staff (owners?) were professional and friendly. Will definitely be back!

Thanks to Unilocal,we decided to have a late lunch here with our littles! I had tacos al carbon with horchata and my other half had pupusas. For dessert, we had churros. It was all very flavorful and yummy. Our kid even finished his chicken and rice and we got a free drink for him. I used the coupon through Unilocal.They had no problems honoring it. All in all, good food and good service. We will be back!

Food was GREAT!!! Heriberto the owner gave us excellent service. The food is excellent and all ingredients are fresh!

Pupusas are the best I’ve had. Prices are excellent. Staff is friendly and allowed us in even though they were already closed.

First time eating Salvadorian food. The pasteles and papusas were pretty good. My only complaint is that they do not have much flavor. I like spicy food. The tamale was pretty mushy and ok. The cole slaw was good.
Overall a good meal but not spectacular.

A good choice for my husband and I for a quick meal on a Friday night. The food had great flavor. Drinks are pretty basic. Altogether good for the price. We will definitely go back.

It pains me to write this review since this appears to be a family owned restaurant. The waitstaff are quite friendly who constantly asked if everything was good. And the ambience was quite authentic: I felt I was actually in a Latin American country! The oil paintings hanging on the wall are especially evocative. And, a big plus for me, my waiter (a young man) very nicely conversed with me in Spanish and even corrected me.
While it was nice they had non-​alcoholic margaritas (at $ 3.75 v. $ 6), they were from some sort of mix, not authentic ingredients. They don’t have the ubiquitous licuados /​batidos with fresh fruit which are common in that region.
Although I agree with one reviewer that most of the food is Mexican and not El Salvadoran, there are a few dishes that are. But the pupusas were just okay. The rice and beans were also just okay. My tamal was more authentically El Salvadoran than Mexican, but it was not seasoned correctly, so it was really bland. (And I don’t mean spicy hot. I don’t like spicy hot and something can be perfectly seasoned yet have absolutely no heat.) And the curtido (slaw) was not very good at all.
The dessert menu was typically Mexican restaurant. It would have been nice to have empanadas de platano /​banana or pastel de tres leches (which, admitttedly, is also Mexican) or Maria Luiza (which is Salvadoran).
By the way, I LOVE the fact there’s no tv. No one should watch tv while eating, especially if in the company of another person.
Perhaps I need to sample additional dishes or come when there’s a different cook, but, thus, far, I wouldn’t drive to Olympia just to experience this food.

Horrible, absolutely horrible we came for dinner ordered the burritos. The burritos come with very little almost no meat its stuffed with all beans. We didn’t eat them my husband asked to pay for our appetizers but not the burritos they charged us twice! They were extremely rude and even called the cops when we were being polite and complaining that this wasn’t right. So rude and unnecessary this is not a way to treat customers, save your money!

we took the grandkids (and their parents) here for a late lunch.
seven of us left stuffed with leftovers for $ 70.
that’s value… wow.
Papusas were great, the beef stew dish was great.
the rice was excellent!
order some Salvadorian food if you’re not familiar with the flavor profiles.
Nice change from the American-​Mexican found nearly everywhere else in town.

Maybe the best Mexican food in town. I don’t go to it much because they don’t have the TV/​entertainment other Mexican restaurants have.
If you just want really good Mexican food come here. You will leave with a happy tummy wanting more.

Great place with super friendly service and tasty food. I highly recommend the Carne Guisado and the Carne Asada. I have been eating here regularly for about a year and I think those two dishes are my favorite. The horchata is refreshing and the perfect level of creamy.
Besides friendly service and awesome food, El Guanaco has an all day happy hour. Whiskey sours for 2 bucks? Yes please! The happy hour menu has a surprisingly long list of mixed drinks and shots ranging .99 cents to $ 4.00. Help keep this local business alive and check it out!

We were looking for something new to try and went here due to the good reviews. service was excellent. Loved the poposas. I had skirt steak and seafood combo. The seafood was a little on the salty side, but otherwise meal was great. We were all impressed by quality of the rice — very fluffy and moist.
We will definitely go back. Four stars not five due to high salt levels.

Have ordered take out twice, so it was interesting enough for a second try. The food was pretty good, I did love the papusas, light and fluffy with several choices of stuffing. The sides were a little lack luster and the steak was flavorful yet marginally satisfying.
Will try again perhaps sitting down at a table next time.

Typical bad Unilocal advice led me to this restaurant. Service is polite but slow. Margaritas were WEAK and lacking in flavor. THE TILAPIA IS AWFUL. Overall, the food was bland. The salsa was terrible. The pupusas were mediocre, but that may just be pupusas in general. The coleslaw was bland. The beans were runny and excessively salted. The rice was bland and dry.
I cannot speak to the authenticity, but authenticity does not equal quality. There are parts of the world that produce shitty food. If El Guanaco is authentic Salvadorian, then food from El Salvador is shitty. Just order the Tilapia which has been «fried to perfection» and I guarantee that you will agree.

Good Pupusas, Good Service, Good Drinks!
I really liked this place, they have a decent spread of vegetarian options, good drink prices, and the food was good. The food tastes pretty much how you would expect and that is great when ordering a standard meal like a quesadilla, fajitas or pupusas.

Oh my god this place! First of all the waitress knows nothing, she’s useless. You’d think by now she would know the menu.
Let me just say I didn’t stay. I was not happy with the experience of being there not the customer service or the menu.
That is not an authentic Salvadorean menu for those of you who don’t know.
Other than pupusas that’s a Mexican restaurant!