You have to come here. Their Salvadorean Pupusas are gold standard, amazing, I-died-and-went-to-heaven, ohmygawd yes delicious. Don't forget their special Pupusa sauce. Grab a couple little tubs of that stuff unless you want to miss out on awesomeness. read more

The red sauce on the enchiladads was very good, but there wasn't enough and the shredded beef I got in my enchilada was very fatty and didn't taste seasoned with any salt or pepper. If there was more enchilada sauce it would have flavored the beef. Rice was good, not the best, but their refried beans were actually really good and I don't usually eat them cause most places cook dry tasting refried beans. I was looking forward to the cheese pupusa. Cheesy but a little dry without their crunchy cabbage and sauce, which was nice and zesty. I wouldn't recommend going here, but if I was with friends or a group who did then I'd just order cheese enchiladas and give their enchiladas another try cause I did really like their red enchilada sauce. read more

Sábemos que todo esta caro pero cada pupusa 5.75 dólares , la razón que fui Aki pues fui pensamos que la comida estaba mejor por su alto precio pero nada que ver . Aparte me hicieron esperar 40 minutos para mi orden read more

El chinaco feels really home-y and authentic. I came here with my roommate and we both ate our food in silence for 20 minutes bc it was THAT good. I've only tried the combination taco plate here, but it's enough to keep me coming back! The combo plate comes with two standard sized tacos, rice & beans, and chips & guac. The carne asada taco combo plate is only $7, which is really worth it for the amount of food you get. I usually don't like rice & beans all that much, but I feel like it's really well seasoned here (not too salty, but not bland either). Really good price for really good food! read more

El Chinaco - Combo plate (with carne asada tacos) - Mexican Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Their tortas and pupusas are bomb!!!!! Expect a wait but it's worth it!! Love their food and have always been a fan since 2006 No matter how far I live now, I still think these are some of the best tortas I've ever had! read more

El Chinaco - Mexican Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Tried some of the Salvadoran menu, it was just okay. Pork & cheese pupusas were not one bit porky or even seasoned, rather bland. But I did enjoy the bold cheesy taste of the cheese & loroco flower pupusa. Sauce to top them with is typical, like thin tomato juice with a bit of spice. Cole slaw here is nearly all vegetables, nothing much to it and not a lot of flavor. I did like that they cook them fresh, served hot. Wait time was 20 minutes after telling us it would be 35. Customers in the know call 15 ahead with orders from their Salvadoran menu. Aside from pupusas, we also had their Pastelitos. These were large breaded and deep fried egg-shaped pockets full of steak, potato and carrot. The shell is thick, very crispy, you have to crack it. Sadly, the filling was a let down. It badly needed salt, any seasoning of some kind would have been much better. Plus the steak chunks were tough and rubbery. We finished with their Empanadas, made sweet here. These were very strange to me. It was a big ball of banana mush, rolled in cinnamon and fried (I think). It didn't even seem to be battered, if so it was very thin and added no taste. Menu said it had 'hard milk' in it, but all I could taste was banana mush and the cinnamon coating. It was just an odd banana presentation, and the texture bothered me. I just did not like it. Dining room is clean. Salsa bar well stocked. And the workers are friendly. But they seem to be afraid of offending customers with bold flavors. Everything was underwhelming. I'm not sure how their Mexican cooking is here, but what I've had so far will not bring me back. read more

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This place is sooooo good! We just discovered it during Covid since we have been ordering via Uber ears, Postmates, etc. Everything we have ordered has been so authentic and delicious. The Adobo burrito and shredded beef enchiladas are our favorite. We are addicted! So excited to have found this place. read more

Called this place 3 hours in advanced that I needed an order ready at a specific time. Got there and still had to wait 45 mins for my order to be ready. Very unprofessional place. Putting an order in ahead of time doesn't mean anything at all to them. I even paid ahead of time to make sure my order was ready on time. They simply don't care at this place. Wouldn't recommend read more

This is the best Popusas in town !!!! The staff is friendly they give you the best customer service . I will definitely recommend this place to everyone and their popusas are delicious!!!' The best Salvadorian popusas. read more

El Chinaco - The best popusas'!!! - Mexican Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Today I went to Costa Mesa location cashier Mendez was rude has no customer service Experience her etiquette horrible experience I asked for extra on something and I had ordered a big order and all she did was argue with me and told me if I didn't like it to go somewhere else and buy food wow who does that I'm the customer not the employee she was rude and horrible Me and my family will never go there again.! read more

Best pupusas Ever! Been coming here for years now and never let me or my family down ! We drive about 30 miles just for pupusas.! We order while still on fwy over phone so our wait time is not as long. Usually wait time is 20-30 minutes but the Longest we've waited was 10 minutes tops. I would totally recommend this place. AMAZING. read more

El Chinaco - Just amazing! - Mexican Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Very rude and disrespectful customer service from the cashier. I've never ever been treated like that simply for asking for extra carrots.

Love el chinaco. Pupusas are delicious and the Mexican fare is great too. Always great service, just know pupusas take 25+ minutes to prepare. read more

This place is the worst place for Salvadorian food I order Camarones Rancheros and they gave me popcorn shrimp it came with rice and beans the rice was old I also order a pupusa it was ok I paid $18 they are better places out there ... read more

So I came to this restaurant the other day. My girl and I were craving pupusas so we stopped by. I have to give it a 2 star because first the pupusas we got were revueltas and it was pretty much all cheese very little chicharon so it's practically a cheese pupusa. Also got a horchata and it was mostly chocolate. As a Salvadorian I've had some delicious pupusas. Just saying. read more

This place was such a great find. The papusas took 25 min to make, which was inconvenient but to be fair, the restaurant has a sign up front that advises customers to order them ahead of time. They were fresh and piping hot and deeeeelicious. I didn't have the tamales but I saw tables with them and they're HUGE. I'm definitely coming back here read more

I'm not sure about the Mexican food, but if you are wanting to try pupusas or have been craving them and you live in the Irvine/Newport area, this is the place to go to! Also their platano frito is amazing. I grew up around Salvadoran food, and tend to crave it a lot. So this is my go to place when I have my cravings, and I drag all my friends here with me and they love it as well! read more

Worked out perfectly to order take out from here today. Had an appt at Hoag and my order was ready when I swung by to get it on my way home. I ordered 2 pupusas (1 mixed, 1 zucchini/squash). Make no mistake, these were not light & healthy, but since it was as cold as it been in So Cal that I can remember, a Monday, and I had a cotton ball stuck to my arm with "tape" from a massive blood test, I felt deserving of their comfort food. It was easy, incredibly tasty and the price was unbelievably inexpensive for the quality. I must say there was a lot of excess oil, but I mopped it up and let the pupusas rest on paper towels a while before cutting in. Oh, and two is enough for two meals. The girl that helped me when I picked up my order couldn't have been nicer. I like this place & will be back. read more

Bomb AF pupusas..!! The revueltas or the quezo with frijoles are my favorite.! Love it they have salsa bar and you can serve as much as you like..!! People are nice and place is always clean..! Keep up the good work..!! read more

Phenomenal El Salvadoran food. And good sizes too! We're always full after. Great location and friendly staff. Definitely recommend.

Best pupusas I have had so far in the OC, vinegar carrots and salsas are fresh. The agua fresca de tamarindo is so good and also tastes homemade. read more

I went to eat with my family and it was almost 1 hour and they still didnt have my food ready i dont recomend this place at all no more. I ordered 4 popusas and some platanos for my baby girl and they still didnt have my food ready at all. read more

I have to thank my coworker for introducing me to this little gem. This is the place to go for pupusas! What makes me drool here? The revuelta (mixed pork and cheese) pupusa and the Salvadorean tamales. The pupusa's aren't as greasy as their competitor's, San Silvar which is literally 2 blocks away and I like that Chinaco is customer-centric (Once at San Silvar, we waited 30 min for our food to come while they had served other customers who had arrived after us. They didn't apologize nor acknowledge that the food was slow to come out.) I like the curtido (pickled cabbage) that comes with the pupusa bc it's like the pickled veggies that you get in banh mi which gives it a little refreshing, tangy kick to your food. The tamale masa is not as dense as it's Mexican counterpart, but who can say no to a tamale? I don't discriminate, so I love them both! The pupusas here are made fresh, so be prepared to wait about 10 min for your order to be done. But trust me, after first bite, it will be worth it! read more

Excellent food. I knew when I saw pupusas I had to go here. I read up on yelp which suggested calling in your order 15-20 mins before you intend to pick up or even to eat at the location. Do this! All of their food is made to order so even if you eat in location there will be quite a wait unless you call in your order. I got there and my food was ready! They have a pretty nice salsa bar and they packed my food pretty nicely so I took it home. -Shrimp tostada: excellent, so yummy and delicious. But I didn't have the foresight to realize it would get soggy on my drive home, so don't do that. -Pupusas: really good and fresh, has some burnt edges from the cheese but it's just part of the meal. The pork and cheese one was goood -Empanadas de plantano: pretty good, it was hard to finish because I was so full. I will definitely come back, it's nice to find Salvadoran food close by in the OC. The girl who took my phone order was also really nice and could answer any questions you have. I thought the photos on yelp of the menu was their whole menu, but it's not! They have a really extensive menu in the restaurant but I wasn't able to snap a pic of it. read more

Great Food, but cocky kid answering the phone and running the register needs to learn a thing or two about customer service. I called in an order last Saturday 8/10/13 and requested corn tortillas with my order. Side Note: I don't like flour tortillas, never have, never will. When I went in to pick up my order the kid repeated back what I ordered and said "flour tortillas" and I corrected him saying that I wanted corn not flour. Instead of just saying "Oh I thought you ordered flour" (or nothing at all if he truly believed I said flour) He said "NO..YOU ordered flour, I took the order." I explained to him that I don't like flour therefore I wouldn't have even said it. So then the kid makes some smart comment saying "OK..you ordered corn now, but you didn't before", and said something out loud in Spanish which made the ladies in back all laugh. Just the way this kid reacted made me realize that he's a serious douchebag, probably the owners son, doesn't give two sh-ts about the restaurant, and was probably upset that Daddy had him working on a Saturday night. I seriously should have just left the food there and told him to "eff off" but I didn't. I got my order and told him that will be the last time I ever come here, which is a bummer because my husband and I love the food. So I walked outside where my husband was with our dog and said "That kid was an A-hole" . My husband didn't even let me finish and went inside to see what happened. From what the husband tells me he wanted to find out why I called the kid an "a-hole" so he went in and asked the kid, found out what transpired, and even told the kid himself that he heard me say "CORN TORTILLA" TOO!! To whomever owns or manages this place, you might want to have a dicussion about "customer service" with this individual, and hope that what happened to me was just an isolated incident. Last thing you need is some cocky kid running out good-consistent customers because his ego is too big for the job. read more

quick update: I'm the Duke of this place. I use to go here and grab a breakfast burrito after my morning workouts, but the customer service is sub par so I'm no longer eating here. I usually grab a few things but always a breakfast burrito with avocado. Well, one day they didn't add the avocado so the next day I go in and tell them that they forgot to add it. The cashiers response, "ok", cool so you will add the avocado for free this time? "no, how do I know that you didn't get it!" Really? So over $.80 I'm done with this place. Have some customer service and take care of your regular customers. Whatever, there are plenty of other around this area. quick update update: I was contacted by the owner and she apologize and informed her employees about customer service. Yelp does make a difference and I think that everyone wins this time :D read more

I met my future husband here so you can imagine how I feel about this place. I have family that started this company and although they no longer own it they were the ones where the original recipes come from. My sister used to work the cash register and I loved the food so much I would come in and they used to have free wifi (hopefully still do!). I would do homework or work I had to do on my computer while she was working and when it was slow we would hang out and we'd get to eat papusas together which was the best part. If you don't know what a papusa is you are not that different from me before I tried this place. It's a mix between a quesadilla and an enclosed flat burrito. Not doing it justice but it is a Salvadorian food and if you haven't tried let me just advise you to do so! read more

Eat Pupusas! They are gifts of discs of gods of mesoamerica. And el chinaco makes the best. Masa stuffed with your choice of cheese, beans, meat, squash and any combination thereof, grilled till slightly burned on the edges. Spread curtido, the spicy pickled cabbage, and some salsa on it and eat. A perfect meal. el chinaco also serves Salvadorian tamales the size of 80s cell phones, stuffed with meat and potatoes and peppers and more moist than our mom's tamales. there also is the obligatory offerings of a taqueria. all are good. the pupusas are better. long live the pupusa! read more

Pupusas are rarely terribly exciting, but they can be great comfort food. These pupusas are fine: thick and extremely cheesy, short on the veggies, but long on the oil. The revuelta is the best, though normally I lean loroco. I also got a carnitas taco because they were out of tamales. This was one of the more disappointing carnitas taco I've ordered, with dry, overcooked, tasteless pork, guacamole that was basically just avocados, and an amount of sour cream sufficient to smother a small child. This taco more than any other thing NEEDED the roasted pepper salsa to make it worth eating. The mango licuado was mostly milk. I guess there must have been a dairy surplus in the kitchen that day, what with the sour cream, the milk, and the cheese. read more

Costa Mesa has some pretty good and diverse spots. This is one of them. There is a small parking lot behind the restaurant. Once you go inside, the decor really matches the Mexican and Salvadoran food they make here. There are plenty of small tables in the dining area that can be combined when you have larger parties. I highly recommend getting the papusas here. They are fantastic. One tip, some papusas can take a while to make, so if you are going here during a lunch break, or don't want to wait, I suggest calling your order in before heading over there.Revuelta (pork and cheese) or the frijol y quesp (beans and cheese). The service here is very good. They are kind, courteous, and put the customer first. I highly recommend trying this place out, especially during lunch time! 4.5 stars. read more

I took my friend here to try "real" pupusas since she had gotten some before but hated it. So I brought her here in hopes to change her mind about pupusas- one of my favorite foods! We ordered 2 revueltas, uno de queso, y uno de chicarron. I don't know why I always end up busting out my Spanish when I order, but it just seems so natural! Haha. Anyway... when the food came out, I instantly regretted ordering so many because I always forget how big the pupusas are here. On one hand, I'm glad I'm getting such a large portion, but on the other hand, I'm upset that I won't be able to finish it. Leftovers are great, but pupusas are always better off fresh! El de queso was sooooo good! It had cheese oozing out that had hardened and as weird as it may sound, it's my favorite part. The crunchiness of the cheese brings back memories from when we would order pupusas from la calle and they'd make it to order right in front of you. Y la revuelta was pretty good too, you could taste the chicarron and it has just the right amount of saltiness to it. My friend was surprised to see that these were the REAL pupusas she was missing out on. The ones she had before were made from really dry masa, and not knowing how to eat them, she had some cold and dry pupusas that left her mentally scarred. Needless to say, she was delighted when she had her first bite at El Chinaco. I think her pupusas standards have rose after trying out this place! read more

Salvadoran and Mexican food goes together like Peas and Carrots. Like Sonny and Cher. Like Britney Spears, bare feet in a public restroom, and Flamin' Hot Cheetos. But I digress. I'm STUFFED. The pupusa revuelta was a winner, and at 2.25 a pop, you can't go wrong. Definitely recommend putting lots of the pickled veggies on top as a great flavor contrast. It was also recommended to me to try the Carnitas, which was a great suggestion. The Carnitas plate came with an almost obscene amount of Carnitas, rice, beans, and some of the most amazing corn tortillas I have ever tried. They were exactly how corn tortillas are in Mexico. Smooth and moist... not that dry, gritty business they typically have here. The Carnitas were great-- they ALMOST beat Carnitas Los Reyes in Orange (but were just not quite as crispy--sorry! My review of CLR here: http://www.yelp.com/biz/carnitas-los-reyes-orange#hrid:HnLohrvnClJWtKkDS8D16Q) My friend's burrito was HUGE. We both took lots of leftovers home, and at less than $10/person including drink! read more

Came here late one evening after spending the day at Disneyland and decided to try these pupusas that it seems everyone's been raving about-- pupusas are totally the new empanadas. At $2.25 a piece, they were fairly reasonable. Each pupusa comes with a side of cole slaw. The girl at the counter asked if we were eating in, or to-go. We said to-go, and she seemed a little upset, immediately handing us her business card and a cope of the menu, warning us ahead of time that it would be about 15 minutes to get our order because they make everything to order, and if we'd have only called ahead we could have saved ourselves a lot of time. I don't mind waiting for good food, so I assured her that it was ok, we'd use the time while waiting to make a crucial beer run to the BevMo across the street-- besides, how can you eat Mexican food without cervezas? After a quick trip back and forth, we had two pupusas in hand-- one Loroco Flower and one shredded pork, and my friend snagged a steak torta. We wanted a side of rice and beans, but just a small one, so the girl offered us just one side with half beans, half rice. Smaller portions, just what we wanted. :) I did NOT fancy the pupusa filled with the Loroco flower. It was a little sweeter than I expected and just a strange flavor overall. I was out to try something new, but I guess this went a little over my head. The pork pupusa on the other hand was simply HEAVEN. In all honesty, I could not possibly have finished both pupusas, so it wasn't too much of a loss to have not fallen in love with the first. My friend loved his torta, and we'll definitely be back in the future. I just wished they stayed open later!! 9 pm is just too early, I don't get hungry until at least 9:30! :) read more

Having lived in a Guatemalan household for two years, I have tasted "Mama"'s rendition of a pupusa. I just thought it was a stuffed tortilla, I never knew it's origins were of El Salvador. When my friend in Costa Mesa had a hankering for pupusas, he decided to order in advance, as u should do and pick up the pupusas. I ordered a tamale and a pork and cheese pupusa. The pupusas come with a bag of pickled shredded cabbage and carrots, similar to a tart cole slaw. It was good in small portions accompanying the pupusas. The pupusa had a warm satiating scent, fresh to order, moist and slight toasted on the outside. The pork and cheese inside was a like a warm welcome home to the tastebuds. The tamale was like mama's as well, not made of cornmeal but of a rice flour. The size was burrito like in proportion. Biggest tip: call in twenty minutes in advance! read more

Nothing like spending the first day of 2012 eating delicious pupusas! My friends and I came here for lunch today. I got a cheese and pork pupusa and a Salvadorian tamale. I wanted a pork tamale, but they only had chicken today. I also got a horchata. First off, the horchata was the best I've ever had. It was sweetened perfectly and so refreshing. The food took awhile to come out, but it was definitely worth it. My pupusa was so flavorful. The curtido, cabbage relish, and pupusa went so well together. It was fresh and savory at the same time. Delicious! My tamale was also pretty tasty. It had chicken, potatoes, and bell peppers in it, very different from what I'm used to. It was also huge, the size of a small burrito! Service was good and the prices were amazing. The place itself was pretty small though. Everything on the menu sounded so good so I can't wait to go back and try more things! A New Year's resolution, perhaps? read more

Reading through past reviews more thoroughly, I think that my 'decent' experience may be indicative of my ordering the wrong thing. I got a torta and my bf got a quesadilla... neither of which got rave reviews here. Perhaps worthy of another try... though that being said, this was a random neighborhood and I doubt we'll end up back there anytime soon. Oh well, lesson learned... check Yelp more carefully. read more

Went there for the last time . I ordered two of their signature dish the "pupusas" . The order took literally 40 minutes with absolutely no acknowledgement from the clerk letting me know what was happening. Everybody in the back seemed to be angry and upset. read more

Hubby and I went on a pupusa tour of Orange County and our first stop was El Chinaco. Overall, 4 stars! Pros: 1. The Revuelta pupusa was DELICIOUS! This pupusa has refried beans, cheese, and chicharron inside of it. Really good masa ratio. It was crispy on the outside, little greasy but not soaking in grease. Nice bite to it. Even my hubby, who is not a cheese fan, liked it alot. 2. The curtido (pickled slaw that accompanies the pupusas) was good. Crisp, not too soggy, hint of heat, and good sour note. It's everything you'd look for in a curtido. Helps cuts the richness of the pupusas. 3. The cleanliness of the place. They were always cleaning and making sure that tables were cleared off and ready. 4. Lots of people.. this is usually a sign of good food. Cons: 1. The chicharron pupusa did not live up to my hubby's expectations. (I'm singing the Lowered Expectations song from Mad TV in my mind right now lol.) The pupusa seemed to lack any type of "pow" flavor. It seemed to lack salt and seasoning in general. Chicharron is usually salty..so we were surprised at the lack of salt. The masa was great, just seasoning wasn't there. Sad. 2. The Salvadoran Chicken tamale..yeah, not a fan. My hubby grew up avoiding this tamale as a kid (he's half Salvadoran.) This tamale had good flavor but the masa is almost gelatinous, which is the right consistency, but if you love Mexican tamales, which are dryer amd thinner, you will most likely not like El Salvador's tamales. 3. The sweet corn tamale is good but could be a tad more sweeter and moister. This tamale is more Mexican in texture. Tip: Be prepared to wait..pupusas usually take about 15-20 mins to make..but at least you know it's fresh! read more

Their pupusas and cortido are out of this world! Also the breakfast burritos are a solid choice. More of an El Salvadoran than Mexican joint. Their homemade salsas are delicious and fresh. So happy to have this neighborhood staple. read more

Such high expectations but the end result was...meh. We arrived early and were the first ones there. We ordered 4 pupusas, the fried pork with yucca and a fried fish. for someone on a lunch hour, this is not an ideal place. Our food took nearly a half hour to come out and people who came in after us were served first. The fried pork was the consistency of shoe leather but the yucca was tasty. The fried whole fish was tough as leather too and hard to eat. The pupusas were nearly indistinguishable from each other and only served with one portion of the signature pickled slaw. When I asked for more, they gave us one more tiny portion, haltingly. There are other places in town which is helpful when you only have a little bit of time for lunch. read more