It had been years since our last visit to La Carreta. We had really enjoyed the pupusas and were looking forward to them. This most recent order was a bit underwhelming. The pork hand pie that came with the combo was dry and I couldn't really distinguish the filling. It tasted like it wasn't freshly made that day. The chicken tamale was still wrapped in the green leaf and was moist. Unfortunately I did not care for the almost fishy taste of the masa. And the texture was unlike other Salvadoran tamales I had, masa was too mushy, felt undercooked. I didn't finish it. The pork revuelta pupusa was ok. I remembered liking it better from our past visit. The filling was lacking in flavor. At last, I would recommend the VEGETARIAN and ZUCCHINI PUPUSAS. I think they compliment the flavors of the corn masa and melted cheese much better. The cabbage Slaw (Curtido) is made well and goes good as a topping to the pupusa. read more

Really good food. 3 time back for breakfast and having the #1 They have juice called maraquya Delicious! Yes with capital read more

My best friend is Salvadorean, and this stuff definitely tastes like her ma's home cooking. Four stars for authenticity and prices. Pupusas are 2 bucks each, combo platters can go up to 14 bucks. I'm not a fan of plantains (a side that comes w/the combo), but for those who are, they're pretty good. As for the service, I say, order in advance on weekdays, otherwise you'll be impatiently waiting for all the regulars who can speak Spanish to clear out. read more

Food is amazing. But wait times are long. If you order take out expect 30-45 min for food to be ready

This place is a gem outside of El Salvador. The pupusas are delicious and the horchata is almost as good as homemade. This is definitely a place I want to go back to again. read more

La Carreta - Salvadoran Near Me - Thousand Oaks, California

Pupusas, empanadas, and fried bananas, yum! This is a humbly decorated place, not necessarily ideal for a big night out. Nonetheless, when you are craving something different in the predictable dining of Thousand Oaks, this is a fun choice. I found the food very authentic and fresh, and the service very nice! Everything is made fresh to order, so it isn't super fast...but well worth the wait. The pupusas, in particular, are fantastic. They have several meat, cheese only, and veggie varieties. Make sure you look up the directions and address on mapquest or google are you not going to find this place easily. read more

I love their food.....the pupusas are made to order....friendly staff. If my girls could go everyday they would go everyday! read more

Best pupusas in the area. I drive here from Port Hueneme because they are just better than the local ones we have. Not my grandmas but pretty close. read more

So I went to this restaurant to buy something and when I got home I realized that I didn't get for what I was paying for and i called to the restaurant and asked to speak with the lady how was in charge to just let her know what happened I talked to her with a frendly tone and she just answered me with a rude attitude and I was just calling her to let her know that I Wasn't happy cuz a paid for something that they don't gave me so she can pay attention next time but no she asked me with a rude attitude I love the food from this place but after this I'm not going again read more

Worse place ever it just reminded me why I stopped coming here, as a Salvadoran I don't recommend coming here. waste of time and money food is very nasty extra super super salty I think the beans are from a can terrible services nasty attitude, over price. We waited for over an hour just to get the our drinks which was a atol de elite and it's was 7.99. Also another 30 minutes for the food One server on the floor. The lady was very rude.. she charge me for something that it was her mistake. Never coming back here. read more

Don't go here for the atmosphere and ambiance. Go for the Pupusas and tasty food. I have never dined-in, but have picked up food to go. Among the top pupuserias this side of Los Angeles. It helps if you call with advance notice as everything is prepared fresh for you. I personally love the place, no frills, no questions asked. The staff has always been kind and attentive. read more

This is by far our favorite Salvadorean place that is within Ventura Country. The food is authentic. You do have to be patient when ordering. They make everything fresh so expect to wait. We live in Oxnard and will drive to too just to eat there or take it to go. Th owner Is also a sweetheart. Have been coming here for 5 years and will not stop. read more

Wonderful food and lovely waitstaff. I was first introduced to Salvadoran food at the famous Blompies in San Francisco. This is just as good if not better! read more

For long time we look for a more closely Salvadoran food taste this the place I recommend this place .

Great food, great environment I would always travel to Glendale to get my fix for my traditional home cooking after finding this place I won't ever need to travel that far again! Truly authentic place read more

La Carreta - Salvadoran Near Me - Thousand Oaks, California

I just finished eating and oh my goodness! The food is authentic, comes out piping hot and is absolutely delicious. The service is top notch, the two women working there were very kind. Highly recommend if you like or want to try authentic Salvadorian food 10/10 read more

Slow service but fantastic food. Their pupusas are amazing, and the list on the menu is just a list of suggestions. Essentially you can pick and choose any of the ingredients and they'll make it for you. My favorite one is Cheese, Chilly and Chicken pupusa. Beware their hot sauce is crazy spicy even for someone like me who can handle a lot of intense spice. Nothing out there, and definitely delicious, just be careful using it - try a bit first. The service is friendly, but seems even on weekdays their kitchen and servers are maybe bit overwhelmed, so you'll have to wait a long time before getting your food. I live close by so I just call for pickup and show few minutes later than when they say the food would be ready. Most of the time I only have to wait few extra minutes after that. But yeah basically a small, simple, nothing fancy place with great food. read more

This place is incredible. My go-to option is the #1 Combo with a Bean and Cheese Pupusa and a side of casamiento (beans mixed with rice; best thing ever) and crema, for less than $6. This dish fills me up every time and leaves me feeling so incredibly satisfied, all for less than I'd pay for an equally filling, and less healthy alternative at a drive-thru. I wasn't a fan of their horchata, but I'm fine with water, so that's no big deal. I've brought everyone I know here out to eat at least once, and most of them have become regulars. Be prepared to wait for your food, though. Everything is hand-made from scratch locally sourced ingredients (I see them walk in with grocery bags from Trader Joe's and Sprouts), so be patient when waiting for your meals! read more

Had the worst experience on Sunday afternoon-onto the night WAITING for my food. The lady at the front stated it would be 20 minutes. The order took more than 1.5 hrs. I understand if they are busy (nobody waiting) I understand if they are under staffed but don't lie how on the expected time. read more

5 stars because not only is their food amazing but their staff is the sweetest. I ordered for a last minute cater to my facility and they suggested many items that my staff enjoyed. They really took care of me and my team making sure that all items were given and I am really satisfied. read more

This is probably the worse place to order food from! When you are seated after ordering and 20 minutes later they come and tell you they don't have what you ordered! Bullshit! Wasted 20 minutes waiting for nothing. Not only the waiting time is awful but also the service! read more

Love this place! Best pupusas in town! I love the chicken and chili ones with the hot sauce! So good! This place is always busy, so be patient if you order take out. read more

La Carreta - Pupusa menu - Salvadoran Near Me - Thousand Oaks, California

I went here at lunch time around 11:39. They were slammed with take out orders. I dined in and my food took about 30 minutes. The pupusas were tasty. The mild red sauce was bland and the cabbage slaw lacked spices. Our waitress was so busy managing the tables and packing to go orders. They really need 2 people working the dining area at lunch time. Allow for longer than typical time if you eat there. Prices are good and the quality of the food is good too. read more

Stopped by to get 6 pupusas (take out). Right from the start I was very confused on the ordering part and did not know where to go and no one seem to want to help. Finally, ordered 6 pupusas and asked how long it would take. The lady helping said 20 mins, which I thought was a normal amount of time. I went by to taco bell to grab food for the girls, which took me about 15 mins. Once back, I sat down and waited for an additional 10 mins. I looked at the lady that helped me and she looked back and headed to the cooking area, which I assumed was to check on my order. Guessed wrong, as she had gone to the back to grab a phone order. Another 10 mins went by and nothing was happening, no new clients were coming in and my order was not coming out. The lady was just sitting there not even acknowledging I was there. That's when I got fed up and just left. Unfortunately I did not get to try their food, but their service left a bad taste in my mouth and made me not want to ever go back there. Maybe their food is good, but I feel they should really improve their customer service skills or at least hire someone in the front end to be helpful and not let customers wait for over 35 mins without saying a word to them. read more

The food is very yummy but service is horrible. Be prepared to wait for over an hour to get your food. They are always under staffed and running behind schedule. Even to go orders are not ready on time. Being the only pupuseria in town, I guess they can function this way and still have a loyal clientele. read more

Rarely have walked out of a restaurant feeling sad, this is the second time I've gone in there asking for something on their menu that they didn't have which is no big deal, But they were incredibly rude and I really got the feeling if I ordered something they would have spit in it... I got a distinct feeling they don't like white people. They thought it was funny when I had to ask them what an ingredient was in another dish and told me they didn't know what it was in English, with a sneer and a smile.. I asked for a to go menu and they said they didn't have any! A weird and creepy experience. Too bad, I just moved up the street and it would've been nice to have a salvadorean restaurant one minute from where I live to go to. And I feel bad for them for being such haters. read more

Amazing place!! Went there for the first time and the food was delicious! The Pupusas were really good! The service was great! The prices were reasonable! I will definitely go back read more

The food is good, the service is HORRIBLE! The waitress had no sense of customer service. The food is over price, and to make worse the worse is bad! read more

Food: 4 Stars Service: 1.5 Stars Yucky Factor: 1 Star Sanitation: 1 Star My son and I decided to try lunch here, mostly based on good Yelp reviews. What. Are we just unlucky or do lower standards apply for extreme ethnic food? Maybe others are desperate for Salvadorian cuisine. We? We just wanted lunch. So we arrived at about 2:00P. A guy with lots of tats greeted us and said we could sit anywhere. He was nice enough, gave us menus and explained some of the favorite dishes and combinations. We ordered two combinations with pork pupusas, fried bananas, empenadas, and other cool stuff such as slaw. The tat-guy took our order but almost immediately disappeared to a little truck outside, evidently, to deliver a to-go order. Never saw him again. Our food arrived via a stout young lady with gold-lined teeth. Yeah, they do that in Latin America. I guess it just adds to the... ambiance? So we ate our food and it was actually pretty good. No, it was really good... some of it godly. Good enough that we were yapping about coming back when maybe they'd be in a better position to give us some service. We never saw a server again after we were brought our food. We wanted a drink refill but that wasn't going to happen. Finally, we decided it was time to leave so after several minutes of looking around, I decided to get up and hang over the bar, to get the attention of somebody in the kitchen. A guy at the bar (a regular customer probably), shouted something to the kitchen in Spanish. Eventually a lady came out and, seemingly annoyed, presented me with my bill, which I paid... with a 10% tip. Sorry, lousy service, lousy tip. As I was waiting, I peered through the opening between the bar and the kitchen, into the kitchen. I noticed plastic grocery bags, probably containing groceries or supplies, thrown onto the rear of the cutting board / food prep area. Then I began to think... those bags were just in a sticky, bird poopie, shopping cart; then tossed into the trunk of a car, to get here. Now they're perched on a food-prep surface, contaminating whatever is being chopped up there. Then I began to get kind of grossed out. Why would they plunk that stuff down there? Could it be that they really don't have good sanitation standards? I'm sorry to say, even though I'm not a clean-freak, I just can't deal with dirty grocery bags plunked onto the chopping surface, for food I'm expected to eat. Definitely there are some sanitation issues at this establishment. Until I hear more positive remarks from Yelpers who have looked into the kitchen, this restaurant is a definite no-go for me. Sorry folks. read more

I'm not a regular, but come every so often. The pupusas are great BUT I went in around 4pm it seemed to me that there was about two waiters and what seemed to be the owner. My boyfriend and I have gone before and dismissed the service due to the fact they take a while to make and it's been busy until today.1. My boyfriend got up to ask for a straw and was waiting there in front untill they full on finished the whole conversation before even acknowledging him and after being told to attent him 2. I got up to ask for a box and pay but once again was left there standing for a lot longer while one of the waiters was on a personal call in and the other was sitting at the bar area cracking nuts and once again had to be told to attend to our needs ! .. keep in mind we were literally the only two customers in the restaurant and both times we had to get up ourselves and weren't even being acknowledged when we would get up. THE FOOD IS TO GOOD TO BE HAVING SHITTY CUSTOMER SERVICE! DO BETTER!!! read more

The power of yelp manifested. User reviews totally rule over critic reviews. I have found that I can no longer trust the judgment of food critics any more. They are usually out of touch with what someone like me wants to eat. I've digressed... La Carreta is exactly as Rockit O. and Wes S. describe it to be. It's a hole in the wall place that I never would have found just driving around. I drive along Thousand Oaks Blvd. all the time and have never seen it. It's hidden inside a very discreet shopping plaza for...carpet. Weird. Either way, once inside, you find yourself in a sort of Latin American diner. My friend and I sat at the counter and ordered Pupusas, which I had never had before. They were freshly made and when coupled with the cole slaw-like stuff plus the spicy salsa, extremely yummy. Since we ordered the combo, it came with a tamale along with some fried plantains. The plaintains were as delicious as they come, sweet but not overly so and a little crispy. However, the tamale was blah. Bland. I think I just don't like the type of starch they use to make tamales. I will never order tamales ever again. I myself am not a fan of Mexican food - which is probably a cousin of Salvadorian food. However, I will probably consider coming back during random occasions (monthly?). It's not the kind of food I crave on a weekly basis. Usually I reserve 4 stars for restaurants that I want to eat at pretty much all the time. However, considering that I do not like Mexican food, I was very pleased. I think most people will enjoy it. read more

My 15 month old daughter has been coming here since she was born, she loves the great food and the whole family owned staff calls her "Happy girl". This our favorite casual dining in T. O. Pupusas, fried platanos with beans and crema, vinegar cabbage slaw, and home made hot sauce. Sooooo gooood! I would recommend skipping Taco Bell right next door and going straight to La Carreta. read more

I love this place! I've went to places all over LA and haven't found anything as good. The staff is super friendly and the papusas are amazing. A great tip is to ask them to add fresh garlic to the cheese papusa, it's delicious. Have been here over a dozen times now and never disappoints. Prices are amazing as well! read more

La Carreta - Salvadoran Near Me - Thousand Oaks, California

4 1/2 Star To this day I believe that Salvadorian food is way better than Mexican, this place has helped me convert a few Mexicans to this theory of mine. Now you know it has to be good, when you have people denouncing their grandma's posole and mole. The stuff they produce here in "Damn Good" I just have one issue -- no one speaks english. Yes, in the middle of thousand oaks -- none of these people speak english. Or at least not to me. I just point at what I want, order a large Jaimaca and call it a day. Like I said, the food is so damn good!!! read more

I came here and i really loved their attentive service. I ordered a pupusa and a coffee... The pupusa had an amazing authentic flavor however the curtido was VERY SPICY. I'm from El Salvador and not too sensitive to spicy foods but maybe with tacos or a burrito not used to having big chunks of hot red pepper in the curtido. It was so spicy i couldn't even enjoy my coffee. I wish they would give you choices for spicy or not spicy as I would love to bring my kids and friends here for pupusas. I would give it a five star but because of that I'm giving it three read more

La Carreta - Salvadoran Near Me - Thousand Oaks, California

Really good, stick to your ribs food. My husband and I both got the #3 (pupusa, plantains and tamale) and banana milkshakes. A bowl of coleslaw was also brought to the table. When you look at the pictures that people have posted, it doesn't look like a lot of food, but it is very filling. I imagine it's all of the starch, but I'm not complaining, since carbs are my weakness. I don't know how long the restaurant has been around, but there was a steady stream of people coming in to eat or pick up food. One guy that came in with a friend told him that he came there all the time. We've never had Salvadoran food before, and we both really enjoyed it. If you've never had it before, I recommend it. It's an opportunity to be a little adventurous without having to make the commitment to drive out to the Valley or L.A. to do so. read more

Authentic Le Salvadorean cuisine...yes please! I am happy to have consulted and trusted my fellow yelpers to lead me to La Carreta. We started with a side of fried plantains, which were excellent! For my entree, I chose the 2 papusa combo with a chicken tamale. The chicken and cheese papusas were absolutely delicious! The chicken tamale was also fabulous. Service was relaxed but efficient enough. The atmosphere was interesting with all eyes fixed on a TV in the middle of the restaurant playing a Harry Potter movie. None the less, La Carreta puts out some amazing cuisine! read more

3.5 Stars Say it with me..."Pupusa, Pu-pu-sa!" I know it might not sound very appetizing, but don't judge a food by it's name! They come stuffed with all sorts of goodies, including chicharon, beef, veggies and beans. I never would have heard of this place if it wasn't for those coupons that get mailed to you. You know the ones that contain coupons for, kitchen remodeling, dentists, dry cleaning, pet grooming, etc... This latest packet had one for La Carreta. "Interesting" I said, El Salvadorean food in T.O.. I actually persuaded a bunch of people from my office to try it out, most of the guys were very skeptical. The place is not very big, seats maybe 20 people. There were seven of us, so we put together a table in the back and started perusing the menu. They have many different specialties and quite a few common Spanish dishes. Our table was all over the board, I ordered the #5, but I think they served me the #6. The pupusas were delicious, IMO just as good as Saritas in Grand Central Market downtown. I also liked the pastelito. Other items that were ordered, Carne Asada torta, Chile Relleno, Pollo Asado, and Lomo a la Plancha. Overall the comments were good. The prices are reasonable for the combos, but the steak and chicken dishes are a bit pricey for a place like this. Everything seems to be homemade and made to order, including their tortillas, which were great. They accept credit cards and the service was standard. read more

Found this little gem today while browsing at Flooring 101. It's tucked away which makes it hard to even know it's there. The place was clean and open. The waitress was cheerful and helpful. All patrojs there were Hispanics so you know that's always a good sign. The wife and I ordered the Sampler plate which had bit of everything and perfect for two. The Pupusas were great! It was not too thick and had a good crunch. The food took some time to arrive but I think it's because they make everything to order. (Heard and saw a woman make the Pupusas so we know it was not frozen). Great to see more and more ethnic food in the area and little mom and pop businesses. read more

Please. Learn from my mistake. I spent years driving by La Carreta without ever realizing it existed. I've spend the last two years making up for lost time. Every time I'm here, I watch the line of cars at the Taco Bell drive through next door and pity all those people who have not yet discovered La Carreta. I do a combo #1 or #3 with a vegetarian pupusa. If you're a newbie, don't worry--a pupusa is way more filling than it looks. Load it up with curtido (lightly pickled cabbage), douse it with hot sauce (the larger container is mild, the smaller one is spicy), and wash it down with a banana shake. Yum. The casamiento (mixture of rice and black beans that manages to be soft and crispy at the same time) is delicious, and the fried plantains are a great addition to your meal as well. After the pupusa, my favorite thing on the menu are the tamales. They're intensely flavorful--even just the masa is delicious. read more