El Buen Sabor is hands down one of the best places for pupusas, and it's been a family favorite for years. My parents moved to Bakersfield a few years ago and are very loyal when it comes to food -- this is one of the very few spots they'll still order pupusas from because they're just that good. They usually call ahead for pickup, but we recently decided to dine in and I'm so glad we did. The restaurant feels incredibly homey and welcoming, with more seating than you'd expect from the outside. The staff was attentive, friendly, and made us feel comfortable right away. I'm a little picky with my pupusas and ordered a chicharrón-only pupusa (not big on cheese), and wow -- it was delicious. Super fresh, flavorful, and paired perfectly with the salsa roja and curtido, which both tasted like they're made fresh in-house. Everything came out quickly, the restaurant was clean, and the service was spot on. My family and I truly enjoyed our time here. I'll definitely be back soon with my boyfriend, and I highly recommend El Buen Sabor to anyone craving a great pupusa. A true neighborhood gem. read more

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I ordered for the Caldo de Gallina India (almost 20$) all I got was the neck and one wing? Barely any meat and they claim to ask what part of chicken you want but they never asked and this is the second time it's happened. read more

El Buen Sabor - Caldo de Gallina India - Salvadoran Near Me - Los Angeles, California

Maybe 2 stars will do it for me. First time going to this restaurant and ordered a dozen pupusas to go, ate one but the taste is NOT an authentic Salvadoran pupusas, I have never heard of "calabazitas pupusas"....???? Also too greasy for our taste and the masa tasted like it was not cooked all the way through. Waited about an hour, they said they were too busy, for a big disappointment. read more

Do not come here if you like your food taken care of. Service here was far below good. I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone, they took 45 min to make my food! I dislike service like this the most, unprofessional & very rude. read more

Ordered a coffee to go and the cup was torn and leaking. Instead of making a fresh cup they poured the the same coffee into another cup. Terrible service we will not be coming back. read more

First time in and I really liked the friendliness of the staff. Food was delicious and I think I got lucky because it was not busy. Definitely coming back. read more

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I just started trying out the many El Salvadorian restaurants in this area. I was amused by the holiday themed tablecloths. I ordered a Pupusa de queso con loroco and the Caldo de Res o Del Pollo. Now maybe I did not order the right thing. The Caldo was a dry piece of chicken with rice and a salad and a small soup. I've been elsewhere where the chicken is boiled inside. It was okay. Decent. The pupusa was really disappointing. It was undercooked and slightly on the raw side. There was another table in front of me who ordered 3 pupusa and his cheese was melty and stringy. Mine was not. I like it when it's slightly burnt and the cheese is melty. It was undercooked and hard and not burnt at all. Also the tortilla that came with my Caldo was undercooked as well. It was cheap but I've had much better closeby. Also they started to play really loud blasting music which I did not enjoy at all. Way too loud. read more

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We order delivery from this place and it's our favorite soup. We get the sopa de gallina India and it's so delicious and the portion is very generous. We also order a pupusa or two. Very yummy! Would recommend! read more

Wow one of the best pupusa places I been to. The flavor of the pupusa is amazing everything taste fresh glad I had to work out this way I'm from crestline by San Bernardino will be back. Painting a house around the corner stopped for lunch. If your in this area it's a must stop read more

El Buen Sabor - Pupusa - Salvadoran Near Me - Los Angeles, California

Even though I ordered delivery and it took 15-20 minutes to get to me, the food was still steaming hot! When you ask for extra of something, they don't skimp, which is really nice nowadays. Anyway, the food was great (I got 3 pupusas and machaca, the machaca wasn't dry at all). Can't wait to order from here again. read more

Second time ordering from here for delivery. Oh my.. these pupusas a SO DELICIOUS! Ordered revueltas and was given a generous amount of curtido and salsa. Will definitely be ordering from here often. read more

El Buen Sabor - Salvadoran Near Me - Los Angeles, California

We had another great experience! We had our go to which is the carne asada plate (tasty as usual) and also tried the mojarra frita (fried fish). I had to attach a pic of it, it is some serious fish. The skin was tasty and there's some sautéed onions and peppers that are hidden under it. And if you haven't had whole fish below, be careful of the bones. It all comes with tortillas, side salad, Jalapeño, rice, beans and sautéed onions. read more

El Buen Sabor - Mojarra Frita o Ranchera o en Aceite de Ajo (Holy fish, Batman! Aquaman is not going to be happy!) - Salvadoran Near Me - Los Angeles, California

Good food and good service. Great for soccer games. The pupusas are fresh and tasty made to order. The horchata was authentic.

I'm not a pupusa expert, but I do know my fried plantains Come for the plantains, but stay for the pupusa This place is clean, welcoming and the food is ridiculously delicious They hand make their tortillas.. you hear someone in the back slapping the dough like a mamma spanking a baby's bottom because it's so dang cute! Meet me here Saturday mornings The Giant of Ecuador read more

I just called through two different phones to let them know they gave me the wrong order and not only that the rice and beans were dry. They Answered the phone once and hung up tomorrow I will be there to speak with the manager but overall experience was a 0. It was three lady's working there and not one can get the phone. Unacceptable. read more

El Buen Sabor - Salvadoran Near Me - Los Angeles, California

I got the Chile Relleno which was great. It can with rice, beans and a small salad. I also ordered a papusa with pork, cheese and beans which was also very good. I'm not too fond of the beans or their salsa. Not that they were bad, I just prefer a Mexican style Overall, definitely recommend this place. Very clean inside too read more

Great food great prices best horchata in town. I always order enough for two meals and it's just as good later

There was a heir on my tamal y no salsa y no curtido en my order. I call the restaurant and they blame door Dash people. Bad experience with this restaurant and I will make a report to the health department read more

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This is my very first time trying Salvadorian food and it was great! The restaurant is inconspicuously located on northern Figueroa street. If it wasn't for my coworkers who recommended this place, I doubt I'd notice it's existence even if i drove pass it everyday. The decor is very dive-y along with a few locals watching the soccer games on a small screen tv. The backside of the restaurant has a small stage and speakers where they host small bands on the weekends. Although i was not impressed by the establishment's atmosphere, the food made up for it. I ordered a chicken pupusa and Carne Guisada servida con arroz which was a beef stew with rice, bean and salad. The pupusa was served with a picked cabbage that gave a slight crunch when eaten with the soft warm pupusa. The beef stew was very tender and FULL of flavor! I would probably come back for lunch again with my coworkers when craving Salvadorean food, but its definitely not a place i would come by myself. read more

El Buen Sabor - They have an area for bands - Salvadoran Near Me - Los Angeles, California

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Pupusas were delicious! Good portions and tasty food! We will definitely eat there again!

This place has great tasting food, but you never know what you will get. Today I ordered 6 tamales de chipilin, they sold them to me as Chipilin and when I got home there were only 2 chipilin and 4 chicken! I would never order chicken! What upset me the most is the lie. Why not just tell me hey we ran out, we only have 2, do you want another flavor. It was really distasteful and I am considering never going back. When I paid the woman at the counter even asked me if I like chicken tamales, and I said not really, but may I'll try them someday. She knew they were lying to me! Do they want to keep a good customer base or do they just want people coming in one time? I am disappointed, I would have been ok with knowing they ran out and deciding on something else instead of them deciding from me. #dissapointing read more

I live near here and I've done the drive to lots of Salvadoran restaurants..... buen gusto, las cazuelas to name a couple. Yes, service is slow.... Some food might not be the freshest because it's been pre made and reheated to serve..... it's a small business.... They have to cut corners.... You think they're pressing dough from scratch everyday to make empanadas or pastelitos?!?! Get real!!! Most of the people griping in these comments probably burn pop tarts in the toasters at home. I will say this .... My Salvadoran go-to's are the tipico or Catracho breakfasts..... the pastelitos here and there .... And when I'm nice and hungover .....the soups or sopas particularly the sopa de pata..... their flavor like their name is Good. Hot tasty simple staples.... This isn't a place for date night. This is a place for a homestyle honest meal. Their cold drinks are icy and the hot ones steaming hot. They're not trying to be cool or what they're not. It's a legit hole in the wall! Another win for them is they're open early. Check their hours! I love that ..... when I'm a lazy mount Washington bum and get their food delivered! They've never messed up ... at worst I didn't get utensils but guess what?!!! I can go to my kitchen and get a spoon or fork. I love buen sabor and if you're a true foodie and not someone looking to only complain all the time you will too! read more

I ordered from there.. The Food was GOOD but unfortunately they did include the traditional Curtido and red sauce for the pupusa. Those ingredients always adds to the flavor and taste! The tamales also did not taste like traditional Salvadoran Tamales. They were dry! I ended up going to another traditional Salvadoran restaurant just to get the curtido and sauce and the Salvadoran style Tamales. Oh well! Lesson learned! read more

I used to love this place but idk wtf happened yesterday the empanadas i got were stale and I was missing one pupusa and 3 of them were the wrong ones I love the old school spots but after this yeah I'm disappointed. read more

El Buen Sabor - three meatballs in a styrofoam container - Salvadoran Near Me - Los Angeles, California

Stopped here for breakfast today. It was great service good home made food. Menu had a variety and they have many options for drinks. Soda is in a can not so good. Over $2 for a can is much much. Will most likely not return but happy we tired it. read more

El Buen Sabor - Combination breakfast with carne asada - Salvadoran Near Me - Los Angeles, California

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The food is good but there's a blonde girl there that is so rude she acts so unprofessional.

I have been flirting with this place for years. I pass by it everyday on my way to work, giving it a sideways glance as I make my left onto Ave 45. After all this head turning, the tension finally reached a crescendo. So late one night after work I skipped my short cut home, stayed on Figueroa and hit the pedal. I yanked my blue baby to the curb and rolled out, practically stalking the door. I couldn't believe I was really going in. I put a shaky hand on the knob and pulled.... My tension turned to excitement when I saw the brightly colored Mayan themed murals decorating the tops of the walls and the blood orange booths that span the places two rooms. I liked it already. They have a couple of small flat screens playing soccer, and even sell cd's. It appears to be family owned which is nice, and they are all friendly. They also have four enticing drink machines up front at the counter. Once I walked in while they were changing the top of the Horchata machine. A plume of Horchata reached for the ceiling reminding me of a street corner scene when a car knocks over a fire hydrant. I wanted to run over and position my mouth under where all that sweet stuff was cascading but it was too late and they put the lid back on. They have a large menu, and serve breakfast all day!! Now when breakfast consists of thick handmade pupusa style tortillas, sweet platanos con crema, scrambled eggs, pancakes, chorizo, arroz, y frijoles there is really no reason to go anywhere else. MMMMK? As for dinner, you won't be at a loss. The menu breaks down like this: Platillos Salvadorenos: Pupusas: Mariscos: Caldos: and combinations of breakfasts, tacos, burritos, hamburgers etc. I have tried the fish twice in two different ways. The first time was "ranch" style. On the menu it is Camarones A la Diabla. It consisted of a boneless slab of white fish covered in a delicious red salsa smothered with marinated bell peppers and a variety of other veggies. It completely hit the spot as I had just come from the gym and was HUNGRY. It comes with lardless beans, two pupusa style tortillas (a meal in themselves) and the rice. I tried the fish again a few days later but this time it was different. I ordered Filete de Pescado al Mojo de Ajo, or Filet Fish in Garlic Sauce. I felt a bit reluctant to peel back the foil after noticing the fins, but like Charlie's golden ticket, I peeled back the foil a little at a time, first to reveal a snout, and then an eye, gills...this was no joke man. I cracked off the head because I didn't like the look it was giving me. But damn if I didn't dig into this thing, separating the flesh from the bones almost enthusiastically, and as a person who just jumped off a ten year vegetarian cruise there were inner voices yelling at me but they mostly disappeared as soon as I took a bite and suddenly felt I like a bear pouncing in a stream full of salmon. I experienced a primordial and ancient connection to my place in the food chain. All guilt melted away and momentarily it all felt right. Perhaps a Pipil spirit had entered me, I don't know, perhaps I won't ever know. I do know that I took the bait and now I"M hooked on this place. P.S. The inner voices and this Pisces would like to thank that fish for it's sacrifice. read more

El Buen Sabor - Front Window - Salvadoran Near Me - Los Angeles, California

El Buen Sabor is the best taste. I've taken out several times to family and friends. Alway superb. Great folks at the restaurant as well,. The best. read more

This place is just okay.. mediocre at best. I picked up 10 pupusas today, which include of cheese, cheese/loroco, and cheese/chicharrón. I was a disappointed of the quality of them.. they had more flour than they did cheese or any other ingredient inside. They were tasteless and dry. Would probably not go here again for pupusas. read more

First time here and definitely my last. Came with my son to grab a quick bite and it turned out to take longer than we thought. It took them 15 min to get our drinks and another 25 min for our food. They weren't even that busy when I got there. The manager was occasionally at the cash register but mostly on his phone. Unfortunately, I couldn't wait any longer so I took the food Togo. It's pretty obvious that this restaurant is understaffed but it's the management that is questionable. Yes you might only have a few employees on staff but the least you can do is help them out and make sure your customers are being taken care of. read more

I came to this restaurant because I wanted to try the shrimp soup with crema!! It was delicious!!! The food was great!! I'll consider coming back for the soup one of my favorites! The prices are a bit high but is good food! read more

She's hot in the kitchen just good food comes out of there. Yummy mmmm at least twice a week. read more

El Buen Sabor - Salvadoran Near Me - Los Angeles, California

- minus point no complimentary chips. - minus point... Took too long to get food. - minus point no soup provided with diner Beware the seafood options. read more

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I had to down grade this one to two stars. I had a bad experience that made me feel bad till this day. I invited a good friend of mine to go eat with me here I kept telling him that the food is good. When we show up we order our food as we are eating a cockroach is right next to my plate I hit it off the table and it runs off into the kitchen. read more

The pupusas and curtido were delicious. The platanos were dry and tasted like old oil. The service is extremely slow. To be fair we had a big group 22 people on a Wednesday midday of which 7 got served while the rest waited until they could no longer wait. The staff just kept saying 15 min but they continued to service all call-in orders. I think it's unprofessional to serve a few while the rest of the group sits and watches. The restaurant is good if you're in a small group. In the future the restaurant staff and owners just need to be more honest about the wait times from the beginning. read more

Soooooooooooo good. Customer service is ok but the food makes up for it. I love their carne asada plate, cheese pupusas, huevos rancheros. Decently priced and so worth it. read more

This place smell really bad!. My family and I entered and 2min later we were out, the smell was terrible, like a dirty bathroom.... really nasty. read more

Excellent pupusas, colorful atmosphere, plenty of dining room. I have tried their bean & cheese and their calabasa (squash) & cheese pupusas. yum! These pupusas are not small and the fillings have been quite generous. They also have some yummy Salvadorean horchata! read more

Some of the best Salvadorian food we've had. Pupusas were perfect, platanos were crispy, sweet and delicate, beans were rich and creamy. It's a long walk from our house but I'm sure we'll be back. Service was great--not extremely fast but very warm and friendly. read more

Some of the greatest pupusas I've had since I was a small kid I love that through out the years they've stayed just as good as I remember them when I was little if not better! read more