I am giving this place a high 3/low 4 - like a 3.9-4.1 I have never eaten inside the restaurant, have always had it delivered. There is about a 50/50 chance of my order being correct but it has gotten alot better if I clearly write in the instructions what I am asking for. This is a great lunch option because the portions are HUGE so I can roll it over into another lunch meal. What bothers me is that easily half the time I get only curtido and no salsa, or only salsa and no curtido, and I've also had neither of the curtido or salsa in my order. I feel like these ingredients/sides are important since the pupusas would be dry otherwise. Like today, I only got the curtido and no salsa and what I wrote out for my order was not what I asked for. Delicious regardless but there has to be more attention to detail. When it's right, it's amazing; when it's wrong, it's a bummer. read more

Ufff what can I say it's a 50/50 chance of good food or bad food here ! I usually dine out from here & there's days I'm like Woooow THIS IS GREAT & then there days I'm like WTF who the hell is cooking . First & foremost I love Salvadorian breakfast I usually get the huevos revueltos or huevos rancheros plate ... love love the rancheros eggs always come out so good ... my dilemma for getting a bad plate is their platanos.. OMG there are times I don't know who's cooking but they've thrown a whole platano in my plate so cutting the platano , just straight sautéed the outside but guess what inside is raw ! Your supposed to cut a platano usually into 4 ... this has happened to me on 3 occasions . Anyways service is regular , sometimes you'll get the nice happy guy & sometimes you'll get the girl who's a bit standoffish .. just small attitude nothing big . They have a big dining area , and are in a plaza with other businesses but parking is plenty! read more

The food in this place used to be so good . And now is so bad . The beans that they use in the pupusas is mare canned beans horrible . Food take for ever to come , if you order to go they tell you 20 minutes and is ready 1 hour later . read more

I deliver for Uber Eats and pick up orders from this restaurant regularly. Every time I go, I read the menu looking at the vegan items. I decided to go for it, I ordered the vegan pupusas. I picked up order and the wonderful smells lit up my car. I managed to wait til I got home to the open bag. I called two neighbors who felt it was their duty to share this experience with me. It was a beautiful encounter; I had a bean and a veggie/bean pupusa. I know to add slaw and some salsa. Was doing a happy dance the whole time while both neighbors were saying, "see I told you". "I knew you were gonna love it". The Pupusas are very filling and I have some for later and will reheat in my air fryer read more

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The pupusas are great they make them larger for the people they like so get friendly with them

To me one of the best pupusas in the Southbay. I miss their Gardena location but finally found them here in Wilmington. The owners are awesome people. Also love the corn tamales fried. read more

Es la segunda ves que vengo, muy rico, el único inconveniente es que tardan para atender y por consiguiente en llegar la comida Las baleadas son lo máximo... read more

El Metapaneco - a plate of food on a table - Salvadoran Near Me - Wilmington, California

I'm always giving them a chance... But every time I order the food is super GREASY.! The cook lady's need to chill with the oil. Scrambled eggs is not a greasy Soup! read more

Some of the best most authentic El Salvadoran food you'll ever try. Stop by and try it yourself :)

Being going here for years, food like always is great, food is great and enjoy able if you can bypass the poor service, not enough personnel to help and takes long to order and get a return on the food. Sorry, wish I could have a better ex here cause the food is really good.. read more

Se tardan mucho para atender y luego la comida se llega en más de 40 minutos para que la sirvan. Casi se muere uno de hambre esperando hartarse aquí. read more

El Metapaneco - a dirty plate with food on it - Salvadoran Near Me - Wilmington, California

Love the pork pupusas here. Would definitely recommend to try their pupusas if you never had it before like me.

I'm the only Salvadoran in our work office. They wanted to order lunch and I suggested Salvadoran food and they order from El Metapaneco through Door Dash. It was a toatal failure! The missed a shrimp plate for one of my supervisor. Our secretary was missing a pupusa. They sent us 6 pupusas without curtido and tomato sauce My pupusas were dried with very little filling. I was so embarrassed. You guys made sure to give Salvadorans a bad name. read more

Placed a large order through Uber eats for the family, used a valid Uber eats coupon, then 20 minutes later the restaurant cancelled our order. When I tried to call, they answered but immediately put me on hold and kept taking in person orders while I was on hold the whole time. So we drove to the restaurant and asked them why our order was cancelled. They said the system cancelled the order because they didn't have anymore pork. We thought this was odd, but ok we placed the same order minus the pork in person. No sooner than we place the order, we overheard someone at a table order food with pork. Then after waiting 35 minutes for our food for takeout, we went to pick up our order and heard someone else in line order another dish with pork that was exactly what we had ordered and they didn't tell the customer there wasn't pork. They didn't mention to any other customer that ordered pork during our wait time there that they didn't have anymore pork. They were very rude and we lied directly to our face. The kicker is they made no mention to anyone else that there wasn't anymore pork. We had a feeling they deliberately cancelled our Uber eats order because they might've seen we used a coupon. We will be filing a complaint with Uber eats as well because what should've taken a 45 minute process with delivery and all took 1.5 hours round trip since we first place the order around 330pm, it is now 5pm and we just got home with our food. Hoping it's good quality at the very least. read more

El metapaneco is one of the best restaurant in the area. I'm not kidding. I being coming here for 7 years and They have the best pupusas in the area. I can't get enough You can taste every ingredient like the chicharrón, cheese, beans and lorocco. Man I can eat here everyday if it was possible. I move out of town and every weekend I try to come here to eat authentic Salvadorian food. read more

El Metapaneco - Fresco de guanábana. - Salvadoran Near Me - Wilmington, California

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I'm writing this review as a kind of update for a previous one. Definitely their food is delicious and we order food to go once or twice a week, but we decided to have breakfast today and our server Ena did a poor job, we waited for almost an hour for our food was brought to the table and we it did the food was so cold and we ask her the reason and she said she just grab the order from the kitchen, but really our order was sitting outside for like 25 minutes and she never brought it to our table. We saw another 3 people leave their tables because they weren't offered anything. We are so disappointed because we know the owner and her attitude is really nice, but we can't say the same thing about this person. read more

Tendrán razón que se tarden un poco pero ay que tener paciencia! Yo soy mexicano y puedo decir que estás son las mejores pupusas que eh probado de muchos lugares que conozco! Deliciosas baratas y grandes la verdad que este será mi lugar de hoy en adelante para cuando se me antoje comer pupusas y no se olviden pedir la salsa picante deliciosa! read more

I've been waiting 30min for 2 pupusas. I'm not a chef but I know it shouldn't take that long. They keep ignoring the restaurant phone it just keeps ringing and they walk right by it. read more

Worst customer service on the phone. They literally picked up phone when I was trying to order and just set the phone aside next to the music that was blasting. I got to the front of the line and ordered my food. Lol they never picked up phone whole time I was there waiting for my food. If you want food from here you actually physically have to order in person. However there food is good just bad service. read more

I had a great experience doing doordash through this restaurant. Their pupusas are delicious!! And the toppings are very flavorful too (cabbage mix and red sauce). I have tried many different pupusas at different places and experienced some disappointments-- however this was not at all! Each pupusas was great size and thick with proportionate chicharron and queso (my go to). I also ordered two coffees and they were VERY generous with the creamers and Splendas. I recommend this restaurant during quarantine AND after. I'll definitely continue to be a customer here! :) read more

El Metapaneco - Chicharron Y Queso Pupusa (to-go) SO DELICIOUS!! I ordered 3 - Salvadoran Near Me - Wilmington, California

Waitress took FOREVER to attend us. She was the only one there maybe. The Food was ok but the beans tasted like cooking oil. Michelada was not good. read more

Good food but horrible service Pupusas were great Drinks were great Bread was ok Staff super grumpy except the bus boy he should be the one taking the orders read more

I recently revisited this place since it had been a few years and I haven't found pupusas as good. I figured the bad cook who left all the hair would be gone. I ordered three pupusas, a side of rice and a cream empanada. Everything was really good and free of hair. The pupusas were cheesy, the masa was fresh and nothing was greasy. The rice had a nice flavor and the empanada was excellent. I am glad I decided to try the place again. The prices were reasonable, especially compared to Restaurante Estrella up the street. I got my food in less than 5 minutes and everyone was nice and courteous. I was very happy and would definitely go back again. read more

El Metapaneco - Flan after a few bites: not good! - Salvadoran Near Me - Wilmington, California

I almost never give bad reviews, but this one is deserved. I called to place an order, and I was hung up on. I thought maybe it was an accident. When we arrived we were not greeted and the staff looked really annoyed. Any how we stayed to order as they have vegan options for my girlfriend. I asked what option they had, and the very unhappy person at the register said it's on the menu (referring to the one down below that was not at eye level. My girlfriend had to bend down to read it. Anyways, we order to go and waited 6 minutes shy of 40 minutes!!!! Also, another guest had to walk up to a waitress near the kitchen to ask for a napkin, and silverware. So, if you want to order to go...order 1 hour in advance read more

El Metapaneco - Menu page 1 - Salvadoran Near Me - Wilmington, California

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It's been a little while since I've been here but I was having some cravings for some pupusas so we headed over here. They have opened up a new section so this restaurant is even bigger now. I think that they even have music here on the weekends. I had my traditional pork and bean pupusas with my ensalada drink and they were great. They have such consistent quality here...and with great service too. As we were leaving my friend spotted something else he wanted to try in the window so he ordered it and we sat back down and they served it to us. I also got some "dry" cheese and a tasty soda drink too. They also sell music DVDs as well. read more

This is a great place. My In-laws introduced me to this place and they are regulars and I am becoming one too. Staff is friendly and they have a nice variety to choose from. For me, my favorite is the Pupusas. The Super Pupusas like the Shrimp and Queso are great. They also have the normal sized ones that are great as well. This one is located just south of PCH on Avalon. Parking can be tough sometimes but we always find a spot. read more

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Pupusas for breakfast?! Yes for sure! Stopped by because I love pupusas expecting to be dissapointed. Lots of places offer a great pupusa but fall way short. Metapaneco delivers on their promise of authentic Matapaneca cuisine! Deliciously warm and tasty pupusas accompanied by a semi spicy curtido. I ordered yucca a la cart and it arrived piping hot and crispy. It was tasty,not dry and made me only want more! Then I ordered the EnSalada drink to wash it all down..This was refreshing, sweet and felt more like a dessert than a drink. Service was good. Waitress was friendly, my order was accurate and the restaurant was clean. I left a very happy customer on the verge of food coma and I'll be coming back for sure... The salvadorian quesadilla from the bakery was disappointing. But the restaurant food was amazing gave this place 4 stars!!! read more

When we had walked in to find seating literally ALL the tables were dirty and still full of dishes that have not been picked up. The customer service is HORRIBLE. Don't call they won't pick up the phone. Food is good. read more

Honestly... the service is not all that great. Some of the waitresses have an attitude. My food took almost 1 hour to get to my table. No lie. No exaggeration. Ask anybody in the area who has been to this place they'll tell you the same thing "they take a while to serve the food" You have to have a sense of what salvadorañan food is cause they mix it up a lot. Not coming back and not a fan of the food here. There are other Salvadorian places who meet the expectations of great food quality! read more

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm Pupusas- I love you so much! Can I marry you?! The pupusas are freshly made here and they are so yummy! If you my friends have not tried a pupusas you are missing out. Here is the breakdown on Pupusas if you are lost: It is a traditional Salvadoran dish made of thick, hand-made corn tortilla, that is usually filled with a blend of the following: cheese, cooked pork, refried beans and etc... The two most common pupusas are the pupusa de queso (cheese) and more popular pupusa revuelta with mixed ingredients of queso (cheese), frijoles (beans) and chicharrón. Pupusas are typically served with curtido (lightly fermented cabbage slaw with red chilies and vinegar) and a watery tomato salsa. _________________________________________________________ We pulled up at 7:15pm and walked in. Waiter said that he had to check if we could sit and eat, because they were closing soon =( Hello you all close at 8pm. He came back and said we could sit. Even if we could not sit we were going to get it to go but I thought it was really weird cause it was like 45 minutes to closing. Anywho- a different waiter came over and took our order and brought us pineapple water- which is so yummy and has chunks of pineapple inside Yum Yum Yum! I ordered the pupusas plate- which comes with 2 pupusas, black beans and cream. I went with the cheese pupusas and I ordered a shrimp taco on the side too just to try it out. The fiance has 2 pupusas with chicharron and the black beans mixed with rice. The outside was warm and just a bit of crisp to it, the cheese was just right and it melted perfectly. I topped it off with the cabbage and tomato sauce added a little cream on the side and I would be willing to fight for this plate for sure!!! There were a bit tight on the shrimp. I think inside the taco there may have been 3 or 4 pieces at tops in a huge tortilla. Total came out to about $23 or so. It has been a while since I have been in here. I have to remind my fiance that we need to drive to Wilmington more often =) Would have been a 5 star but customer service was okay. Not great. read more

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Came in with my friend from out of state. We sat down (7pm) and the waiter took like 10 minutes to give us the menu. After we decided what to order, we waited half an hour already and still no waiter! I went up to the counter and I told the waiter that I've been waiting for half an hour. The waiter said "I'm the only one here" Not once did he apologize. I understand he was busy, but that is not the customer's problem. If you want to keep clientele in a business, you gotta attend to them as quickly as possible and hire more staff! We ended up leaving. I don't think I'll ever go back and I live really close by. We ended up going to the other Salvadorian restaurant across the street. Was treated wayyyy better there! read more

Came here for takeout and tbh the pupusas suck. Literally they taste frozen and I've had better. Avoid comin here for a while...

This place should have five stars. Their food is always on point and I will drive from Long Beach just for the food here if you go during lunchtime the wait is a little long for food but it's so worth it. I've had just about everything on their menu and it's all amazing I've been coming here since I was a kid with my mama. Loooovvvveee it read more

ok I went back here and had their consomé and it was delicious!! it's a simple tomato based broth served with 3 taquitos and it is very good! also, we had a baleada with beans, cheese, egg and chorizo and my goodness... took me straight back to Honduras. I will be back for these two items specifically. read more

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Such a Wilmington staple. Anyone the lives around here knows about this place. This is one of the larger pupusas you can get. While larger, doesn't always mean better, the quality is still pretty good. The reason why this place doesn't get 5 stars is because of service. Right as you enter you will be talked to I. Spanish and you will be looked down upon because you don't know Spanish. The workers know English they just seem not to want to use it. Then again this is Wilmington so it's kinda expected. I suggest calling in your order and taking it to go. Like I said the food is pretty good and by far one of the better pupusas in Los Angeles! read more

Food is Great!!! Poor Customer Service, they need a Sign for customer to seat themselfs the waitress see me looking around to find a table and they did not help. Very rude service and the food will take from 45 to 1 hour to be served. read more

Been going here literally for over 15 years! Never disappoints. Being half saldadorean I enjoy being able to order for me and my family and having some great tasting pupusas read more

Horrible service they are not even busy I ordered 50 minutes ago and they said it would take only 20 minutes and they are taking forever

Food is amazing, very authentic! But the service is sooo bad. I'm very low maintenance, as long as my drink is for the most part always refilled and you check up on me at least once during the meal. BUT THIS IS RIDICULOUS. You wait about 15 mins for someone to acknowledge you after you sit down. You can tell the servers don't give to shiets about how they come off. They take so long to take your order and the food takes also a ridiculous amount of time. The kitchen people yell back and forth with the servers and it ruins the atmosphere. I feel like this place could be significantly better if the service wasn't so effing bad. No one cares about the reputation of this place and only rely on the food to keep people coming back. read more

Don't get me wrong, the food is great, but the service.... I'm currently on hold with them. They are not helping other customers, in fact, i hear them in the background joking and laughing. It's pretty ridiculous. And when I do speak to them over the phone or in person, they are beyond rude. They're especially rude to my husband because he doesn't speak Spanish. Pretty pathetic in my opinion. read more