3 stars for food, extra star for excellent service. Picked up some food to-go after work and it was literally 15 mins till closing but the server was super nice and accommodating. She didn't make me feel bad at all for coming in late and even asked the cooks if I could substitute chicken for the fried pork that came with my dish. There is a sign that states it takes 15mins to make pupusas so be prepared to wait. The yucca plate was delicious, but I ordered it fried and I thought it was too dry. Next time boiled is definitely the way to go. The pupusas here are thick and full of cheese. My only real complaint is the cole slaw is too chunky. I prefer the cabbage pieces to be thinner. read more

El Chinaco - Fried yucca plate sub chicken served with coleslaw - Mexican Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

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Ambiance: Nicely decorated restaurant. They could use some WD-40 and a pillow to prevent the door from slamming so much, other than that, the ambiance here is nice with usual music you'd find on the radio. Price: Under $10, and inexpensive. Service: Quick (aside from waiting for the pupusa) and friendly. Location: Parking is not an issue, but if it is... you can walk here from parking at Triangle Square or plazas near by. Food: ~pork and cheese pupusa (yummy, worth the wait) ~chicken enchilada a la carte (the most flavorful and probably best chicken enchilada I've ever had and it is comparable to El Torito's aside from the difference in sauce used!) ~Chinaco burrito with carne asada (which was missing the 'wow'-factor for us). http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/fRFfnPJFueJamez3JrCiBQ?select=f_asz7g9kv_JBUET3IoMXA ~ This place comes with a salsa bar. http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/fRFfnPJFueJamez3JrCiBQ?select=bXn1jvUT85lciYkkHe8mJA Story: This place is an awesome find! I stumbled upon this place while waiting for my car to be fixed nearby. Tip: ~Their pupusas do take roughly 15 minutes to prepare as other yelpers have mentioned, but it is very tasty! read more

El Chinaco - sauce bar! - Mexican Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

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The service is great. The food was so delicious and the employees are so kind. They have a relaxing and fast environment. Overall, their business is one of the best mixes of countries, Salvadoran and Mexican food. read more

Waited for 40 minutes for our food to find out they hadn't even started. They told us that we should have reminded them to make our food. Why should we have to remind you to make the food?? Wasted an hour there to leave hungry and disappointed. read more

I remember this spot from my teenage years as I lived around the area. I would hear people talk about it a lot. Maybe it was better back in the day, the food, the service? I was craving puppusas because I saw a blog post recently and this place came to mind. I was disappointed as soon as I walked in, the cashier was busy talking to her work companion and kept talking as she approached the cashier ready to take my order but still not making eye contact or acknowledging me. I had to finally say 'l'll have the" - I had to initiate for her to place my order. No courtesy toward me. No nice welcome greeting. Very bland customer service. And the food wasn't as good as everyone raved about back in the day. Waste of $$ & time. The food was as bland as the service! read more

Simply put....Great food and service. Took the family on a Saturday night. Came for the pupusas and we were not disappointed. They were super good. Try the bean/cheese/pork...Nice! The sauces were also on point. I also want to recognize the staff. The girl cashiers were very friendly. I could tell that the cooks were also experienced as the food was spot on. Will definitely come again. read more

No frills, quick, affordable Salvadorian pupuseria! We love their revuelta pupusas with their yummy sauce. They're big and fresh. If you're pressed on time consider ordering 20 minutes ahead of time on the phone. The pupusas are made fresh to order and take some time to concoct! Come give it a try! read more

El Chinaco - Revuelta pupusa - Mexican Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

We literally just left this place. Came here tonight on a Friday at 6:40 to dine in and was told that it would take them 45 minutes to serve us food due to phone orders before we even placed an order. And there was only 2 of us!! Horrible management! Serve your dine in customers and make your phone orders wait longer. There was one family of 6 in the dining area and no one else. Idk if I'll ever come here to try their food. Looked good tho! read more

Room for improvement. The girl taking our order over the phone did not seem to know how to communicate an order. She took our order repeated the order understood that we did not want onions and cheese or sour cream. We waited our turn in line, just to be rudely cut off when the woman called a customer to the counter to pick up his to go order. She pulled out order from underneath the counter and we paid and tipped her. And took our food home. Cheese on all of it, sour cream in the burrito and I guess they remembered no onions. It's just that cheese melts all over the food. You can't exactly pick off cheese or coir cream. Seriously disappointed. First & probably last time. read more

Annnnnd I'm back !! After being away for 2 years due to my last not so great experiences I was hankering for some pupusas and opted for takeout. So glad I did because they were delicious! Ooey gooey cheese and moist masa with tangy curtido (the slaw) and an abundance of salsa. Very happy to support a small business during Covid19 and can't wait to come back. read more

El Chinaco - Curtido dry and sliced with a saw. - Mexican Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Everything we ate today was very dry. First time coming and the last. We couldn't even finish our food and we're so hungry. Had to wash my tacos down with a modelo that's how dry it was. Really disappointed.... I want my money back. read more

El Chinaco - Mexican Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

We've been coming to this place for pupusas for years. The bean and cheese pupusas are the best I've tried in OC. Nice staff, just fyi pupusas take time to make so you might have to wait anywhere from 30-60 min but so worth it. There's plenty of space to sit restaurant is clean, usually there's parking around. Would recommend this place 100% you won't regret it. read more

Great Mexican Tortas and Burritos but the Papusas! What's up! Call it in before picking up. The papusas are made fresh by a little abulita in back, papusas take 20 minutes or more. Be patient. They are always nice. I havnt tried breakfast but I'll be back. I found this place while delivering doordash. read more

The birria tacos here are the best!! the customer service is great very clean restaurant and open 24 hours

This place serves THE BEST pupusas!!! I grew up going to El Chinaco before they opened a restaurant, and they've never failed. They've always had the most delicious pupusas, and every time I have one it makes me reminisce about my childhood. The revueltas are my favorite! I'm located in LA County, and I've tried a few places in the area and none of them compare to El Chinaco! If I have a craving for pupusas, I drive down to OC County to get my fix. Hands down best place! read more

Great Salvadorian restaurant. I ordered two revuelta papusas, and an asada burrito to go, but was given the papusas and a torta (which I think was two types of pork). Papusas were fantastic, torta was really good too. I'll definitely go back. read more

I used to always go here when I was pregnant. Idk, something has completely changed. They gave me hard a*s platanos today. Dry a*s beef enchiladas. I'm never going here again. Last time, I asked for my chile rellenos to not be spicy, which they always listened, except for one time and tried to tell me it always comes spicy which was a lie because I had it 4 times before and those times it wasn't spicy, except once so I always asked for it to not be spicy. The pupusas changed. The only good one is the beans and cheese. read more

For some odd reason my review got removed. I went to eat there with my best friend Paloma, and we had a bad experience. She bit into a popusa and she found a cockroach, that's is no lie. We talked to the owner about it and she only gave us free drinks. read more

I ordered their taco carnitas combination plate but got chicken instead. The cashier-waitress kind of shrugged and but did nothing further. Oh well. read more

This place was extremely disappointing. We went out of our way to try this place and will absolutely not be coming back. I waiting almost 45 min for a couple pupusas before they finally called me up and said they didn't know what I ordered. I had to tell them my order and wait again for them to cook it. The revuelta pupusa was ok - everything else was undeniably bad. My other pupusa was raw, the rice and beans were flavorless and cold, the cheese in the quesadilla wasn't melted, all the salsas were bland and watery, even the soda tasted weird and the horchata was overly sweet. I never leave yelp reviews and feel bad leaving a negative one, but this place was just so bad I felt like I had to warn others who, like me, might find this place on yelp and think to try it. Waste of time and money. read more

I've been eating here for years The popusa mix (revuelta) With extra cheese and meat Is my favorite I remember when they were a food truck Next to a car wash I'll always support this business read more

I have been coming here for years. They are VERY generous with their quantity of food! My go tos are usually their pupusas or plates. The staff is always so nice to me (and all women !!) read more

FINALLY! We found authentic pupusas! I haven't had pupusas in months because it's so hard to find those really delicious, thick, cheesy and authentic Salvadoran ones. We had revueltas (bean and cheese), pork and cheese and loroco pupusas. Absolutely amazing. Brought me back to the authentic ones I had in El Salvador. HAND MADE TORTILLAS: The tortilla itself was very delicious. Made in house by the cutest cooking ladies. Thick but not dry. Yummy!! Just like the ones made back home in Honduras!! CURTIDO: The curtido (cabbage and carrot salad topping for pupusas) was nicely prepared too. Perfect amount of salty and very fresh. SALSA: I was such a fan of the salsa bar. It was so clean and presentable! The red tomato salsa for the pupusas tasted just like my moms. Very tasteful and light. MARGARITA: I had a white margarita and it was surprisingly just as good as a $12 maragarita but for only $4.95! S C O R E! Lol!! THE PLACE:The restaurant is very clean and well kept. Workers are nice too. Overall great experience. This is now our go to place for Central American goodies. read more

El Chinaco - Authentic pupusas! Full on one and a half! HUGE and great price! - Mexican Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

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Best authentic Salvadorian restaurant around town! The pupusas and the pastelitos are among my favorite dishes there. You won't be disappointed read more

I'm not sure why people come here. Went there for the first time because I always see people ordering food or waiting to to go orders. We began ordering and were told they were out of one item. So we ordered another. After all three of us placed the order, we sat down. Then they came to tell us that they ran out of another dish. So we ordered another but realized the price difference. When I asked for the difference back they almost began to argue until they realized they were wrong. Food was not good. I ordered nachos. It was tortilla chips, yellow nacho cheese, and old carne asada on top with jalapenos. I think there was some beans. Not good. We also ordered the camarones al mojo de ajo (garlic shrimp) but it had no garlic. Rice was old. The carne asada plate was literally taco meat with beans and rice. Old rice. We all literally left disgusted. We also ordered pastelitos which were good at first bite but they had a weird smell. Probably old oil in the fryer. I will probably not go back unless I go to try the pupusas which are overpriced by the way. Try the other place around the corner, San Sivar, for better service/food. read more

Made my mom wait over an hour for a torta, all bc one of the workers went on his break. Cold food.

This place is amazing, with amazing food, and an amazing staff. Everything I've ever ordered is just full of flavor. Highly recommend.

I started coming because i was searching for a delicious pupusas in town. Turns out i found the jack pot! Their delicious and freshly made food are a Salvadorian staple in Costa Mesa that has me coming back for more. read more

El Chinaco - Mexican Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Good things come to those who wait and this is no exception at El Chinaco. I would recommend ordering ahead if you don't want to wait that long, even if you're eating there. They have the best pupusa's here and they will make them however you want. Highly recommend this place. read more

Walked in right at lunch time, it was empty and now I know why it took over 20 minutes to get my food, and when I finally did my food was bland and too oily. I got a $12 basic plate and didn't eat a 1/3 of it. Won't be back. read more

Ever since they went into a new management it hasn't been the same. They charge you for everything now. For condiments they charge you now and it wasn't like that before. Sad to see what it has come to. The food is good but the overall everything else has been downhill read more

As a Salvadoran, I'm extremely picky about what I consider a good pupusa. I genuinely wanted to like this place, however the pupusas are not anything to rave about! The women working at this establishment provide great and fairly quick service. There was a mistake with my order and the cashier quickly fixed it and was extremely apologetic. I have zero complaints about the service; hence the three stars. The pupusas on the other hand, lack flavor. The pupusas are made with the wrong cheese. The cheese used in these pupusas is something you use in cheese quesadillas, not pupusas. The salsa looked and tasted watered-down. They also only provided me with three small salsa containers for six pupusas which was not enough. Any extra condiment costs fifty cents. For the price, they are being way too generous with the size of the pupusas. I noticed they have a special discount each day of the week which is nice. I was also surprised to learn they sell tacos. In my opinion, you don't get a decent tasting pupusa at an establishment that also sells tacos. At least not authentic pupusas. Overall the service was great but the pupusas sadly were not. read more

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My mom is a customer for years at el chinaco.they are delicious the price is hi but worth it .but this time my mom went got the wrong order came home from Costa Mesa to Westminster.called the store just to tell the staff to be more careful on placing orders correctly my mom has been going their for years like 5 years maybe more the girl their was very very rude.she lost a customer just because the girl that answered the phone was rude and hung up on my mom. read more

El Chinaco - PopUsas - Mexican Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

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Nice place good food , the pupsas are delicious, but you have two different prices, I ask the cashier she toldme is okay and when I paid she told that the price in the screen are wrong and someone has to change soon.. I aske her for the manager she toldme that she is not for the moment, she looks so nervous and given a lot of excuses for nothing ..I tell her don't worry you are a employee but you must tell the truth to your customers .I never back at this place. read more

I went in yesterday for the first time in a while and it looks like maybe there was a change in ownership. The pupusas were not very good. I ordered revueltas and the chicharon wasn't even cooked well. The food was pretty consistent over the years that I've been coming here and it was a huge disappointment yesterday. read more

Delicious Salvadoran tamales. The pork tamal was So moist and flavorful! I also tried the pupusas. They were also good but a little dry. Also expect a 40 minute wait if you are visiting on the weekend and ordering pupusas. The longer that usual wait time is however expected as this place can get busy. I strongly recommend ordering ahead of time. Definitely would come back! read more

This has been our go to place for Salvadorean food for years. Food is delicious. I had to take a star off though for customer service. They only have 1 person helping the long line and answering the phones. As expected, mistakes were made, picked up an order and got home only to find that food was missing a few times. I called them back and at least they offered the item at the next visit or a refund. They really need to hire more people. I still go every now and then but I know now to order an hour before I actually want the food and to always check my food before I drive off to see that it's all there. read more

Best pupusas in town and good menudo on the weekends. I've been coming back for two years already and it's one of my favorites when I want something that tastes homemade at a good price. It's very clean and rarely ever empty. It's best to call you order ahead because of the wait time in line + meal prep. I do wish they would have a separate line for pickup orders to avoid standing in line to pay for your awaiting food order; it would certainly lessen the congestion. read more

El Chinaco is a really cool place, their specialty? Pupusas and pastelitos! I luv pupusas, because to me they are the the Central-american cousins of the Arepas. Judge for yourself: Arepa http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arepa Pupusas http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/el-chinaco-costa-mesa?select=ND1y0i5hZPzkT4_5VZPBwQ Nice texture and flavor, I tried the ones filled with beans and cheese and also the cheese and loroco ones (Loroco is a flower from El Salvador, it tasted pretty good) The Pastelitos were kinda like empanadas http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/el-chinaco-costa-mesa?select=EG2t4JGvWnV6ewh8iQfNpA Fried dough filled with meat, rice, potato stew. Tasty, but kinda greasy http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/el-chinaco-costa-mesa?select=eRRhkcu2thDAs42iifNFNg#eRRhkcu2thDAs42iifNFNg Nice place, good service, kinda slow because they claim to make it everything when ordered. For the hot chili lovers their curtido (cabbage salad with vinegar) has a lot of it. Also in the back of the restaurant is a seasoning bar, with chili, lemon and all. In their menu that they also have burritos and some Mexican food, interesting. They serve beer, but they don't have Salvadorean beer =( only the standard beers served everywhere. Cool place for a quick bite. Recommended! read more

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Best pupusas in the area! We order pupusas on Tuesdays when they have a deal going. Lots of options for what to put inside. The pupusas are thick and crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside. And they are HUGE! One pupusa is enough for a meal. The most I've ever been able to eat at once is 1 and 1/2. Haven't tried a lot of their other items, but I would also recommend the corn tamal if you want a light dessert. Oh, and the salsa! Multiple options (if you can/can't handle a lot of heat) and all are delicious. Now I'm hungry just thinking about it! read more