While I'm not a pupusa snob, I do know what's good and what isn't growing up in the mission (SF) most of my life and visiting El Salvador every other year I've learned to detect my ideal taste and this spot does not disappoint! Ordered 2 pupusas (Revueltas) with the curtido and the salsa. These were really tasty and would come back in the near future. Place across the street is also known for their pupusas but have not been great the last couple visits of mine. Which led me to today's new adventure. Highly recommend! One of the few places you can get 2 pupusas and a drink for around $10. As fas as dining in, the vibe is definitely El Salvador. read more

El Rinconcito Catracho - Two revueltas, super tasty. - Salvadoran Near Me - San Mateo, California

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Straight forward, real deal pupusas. Off the downtown, but it will transport you to El Salvador. read more

El Rinconcito Catracho - Their pupusas are the real deal. - Salvadoran Near Me - San Mateo, California

Bro, this gotta be top 10 Salvadorean spots in the Bay Area. The ambiance is what really captivated me: I felt back in Central America. Once you take your seat in this small, humble establishment, you are given a menu and your order is taken I went with the Pupusas: here, you can get them w Flour Tortilla, or Rice Tortillas of your choice. I'll say, the rice tortillas aren't for everyone, as some describe it as bland. I went with both types, with one of them w shrimp. What a meal! Online, it can be shown as RINCONCITO CATRACHO, but it's the Salvadoran spot COME TRY IT OUT read more

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Super hole in the wall place with good eats and fast service. Seating is very limited but don't let this deter you. The papayas were fresh then plantains sweet and cooked perfectly. Will definitely return. Street parking can be a bit challenging. read more

Excellent, excellent, excellent. Ordered 2 pupusas, queso y lorico & revuelto. Both were delicious. Vibes were immaculate, and the gals that ran the shop were delightful. Extremely strong recommend. Fair warning, the hot sauce is *very* spicy read more

BEST PUPUSAS IN SAN MATEO. You have to try them to believe it! This place makes me feel like I'm back in El Salvador in my grandma's kitchen. The owner is so sweet and attentive. There hasn't been one option on the menu that's disappointed. SO DELICIOUS! read more

3.5 review only for pupusas. I came at 9:30pm and they were still open, and well past 10 on a weeknight. Pupusas were big and filled but lack crispness that I liked. Red sauce and cabbage was decent, nothing great. Super tiny place but has lots of food and drink options including beer. They also take card, which is a plus since the more popular restaurant next door doesn't. read more

Name of the restaurant might have changed to "Pupuseria El Salvador" as the old sign, which you can see in old photos, has been replaced. I didn't know what to order and I didn't see a menu so I went with typical Salvadoran food which is what everyone else was eating. I asked her to recommend a soup and a pupusa and she gave me what might be sopa de res and cheese and pork pupusa. Soup had a nice flavor to it, a bit oily, and pretty good beef (not overcooked! Yay!) The pupusa is excellent. Slightly burnt on the bottom to give it crunch, soft on top, and nice flavor. The pickled cabbage was good too. There was a large group ahead of me (does everyone eat at 3:30pm?) so the food took a while. She apologized for the wait and was nice about me not knowing what to order and my inability to speak Spanish. read more

Service was amazing. The woman who helped me was super sweet. A small but intimate place with amazing food. I was in San Mateo for the day for work and so glad I went here for my lunch! I got the bean and cheese pupusas :) read more

El Rinconcito Catracho - Bean and cheese pupusas - Salvadoran Near Me - San Mateo, California

Sweet people working here & the chicken cheese pupusas are very tasty. I m glad I was craving pupusas. I have a favorite pupusa place in San Mateo now. I have tried many but this is my favorite. Was a bit dirty cause of food and drink spills but it's ok. read more

El Rinconcito Catracho - a cup of coffee and a plate of food - Salvadoran Near Me - San Mateo, California

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Papusas like my grandmas! Delicious and one of our go to spots. Always hits the spot. Very friendly staff.

For some reason, I was craving pupusas and found this place through yelp. Frankly, I'm not sure why I decided to try this place since it only had four reviews. It must have been the location and the very convincing (and spot on) reviews. Before I had a chance to study the menu that was hanging on the wall, a woman walked out from behind the counter/kitchen. She asked if I wanted the English menu. I didn't think I needed it, so I declined the offer. She said to let her know if I had any questions. I finally decided on one pork and one chicken pupusa. She asked if I wanted beans and cheese in it. I guess I had a confused look on my face because said I could have whatever I wanted inside. I opted for one chicken with cheese and the other pork with beans and cheese. Apparently, everything was made to order. There was another lady in the kitchen flattening and stuffing my pupusas. The pupusas were amazing. The outside was crisp and the inside was soft. I especially liked the chicken with cheese. Definitely recommend. read more

El Rinconcito Catracho - Pupusas...top one is chicken and cheese. The bottom is pork, beans and cheese. - Salvadoran Near Me - San Mateo, California

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Tasty and authentic, although I'm no expert on El Salvadoran food. Palisades in a variety of fillings

It's the first time I've ever been in this area. I recently moved to the peninsula, so I haven't really ventured out and explored. I'm from SoCal, so I've been a little biased when it's come to Hispanic/Latin food. This place though... their pupusas are probably the best I've had so far. They're not thin, and the ingredients tasted fresh. The curtido is great (and I'm not a huge fan of it). The salsa roja is delicious too. They're not overly greasy like I've had before. I got the revueltas and queso con loroco. Everything about this little strip of road is homelike. Seriously though, you have to try the pupusas. They're very flavorful even without the curtido and salsa. read more

Down home, stick to your ribs, locals mainly, kinda divey restaurant. Besides having your standard Mexican menu, they have cuisine from Honduras and El Salvador. Honduran yuca con chicharon - $12 - There was some real nice chunks of pork that were both juicy and crunchy from being pressed on the griddle. The deep fried yuca it was served atop of is a gut bomb. (http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/el-rinconcito-catracho-san-mateo?select=1yoND3HgfU9e7LtdtHXS_Q#1yoND3HgfU9e7LtdtHXS_Q) Hondureno taco - Reminded me of a a chicken taquito or a rolled taco from Socal. Bailada ($5.5) - flour tortilla with beans, rice, and sour cream. Tastes like the bean burrito from Taco Bell but wayyyy better. Opt for the egg. So good. Montada pupusa. Basically a revuelta pupusa that's topped with an over easy egg and topped with a salsa fresco. (http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/el-rinconcito-catracho-san-mateo?select=W8oZi803pWRoCzBMzKZDPg#W8oZi803pWRoCzBMzKZDPg) Washed everything down with a jamaica drink. It's not really divey but the interior matches the exterior. The authenticity of this place is the standout. The prices are reasonable enough that I wouldn't mind coming back to explore more of their menu. Worth walking the extra steps from downtown 3rd if you're into unique eats. read more

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+6 stars for the food!!! We ate here tonight for the first time tonight to try it out. We usually go to La Pinata across the street which is my benchmark for consistently good Salvadorian, pupusas, etc. El Rinconsito Catracho has even better pupusas which I thought was impossible. The pupusas Reveultas are the best. The Loroco wasn't as good as at La Pinata. -2 stars for the atmosphere. Let me first say that I usually enjoy the hole in the wall type places. However, this had more the atmosphere of a hispanic bar than a restaurant. It doesn't have many tables and most of them were taken up with the locals sipping on beer and not eating food and watching the soccer game. We felt like everyone stared at us when we walked in and it was a little uncomfortable. Definitely bring your earplugs for this place. Like La Pinata across the street, they have installed a new internet jukebox and it is louder than you know what!!! I couldn't even talk to the person sitting next to me it was so loud. The service was nice though one lady speaks english and the other doesn't so you take your chances that she is there when you visit. Our pupusas came out fast (much faster than La Pinata and with a lot less grease). We ordered the pupusa with the fried eggs on top. At $8.50, it was a bad value compared to the same sized pupusa at $2.50. We also had the chicken soup. It was good but about the same as La Pinata. Bottom line, much better pupusas but they really need to figure out how to turn their tables instead of letting the locals loiter to watch the soccer game without eating anything. It would be much more comfortable for everyone. If they figure out the business part, this place is a home run because those pupusas are so good! read more

Homey feel. The kitchen is right in front of you! The owner was super friendly and helped us choose a pupusa. We had the Pupusa de Maiz con Loroco and added Zucchini. Quick service and good food. Will be coming back here. read more

El Rinconcito Catracho - Salvadoran Near Me - San Mateo, California

I love their pupusas. Superrrr filling, and such a wonderful portion for the price. It taste way better then other ones in the area that I have tried. Truly the best I've had in a long time. read more

place is very small on space but food is great i love the chicken soup and the breakfast meńu

Usually, the pupuseria that we go to is the one across the street from El Rinconsito Catracho. We decided to try something different, so we went here. Unfortunately, we were not impressed. We had to "request" menus after we were seated. I've never been to a sit-down restaurant where our waiter/ waitress didn't supply us with menus. Oh, we did get our tortilla chips and salsa... without plates. What made matters worse is that the salsa was so watered down that it spilled onto the table, on our menus, and on our clothes, as we dipped the chips into the sauce, and bringing them towards our mouths. If the salsa was THAT watery, you'd think that they would supply us with plates, so we didn't have to worry about any spillage. Either that, or they need to make the sauce a little thicker. :p My mother and her friend ordered a Mexican soup. All you can taste is the salt from the broth. Otherwise, the soup was absolutely bland. There was absolutely no seasoning to the soup at all, the vegetables were way overcooked and mushy, and the meat was so tough that you couldn't even bite into it. I ordered two pupusas revueltas, with a side of rice and refried beans. I'm sorry, but the way they made their pupusas was all wrong. The way they prepared them is by grinding/ blending the chicharrones very finely, and adding the cheese to it. I tasted more cheese than anything in my pupusas; I couldn't even taste the chicharrones. How did I know there were in the pupusas, you ask? I don't recall cheese having a greyish-brown texture to it. No, the chicharrones are supposed to be shredded, not blended finely. The chicharrones is what gives pupusas a name to begin with. If I wanted cheese only, I would've gladly made tortillas and cheese at home without having to step out of the house. As for the icing on the cake, what disturbed us more than anything was when one of the waitresses decided to pass her broom and sweep the floor around us as we were eating. I understand that a place needs to be kept clean, but there's no need to pass the broom when people are eating. In my book, that is VERY unsanitary. The reason why I didn't give this place one star is because the waitress who served us wasn't rude. Other than that, unless they can improve the food quality of their restaurant, I would gladly recommend the establishment across the street. read more

I'm basing my rating entirely on the food which, according to my Salvadoran girlfriend (and my stomach) is quite authentic and tasty. HOWEVER: I don't think one would be comfortable venturing here unless one spoke Spanish Not because the staff doesn't understand English (They do!) but because the regular "happy hour" crowd that hangs out in the restaurant is pretty loud and rowdy and as a consequence make my girlfriend a bit uncomfortable when she's inside. So, the food is killer but the crowd could quickly and easily make one yearn for takeout...Which is what we do...frequently! read more

This place has both Hondoran and Salvadoran food. I came for the Salvadoran and got the Yuca con Chicharon which was great. Very crispy and juicy. Great prices, fast service. read more

I used to visit this place a lot 2 years ago, the pupusas were delicious! I came to this place last week for pupusas, the service still the same very friendly lady serving the food. But the pupusas were NOT good at all, they were not fully cooked and you couldn't even taste the chicharon. This place was full of drunk people definitely not a family place anymore! The Atol de elote was good, and the tacos de pollo! read more

not sure if I ordered incorrectly, the tamales we ordered were soggy, watery and had the spongy texture of something that was frozen and defrosted (a little freezer burn). Also the empanadas were not what we expected (very dense outer banana-ish breading and a heavy and sweet bean/meat filling). read more

Horrible food and customer service, and one of the female employees names marina is a flirt. Very disrespectful. The flavor is horrible I thought it was better. read more

This is a very local's place. Like Juanita's before it, not a lot of folks outside the Hispanic community come here. It maybe one of the better kept secrets in San Mateo. I miss Juanita's. After a few year absence working in the area, I came back to find it replaced. Apparently Juanita sold to the fine ladies that now man Rinconcito. They do Honduranm, Salvadorean and Mexican fare. Of course Mexican fare is plentiful around here so I skipped that. Got a Revuelta pupusa, a taco Hondurenos, and a Salvadorean tamale with chicken. This is as close as you're going to get to Central American home cooking without being in someone's house Im sure. Fluffy tamale, rich flavorful pupusa, and a rolled fried taco with beef and a tomato chile sauce to round it all out. A bunch of locals came in to watch the Mexico-Turkey Soccer match and everyone was just kicking it enjoying the sunny afternoon. Don't let the hole in the wall ambiance and dumpy outside deter you. I miss Juanita's but Rinconcito is a worthy successor. read more

This place is a little gem in downtown San Mateo - loved their pupusas, and their al pastor taco was tasty. I think their pupusas are overpriced, but they are yummy! read more

First off this place does have good pupusas. I'll give them that for sure. Everything...and I mean everything else sucked. Walking in my husband and I didn't have very high expectations since we were just trying to get a quick bite. I understand that in a small spot such as this you're not going to get the best of presentation or anything like that, but we didn't expect our food to be dripping through our fingers. My torta was soggy, falling apart, and dripping every which way. To be honest the ambiance was probably the worst part. I could probably forgive the food experience because the flavors were pretty decent and on top of that they did provide us with forks and such. "So, why the two stars??" Again...the ambiance. They had the music blasting! My husband and I had to practically yell at one another and we were right next to one another. They had a group of guys drinking and eating, but they kept giving them bottle after bottle to drink so much that the employee kicked out one of the guys. If you didn't want to have a drunk customer you shouldn't have kept giving him bottles. Especially since it was the middle of the day. There was no need to try and convert the tiny space into a bar. Our quick bite cost us almost $50! For some pupusas and a torta? That's crazy! Seriously, first and last time! read more

I went to this place with someone from Honduras thinking it would be authentic as many people wrote here and the stars given it turned out to be horrible there was only men drinking and the music was so loud the person taking the order couldn't hear me. The worst of it all was the food, not only it wasn't authentic but it was horrible quality. I order friend chicken which was disgusting and kinda raw. We did not eat the rest of the food as it looked very disgusting. On top of that they charged me almost $50 dollars for two sodas and two chicken meals. I would not recommend this place ever. read more

Do not come here! This place was absolutely disgusting! They watered down every sauce and every drink. Their Yuca with Chicharrón plate contained watery yuca and old pork. When my plate arrived, it smelled like wet rags that haven't been washed for days. The chicken was very dark and very old, probably expired. The cream in the baleadas was expired. Everything we ordered here was bad tasting and made us want to throw up. Do not come here. read more

Had an interesting experience here. Definitely a hole in the wall. Three pupusas is more than enough. But the whole time, like regulars sitting in the corners staring at the china and gringo that came in. Blasting reggaeton, cuz of the new jukebox. Be warned and eat well. read more

I agree with the review by Christopher S. While the food is authentic, the place reminds me of my Tios hanging out drinking cervesas, and talking loud(er) with each bottle. I brought my kids (11 and 13 year old), but would be uncomfortable if my daughter was older or my wife. There are only 5-6 tables, so take out might be a better option. Back to the food ! The waitress was very nice as she welcomed us. We had the queso con loroco, queso con pollo, and revueltas papusas. All tasted like back home and not greasy like some other papusarias. We also had the platanos, frijoles, and crema....a must with papusas IMO (the dish was okay not great). Finally, we tried a Honduran dish called camarones fritos. The prawns were sautéed with bell peppers and onion (a Central American staple), Spanish rice, refried beans, and salad. This dish was okay taste wise with small shrimp and not something that blew my socks off. El Rinconcito shines with there papusas and would make any Salvadoreno think of back home. read more

I come from San Diego so my standards for Mexican food are high, and this is the only place I've found in the Bay Area that merits a 5* rating. The food is amazing and about as close to home cooked as you'll find anywhere. Order a papusa and they litterally pat out the 2 thick tortillias by hand. The carne asada (which I always use as a good barometer of how good a mexican place is) is flavorful and the perfect blend of crispy and soft. The salsas are all incredibly fresh tasting. The Al Pastor also must be tried, and for dessert don't miss the fried sweet plantains which come with authentic casera cheese and light sour cream. Yum! read more

Excellent pupusas revueltas! Delicious rice and beans! Tried out their pastries again-excellent! Wide selection of Salvadoran products-finally found my favorite cheese-queso Duro Viejo! We are definitely coming back! read more

The food was not good, PLUS I got a burrito priced at 8.50, and the lady charged me 10.50!!!!