My husband and his coworkers have been here a few times and he's brought me food to go but we all decided to meet up again so I got to try it in person. Let me tell you - the service is great. We were celebrating a birthday and while we were singing happy birthday they played a happy birthday song on the speaker which was such a nice touch. The food is so delicious! We all ended up getting pupusas and I'm always left wanting more so definitely get some to go! I will say it takes a while to get the food so order as soon as you get there but I take that as a positive because you know your food is fresh. I love the accompaniments like the curtido (fermented cabbage) and the salsa roja - most of the time when I eat pupusas the curtido isn't good but we had 3 jars of it at our table and we pretty much demolished it all. The only negative was that it was pretty hot in there. They do have fans going but I feel like it really didn't do much. Either way - this is the main meet up spot for them so I'm sure I'll definitely be back. read more

El Carbonero Restaurant - Pupusas (bean and cheese) - Salvadoran Near Me - Santa Ana, California

Good authentic pupusas, would recommend they even have a store right next to it which is Salvadorian. Great service too. read more

El Carbonero Restaurant - Salvadoran Near Me - Santa Ana, California

Owner super RUDE lady. No attention to the cuatomer what so ever. Order were taking so long. But food was delicious. Too bad service is very horrible and by the owner. read more

Really good Authentic pupusas. They are made to order, so they take a while to get your order. But worth the wait. It's a cash only business. So be ready to bring cash. They do have an Am there for your convenience. I do like ordering and picking up to eat at home. Up to you to dine in. read more

Customer service nice and the food is fresh even tho it take a min for the food to arrive when it's a busy day but I understand pupasaus are hand made and takes awhile to make them The bean, fried banana with sour cream goated asf, even the horchata and the tamales read more

Lástima que un negocio no aprecie a su clientela. Pedimos varias pupusas y nos sentamos para esperar. Nos dijeron 30mins. Justo tiempo cómo es una persona haciendo las pupusas. Después de más de una hora y varios clientes que llegaron después, no teníamos nuestra orden. Nunca jamás nos pidieron disculpas, solo ya sigue. Una de las meseras, solo dijo "pues que no regresen" . Eso vamos hacer "no regresar" gracias por su tiempo read more

Disappointed. Dough wasn't cooked all the way, I currently have food poisoning and up throwing up the pupusas I ate.

The service is terrible. I ordered take out and they forgot an order and they didn't refund me or give me my order. She was being rude and intolerable. Horrible place with horrible workers. read more

The good is great!! Best pupusas in town! But the customer service is HORRIBLE! We order to go and enjoy our food at home. read more

Service is terrible!! Waitress served us a plate with 4 pupusa's, and then came back to tell us that those pupusas actually weren't meant for us. The waitress took the food back even after we had already touched it. We then had to wait another 40 minutes after already waiting for 30 minutes for our actual pupusas. Would not recommend this place! read more

Really good pupusas!! Definitely recommend checking this restaurant out. Service was really good.

Had dinner with my mom. It was good. The place was empty so the service was fast. Friendly and clean atmosphere. read more

El Carbonero Restaurant - Currido - Salvadoran Near Me - Santa Ana, California

See all

So good and great service. We go three different types of puposas and a plantain dish. So fresh and the cabbage topping is so yummy! Also very reasonably priced. The server was super friendly and helpful! read more

See all

I got the Papusa Revuelta and it was delicious. It was cooked to perfection, and tasted so good. The salsa was also really good, not very spicy, but very flavorful. The atmosphere was nice, and everyone there was extremely friendly. I would highly recommend going here. read more

See all

I was around the neighborhood and decided to go for pupusas and we found this place. At first we were optimistic with the menu since we saw carne asada pupusas and mushrooms with cheese. First disappointment they had no coffee. Then we got our pupusas under filled. There were two of us and the waitress gave us only ONE napkin ‍ with not enough curtido for all 4 pupusas. The pupusas were little so we had to order an extra one for a total of 6 pupusas and only one corn atole. At the end the bill came out to be $38 ... We kept getting up to ask for more napkins... more curtido... at the end it was a big disappointment. Will look for somewhere else next time I visit Riverside. Big rip off! read more

Service is horrible but food is good very good if you go for service don't go there if you go for definitely go there

I used to come here when I was kid. It still has the same look and it looks so much cleaner. However, that's the only thing I like from this place is the nostalgia. I ordered two pupusas with chicarron con queso. I like the crispiness of the pupusas but the inside was garbage. It tasted like cheap chorizo you would get at the supermarket with minimal cheese. The worst part was that I waited more than 15 minutes to recieve them. The resturant had two other customers and one of them already got their order when I got there. The reason is that they prioritize take out orders before dine in. Lastly, the atol de elote is not fresh. I saw them add the ingredients and then put it in the microwave. The taste was absolutely dreadful. I will have fond memories of this place but that's all it will be for me. read more

Food was good but what I disliked is that there is bad service...... Came with the family to try some pupusas because I've heard good things about this place.. To my surprise I have to say the food is good on the other hand the service was not the greatest as we were waiting for about 20 minutes just to be acknowledged. and when we were ordering the short old lady kept walking away even though we were still ordering (speaking) then when the food came she didn't tell us what was what. In conclusion, if you don't mind the horrible customer service from some rude female waitress, having to bring cash to pay the bill, and seating inside of a sauna(there is no AC or windows to let air in) and seating down for some average pupusas then this is the place to come if you have low expectations. read more

El Carbonero Restaurant - Gallina tamal (even though the gallina was non present and only vegetables were shoved inside of masa) - Salvadoran Near Me - Santa Ana, California

See all

3 stars because they have awful waitresses and food takes very long. The food is amazing though. They also need to clean up the bathroom and make the place more inviting. I don't think owners care all the comments on Yelp. One last thing? Carbonero, I think it's time for you to take credit card. read more

Nasty AF The waitress rude No costumer service at all First timer Merece coming back They had me standing up there by door without asking if I need it any help neither cashier or server Plus this place is so small and disgusting In cochinero de lugar los empleados groseros Never coming back read more

Service was terrible, I waited over 1hr after placing my order on the phone. The lady made me show her my phone record to make sure I placed the order there. Then she proceeded to ignore that my order hadn't been placed and continued to wait. Terrible place should be shut down. read more

It took forever to get my food, bad service, had to do something important but couldn't do it because it took forever and other people got their food first than my family. read more

My time was wasted, gave food to other customers first while we were here first, bad service, the plates were not clean, had to do something important and they made me late need to work on giving food faster. read more

Pupusas are ok the service sucks! Ordered my yuca with chicharrón and got it very late had to ask them to wrap up to go.

We went at 8pm and got good service. Food was 6/10 Service was 9/10 - only because no drink/water refills but she was very kind and the food and drinks came out fast. read more

El Carbonero has been my go-to place for pupusas for years. The only other things I have tried are the plantines plate with beans and crema and the pineapple juice. I will always return here when I am craving them! I am glad they are still able to make order to go during the pandemic and in some ways is better for them because their costumer service is lacking. I think it's because they have been working here for so long they no longer care to smile or be polite. Remember to bring CASH and I recommend you call ahead to order unless you have time to wait around for a bit. read more

The best food best pupusas good prices good services buena comida precios accesibles lugar limpio buen ambiente familiar

Service sucks, very rude, this time i made a phone order they told me 35 mins and when i got there i waited another 20 mins

Best pupusas around! Great taste and well made been to a few other restaurants and none like these.

The food is good but the customer service is horrible!!! La comida está buena pero el servicio al cliente es pésimo deberían de cambiar ese tipo de meseras que tienen y poner personas amables mucha más gente llegaría a visitar su restaurante. read more

Do not place an order online!!!!!!! Several people in my office placed orders online. The restaurants online orders are processed through menufy.com. When we arrived there to pick up our order. We were told that we could not get our food because menufy wasn't paying them and they were not able to get in touch with them. Rather than them dealing with the company they chose, and/or having it shut down, they made the customers take a loss. They refused to fill our orders!!!!!! But you better believe they have not heard the last about this!!!! We were able to easily get in contact with menufy. They were very helpful and explained that they are not aware why we are being told this and would look into it right away and work on getting our money back. I attached my order that was never filled. read more

El Carbonero Restaurant - This is the order I placed that El Carbonero refused to fill. - Salvadoran Near Me - Santa Ana, California

Worst service Ladies always with a bitch face Bad attitude Food takes 40 minutes plus to be done Worst service Worst employees The food is ok read more

What happen is the big question? Food quality has gone down, the service is horrible and you could only pay cash. When asking the lady if they had an ATM before ordering food after she told us it was cash only, she replied "yes". After we finished eating I walked up to the ATM and it was out of service. I asked the lady why didn't she say it was out of order and she replied, "we have an ATM but it doesn't work, I never said it worked". SMH A few years I would have recommended this place for the food, even if customer service is horrible but now, it's a No Go. Walk away while you have the opportunity read more

30 mins for 3 pupusas with 0 other costumers in the restaurant no lie.ladies chilling talking having a good time in no hurry at all!!!!!!

The pupusas are great! The plátanos are also amazing and the fresh juice is good too but the service is trash. Do not expect good service here. Place is clean and decent. read more

Okay so I'm giving this restaurant 2 stars because though the food is great the customer service is horrible, seriously. It's almost always the same lady at the counter and she is so rude. I feel like if you have a business that is mainly customer service, then you need to have nice people. I try to avoid coming here at all but when the cravings hit this is the closest restaurant to my house with good pupusas. They seriously need to work on their customer service though. It is horrible. Le doy 2 estrellas a este restaurante por que aunque la comida esta rica el servicio al cliente es horrible. Casi siempre esta la misma señora y es bien maleducada. Creo que si quieren que un negocio cresca y mas cuando es del servicio al cliente tienen que tener a alguien que sea amable. Trato de no ir mucho a este restaurante pero cuando se me antojan las pupusas boy por que es lo mas cercano a mi casa. Tienen que resolver esto por que en serio el servicio al cliente es horrible. read more

Wonderful customer service to-go! Family friendly cozy restaurant vibes. Heads up on parking: Plan to walk if not local. Otherwise, food is divine. Love their cheese and shrimp pupusas plus fried bananas (brings back childhood carnival memories). read more

Would 100% recommend this place every one we tried was delicious. Perfect salsa y curito definitely recommend y'all taking the drive into Santa Ana for these. I ordered for pick up and they were ready by the time I went down the street for them. Please bring cash to pay & there is a huge parking lot you can turn right into while you pick up your order! read more

El Carbonero Restaurant - Cheese are my fav! - Salvadoran Near Me - Santa Ana, California

Bomb! Bomb! Bomb! I really like the loroco&cheese pupusas from this spot. I especially like when they grill it longer per my request! The curtido, ensalada drink, platanos and tamalitos are delicious too. This definitely my Salvi spot for local. Beats driving to LA! read more

A great hole-in-the-wall most popular for their pupusas, which is a traditional Salvadorean dish. The second you step inside, it's like you're transported to El Salvador with pictorials of the countryside and large farms. My friend was adamant in taking me here to try their pupusas, as she attested to the fact that they taste just like how they make it back at home in El Salvador. Pork pupusa -- They offer a lot of different variations of pupusas but alas, my eyes were set on pork. Pupusas look like plain tortillas but they're typically filled with cheese, refried beans, and whatever meat you want.The pupusas here looked to be made with corn flour. Mine came out looking like a bloated corn tortilla, filled with a thin layer of cheese and lots of shredded pork. There wasn't much flavor to the pupusa itself aside from the natural flavors from the pork. It had little to no oil, and the cheese wasn't all that greasy. To fully enjoy what the pupusa has to offer, make sure you dress it with some curtido. It's a lightly fermented cabbage relish that consists of cabbage and carrots. It has a bit of a tang, which leads me to believe they use lime juice. Chicken Tamale -- Shredded chicken encased in a mushy corn dough, shaped into a burrito. One of the better tamales I've ever tasted because the meat portion was more than a typical tamale. The place is cash only so make sure you come prepared! read more

See all