F'ing amazing. Hidden gem. We tried a little bit from every corner of the menu and zero disappointment.

I ordered takeout tonight from The Guanaquita. I found them through online searching and their photos and menu looked amazing! Since I had never been before I wanted to get the combination plate. I opted for a pupusa, 2 tacos, and an enchilada. For each, I just asked for whichever filling/meat was most popular and what the restaurant would recommend which was the pork. The tacos have two options for topping and I went for #1 which was lettuce, pico de gallo, cilantro, sour cream, and avocado (a thin guacamole rather than pieces). The tacos were good. They looked even better. They came with 2 tortillas each so it was sturdy enough to hold the fillings. The pupusa was nice but not my favourite. I ended up dipping it in the hot salsa and it was nicer. My absolute favourite was the enchilada. It was not what you would expect of a Mexican enchilada, but is instead a Salvadoran enchilada which is very similar to a tostada. That was great! Overall, the food was good. I'd love to return to dine in person because I think it would be amazing in person. Usually takeout is never the same. Hopefully once the lockdown ends I can return and have an even better experience! read more

Wonderful Salvadoran food. Loved it! Yes, it seemed like a deserted hole in the wall but it was busy with folks carrying out orders. Cooked to order, fresh ingredients, and amazing tastes. Authentic and honest. read more

The Guanaquita Restaurant - Absolutely delicious! - Salvadoran Near Me - Kitchener, Ontario

Been here a couple times - both times delicious. Located approximately across from Kitchener city hall, this place is on the upper level and can be easy to miss if you aren't looking for it. Super friendly service and knowledgeable servers. One of the things I love about this place is that it basically offers both vegetarian AND vegan versions of practically everything on the menu. This time we ordered the vegan nachos to start and I ordered the vegan Mexican enchiladas as my entree. Nachos were loaded with toppings and were definitely the highlight of the meal, the enchiladas were really good too though. On a previous visit I have also ordered the vegan platter which has been a favourite so far. It is a really good thing to order if you want to get a lil bit of everything. read more

The Guanaquita Restaurant - Vegan nachos - Salvadoran Near Me - Kitchener, Ontario

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Note: Located on the 2nd floor, so look up! I struggle when I have a reason to give an independent business, especially small &/or family-owned, but here goes... Atmosphere Restaurant is fairly big, but it is separated from booths towards the back, regular tables in the centre (siding a dance floor), and a few tables by the front windows. Restaurant looks like it could possibly function as a banquet hall for quinceañeras, regular bday parties, engagements, etc. Anyway, we were seated near the dance floor, in the middle of the afternoon, and it was quite dark. They were seating Caucasian male uni students near the window, so not sure why we were the only people seated in the "middle". I could be wrong, but I don't really remember any kinda music playing the background. Service Probably one of the most unfriendliest, unwelcomed recent experiences I have had dining out. This guy did not even crack a smile. And when I asked if the horchata was homemade, he seemed to take that as a personal offense. No water on the table. Just did the bare minimum. Food We ordered 2 pupusas (cheese & cheese, bean, chicken) and a chicken tamale. Chicken tamale was wrapped in either a plaintain or banana leaf. A recent frozen tamale that I picked up from Trader Joe's (made in Mexico) tasted better than this chicken tamale. The texture was mushy and there was no corn flavour. Pupusas were just ok, again no corn flavour. The cheese, bean, chicken trio flavour was much better than just cheese. Cheese one was bland. Mild salsa tasted like something out of a bottle. All in all, I had a choice between 2 pupuserias and choose this one because I saw that they served tamales. (I love tamales!) I believe the other one did not. However, the unfriendly service and being seated in possibly the darkest area of the restaurant was a real turn off. Food was just ok, but not worth going back for. read more

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The Guanaquita Restaurant is located in downtown Kitchener, near City Hall. It could easily be missed as the restaurant itself is on the upper floor, and the entrance is a bit hidden. The interior was decorated with El Salvadoran art, flags, and other cultural decorations. Today was actually my first time trying Salvadoran cuisine, and I've got to say that my taste buds were very happy during the meal! My friend and I ordered a pupusa, a tamale, and the Salvadorean grilled delight entree to share. The pupusa had a lot of stuffing, filled with loroco (a flower used commonly in El Salvadoran food), pork, beans and cheese. It was delicious and the melty cheese added that extra punch to the taste- probably my favourite part of the meal! We got the chicken tamale, and it tasted pretty bland, compared to the pupusa. The texture of the dough reminded me of mashed potatoes. The portion size of the entree was huge! It's definitely filling for 2 people, especially if you're planning on ordering other appetizers or sides. It came with chicken, steak, shrimp skewer, salad, rice, beans, and a tortilla. The chicken was extremely tender- I was impressed. The shrimp was also very tasty, but the steak was a bit tough, likely because the meat was quite thin. It was more like a 'medium well' or even 'well done', although we ordered 'medium'. Overall, the service was great, and the pricing is decent for the amount and variety of food you can get! :) read more

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Awesome, extremely fresh and genuine El Salvadorian food!! I've come here twice in the past two weeks and have loved it. Super cheap eats (most of the items around $3.50 to $4 per piece) and delicious. I love their pupusas! My favourite was their pork, beans, and cheese. (I tried the steak and cheese but the pork is definitely tastier) All orders come with some coleslaw and salsa. Their enchiladas were also really good (however by what I was expecting - more like tostadas than enchiladas). Also tried their tamales which were good but lacking a bit of flavour. Honestly it's an awesome, no frills, good food kinda place and I'm all about it. Would love to come one of the nights they have dance lessons! There's a big dance floor in the middle of the restaurant. read more

My second visit to this restaurant. Drove a long time to get here. I was again not disappointed. The reason for the imperfect rating I'm giving is the wait time. We had a LONG wait even though the restaurant was not busy. If you are in no hurry you will get an amazing Latin food experience. Just as we started getting frustrated with the wait, the food arrived and took our misery and converted it to bliss. If it is your first time there, get the Guanaquita platter. You'll be able to try 4 of their most popular items. The PUPUSA is to die for. Dirty to pronounce, so delicious to inhale. Not to mention... Waiting for the bill was another gruesome wait. I hope they were only understaffed the day I was there and that this is not their new norm. read more

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I'm a huge fan of South American food. This place was good but not perfection. It was a little pricey, which most South American food is because it's usually all made in house. I just was expecting a little more for what I paid for. Overall I found it kind of flavourless. Needed more seasoning for sure. Variety was pretty good on the menu but overall just felt a little lacking. read more

I've been here a few times before and I'm always surprised at how empty it always is. It could just be my timing, as I've typically gone for late lunch or early dinner. This restaurant is also a bit tucked away and located on the second story. I've tried several menu items from here, but my favourite are the tamales! The food is reasonably priced; I actually think you get a good portion for how good it is and how much you pay. The staff are incredibly nice and friendly. My only gripe would be the slow service. The last time I went, it took about 45 mins to get my group's orders out. I really didn't mind waiting as the host was incredibly attentive and brought our drink orders while we waited, but it's just something to keep in mind if you're impatient (or just hungry). All in all, I would recommend this place and will go here again. read more

The food is good! I had El Grande to sample a few of their items: 2 mini pork and cheese pupusas, 2 chicken/cheese flautas and fried yuca. It was a good amount of food (took some home) and was a good sampler. I got it mild spice because I wasn't sure how spicy things were. It was not spicy at all and they have good hot sauces on the table so you can add as much as you want. I would definitely come back to try other items on their menu. read more

The Guanaquita Restaurant - Salvadoran Near Me - Kitchener, Ontario

This place is a hidden gem in Kitchener! Really fresh and authentic Salvadoran food! If you like that type of food I would definitely eat here. Also, very affordable! However, they are listed as having Mexican food which I found a little misleading- we had enchiladas which came out on a circular hard tortilla (not wrapped in a soft tortilla like every other Enchilada I have ever had). Service was okay but we were eating pretty spicy food and nobody ever came to refill our waters. I am being a little bit picky but it is only because this place had such amazing Yelp reviews but it really didn't live up to all of the hype. read more

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Traveled to Waterloo for work and found this little gem in Yelp and decided to give it a try. The food was excellent. I had the Yuca (cassava) Sancochada. Yuca is one of my mom and grandma's favorite root. It was delicious!! I had 3 pupusas for dinner. 2 pork, one chicken. They were all super amazing. Wish I could've eaten more!! Service was fast and very friendly. Highly recommend this place for awesome Salvadorian food!! read more

The Guanaquita Restaurant - Yuca Sancochada. - Salvadoran Near Me - Kitchener, Ontario

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Other 5 star reviews of The Guanaquita restaurant definitely do not fall short of how great the food is! All authentic Salvadoran food at great prices. I ordered the Quanaquita platter and it was an excellent choice with several menu options on one plate. The food was not greasy and was prepared with fresh ingredients. Staff were very friendly and the service was great! I would recommend The Guanaquita to anyone who is looking to try something different in Kitchener. Overall great restaurant! read more

Wife and I ate here for our anniversary. We were seated out on the patio over looking king street. Service and food was amazing, real authentic taste! My wife had the chimichanga and I hade the steak tacos. We both shared the deep fried desert burrito. read more

The Guanaquita Restaurant - Great anniversary dinner! - Salvadoran Near Me - Kitchener, Ontario

OH MY GOODNESS. This place is heaven. The food is delicious, and clearly made with fresh home made ingredients. Authentic Salvadorian food at great prices too, Most of my menu favorites such as tacos, enchilads and pupusa's are about $2.50 each and their huge nacho portion is only $7.00 they beat any attempt at tacos, or cheap tacos in KW and surrounding area. There are other more more expensive dinner options but then its still under $20. This restaurant is awesome for vegetarians too! Most items on the menu can be made vegetarian. The decor in the restaurant is nice and comfortable with great music. The have salsa dancing lessons and other types of dancing through out the week, They have a great patio over looking King street. The staff are very friendly and the service is quick. What more could you ask for! As you can see i am a huge fan of The Gunaquita and highly reccomend you try it an tell your friends and family! nom nom nom read more

Delicious! We stopped in here later on a Friday evening and the service wad fast and friendly. They had dance lessons going on that were fun to watch. The guanaquita dip was amazing to share to start our meal. I had the smoothy that was delicious but impossible to drink through a straw. I had the nachos as my main and they were better than any nachos I've ever had. Little chucks of steak were so much better than the ground beef you usually get. My partner had the steak burrito and said it was the best he's ever had. Our bill came to $40 including alcohol and a tip. We will definitely be back! read more

From the previous reviews we expected to have poor service and great food. We found just the opposite. Our server was amazing. When we told her that we had read about the restaurant and wanted some recommendations as to what to order, she was more than happy to oblige. She was very friendly and spoke in a very clear and informed manner throughout the evening. Unfortunately, the food left much to be desired. The dip platter consisted of some guacamole which was ok, a salsa that tasted like it came from a jar and a dip with dour cream cheese and peppers. The chips tasted like Tostitos. The combo platter we ordered was not much better. The Pupusa was very tasty. There was a long black hair in the tamale. I was so embarrassed and horrified that I didn't say anything to the server. I threw it on the floor. I may have lost my appetite after this. The shrimp tacos were very bland and the tortillas were far too doughy for my liking. I ate one and let my boyfriend pick the filling from the other two. Margaritas were okay, if lacking much tequila. I can't decide if maybe I just don't like Salvadorean food. If this is it, I'm not impressed. I'm also fairly certain that the long black hair should not be in anyone's food regardless. Probably would not recommend this place to anyone. The two stars are both for our very sweet server who seemed especially concerned that we liked our food. We did not, but I didn't have the heart to tell her. read more

I want to start by saying that this used to be one of my favourite places in town, and my go-to spot when I didn't want to cook lunch or dinner since it's right across the street. Going out to a restaurant is about the overall experience though, and not just the taste of the food. Guanaquita serves up delicious food; it's the service I'm disappointed in. The last three times we've gone, we have waited over an hour for pupusas and our orders haven't been correct two out of the three times. It isn't because the restaurant was packed (unless you consider 6 tables to be packed), but rather because the kitchen and service is not efficient at all. I would never have written this review just based on one bad experience, but it has been three in a row now and the staff and owners have not made any improvements. This is what happened on our last few visits: We waited 50 minutes just to get our drinks for two people (2 waters, 1 beer) and had to ask multiple times. There were 6 tables in total seated at the restaurant so there is no reason to take 50 minutes to bring a table 2 waters and a beer. After getting drinks, we inquired about when our food would be ready. The server replied, "well we have to finish serving the table over there first." I asked if that meant they were serving one table drinks, appetizers, and meals before serving other customers and she said, "yes." I suggested our food could be prepped after serving the table of 6 sitting near us their appetizers. We didn't order appetizers, just pupusas. She insisted that they had to serve the table of 6 their entire meal before making our food. I've worked at a restaurant when I was younger, and I know how restaurants run. Even with a small kitchen, there is no excuse for service that is this slow. Sure enough, once the table beside us fully cleared out they started making our food while informing another table that they would get food when ours was finished. This is ridiculous, and if the kitchen was working efficiently there would be no reason why multiple plates can't be prepped at the same time. If you go to a place like Taco Farm, where there are only 2 people working in a very small kitchen, you'll see them prepping food for 7-8 tables at once and they make every minute count. Another great example is Ellison's Bistro in downtown Kitchener; small restaurant but magical (and incredibly efficient) service. It ended up taking 1 hour and 32 minutes for pupusas at Guanaquita on this last visit. When they brought our food, it wasn't even the right order but there was no way we were going to risk waiting another hour and a half for the right order to be prepared, so we just ate what they brought us. Even after this experience, we returned to Guanaquita because like I said before, it was one of our favourite spots. Then it happened again, and again with friends we brought, with wait times of over an hour for pupusas. The food here is good. It's really good. I just don't want to wait that long for my food, and I don't think it would take that long if Guanaquita committed to being more efficient as they grow. Service is most important to me, and what this says to me after so many meals we've had there and so many people we've brought in is, "We don't care about you as a customer." Guanaquita, let me know when you're ready to improve how you serve your customers, and we'll be back. read more

We were at Waterloo and were searching for lunch places via Yelp. We chose this restaurant because none of us have had salvadorean food. Hands down it was good, home cooked, tasty food! We enjoyed all our dishes from the combo platters to the enchilada platter! read more

The Guanaquita Restaurant - House combo platter - Salvadoran Near Me - Kitchener, Ontario

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I love this place for their pupusas. Im from the GTA and can't find anywhere that serves good pupusas. Wish there was one closer to me. Overall, good food! Pupusas, phenomenal! Definitely recommend. read more

The Guanaquita Restaurant - Enchilada plate with variety of pupusas. Yum! - Salvadoran Near Me - Kitchener, Ontario

I liked the food, but some things need improvement! Why 4 stars ? Well, food is Great, don't get me wrong... BUT there are 2 things i want to mention: 1. I waited 35 minutes for my TO-GO order to be ready, when on the phone lady told me 15. 2. And the biggest one- I GOT DIFFERENT FOOD from what i ordered! LOL How did this happen? anyway, i was so hungry that just ate it instead of coming back and waiting another 35 minutes for them to correct their mistake. I wouldn't stay there as it is an outdated place, but maybe will order to-go here and there and OPEN the package before to leave to make sure its what i want lol read more

The best authentic Salvadorian food in Kitchener. I'd been at The Guanaquita many times and found all their dishes amazing and fresh made, fast and very friendly service, it has a full bar, and on Fridays and Saturdays, they have free dancing classes too, and the prices are very reasonables. read more

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I am really happy to write this update. The last few times I have been to Guanaquita the service was great and the food as always was great! It seems like they have hired a bunch of new staff for the front of house and they are all great! I'm really glad they turned this place around. Again it's my favourite food in the city! read more

Based on the food, this is a four-star restaurant. The service really brings it down to a three. The ambiance of the restaurant is fine - it's a bit strange because the decorations are obviously Greek, which we got a kick out of. But no big deal - what matters is the food! The service was quite slow - although we were asked about drinks shortly after sitting down, our server returned more than ten minutes later without the drinks to take our orders and then brought them out rather slowly and one at a time. When I asked about what to order if I'd never had Salvadoran food before our server helpfully suggested a few sampler dinners and what each one includes, but when I started asking about food off the sampler platter he couldn't explain what the food was or what it tastes like because he'd never had it. He also suggested the fajitas, but we didn't opt for them because he couldn't tell us whether they were the same as regular fajitas (which we can get most places). On to the food: There are two sampler platters - one with set items (pork and cheese pupusas, beef and vegetable pastelito, choice of beef or chicken enchilada, and chicken tamales) and another that lets you choose any combo of four pupusas, pastelitos, enchiladas, tamales, and tacos. Since a few people got the set platter I decided to try a few different items and got the customizable one, which I think was more than worth the extra dollar! I had the pork, beans, cheese, and loroco (loroco is apparently a type of flower - the server didn't know what they were and had never tried them, so I Googled it!) pupusa and it was my favourite item. I also strongly prefered the sweet corn tamale to the chicken one - but that's just me! The meal came with salsa (mild, medium, or hot) and a side of vinegar coleslaw that tasted almost pickled. One more word on the food: The enchiladas - they are NOT like Mexican enchiladas! They are more like a giant, extreme nacho. They are really tasty, but you will be surprised if you're expecting a Mexican enchilada. (Nicaraguan enchiladas are also different - they're more like an empanada... must be a thing with enchiladas). I would have liked to try dessert but by the time we were asked about it we'd been at the restaurant for two hours and were worried about getting a ticket for street parking (maxes out at two hours). You could eat here for under $10, but the platter with drinks put our bill for two people up to $35, so I'm putting it in the $$ category. read more

Unbelievably tasty and authentic. Great value and a nice selection of things to enjoy. The pupusas were my favourite but the enchiladas and tacos were also great. A milk-stuffed fried plantain was a wonderful dessert, perfectly sized for sharing. I also liked their mojitos, which are often dodgy in restaurants. We hadn't even finished our dinner before deciding to come back for breakfast the next day. Breakfast was delicious as well. I had a pupusa, enchilada and taco, while my husband had the biggest breakfast on the menu (6D). It came with delicious brown sugar-fried plaintains and also some refried beans. SO good. read more

I saw this restaurant rated really well on Yelp so I decided to go for it. Been craving some sort of Mexican-style food so I decided to give this a try even though it is a Salvadoran restaurant. I almost missed this restaurant when trying to find it. The sign was smaller than the other restaurants' signs. Upon entering the restaurant, the waitresses were really warm and seated us quickly. The menu is sorta confusing to read.. there's too many menu items and its not designed very well. I suggest that they should change their menu's layout. The restaurant's atmosphere was very dark and quiet but I guess this is the case because there were no dance classes/concerts that night. Aside from those cosmetic features of the restaurant, the food was phenomenal. I enjoyed the enchiladas and the tacos. Overall, the restaurant is excellent and will return to get my Salvadoran-Mexican fix. read more

I tried their platter of different items, and was incredibly fond of the different flavours. It is so bold, and tasted delicious. Their guacamole is like, one of the best I have ever tasted, so MAKE SURE TO ORDER IT!! For the price of the food that I paid, it was impressive, and very worth going to The staff was great :) the girl was so friendly to us. I love how quaint this shop is, at the top of some stairs and a small shop location read more

This hidden gem makes some of the best food in KW. I've been there many times and I just ordered delivery for the first time since the pandemic started, and it was hands-down the best meal I've had in months. The Guanaquita Platter is a must-try for a sampler of several Salvadorian dishes. Vegetarian? No problem, they make a vegetarian version that is equally as delicious. Vegan? They make a vegan version as well! The delivery is a little more expensive than some other delivery services, but it is well worth it for the quality and amount of food you get. read more

Best hot chocolate I have ever had in my life. Period hands down. It's not the most know item on the menu but you have to try it. The rest of the menu is amazing as well. Service is pretty good, people are very friendly. Not a place to go in a large group though (10+) read more

The Guanaquita is a gem in the heart of downtown. Though they say they are Salvadoran, you can find traditional dishes normally associated with the entire south american region. All of their food is incredibly tasty and fresh tasting, even though some of it is deep fried. Their pupusas are not the best in the city (go to a pupusaria if you want the best), but they are very good, and as you're able to order it alongside a plethora of other dishes it is worth ordering. read more

The food was astonishingly good. The service was very slow, which was OK since I was there with friends and time. I'll definitely give them a chance to show me the service was an aberration. The food would get as many stars as I could give them. read more

Great lunch location tucked away on King Street. It's a fairly small location right above a bar. You need to go up a rather smelly staircase (from the smokers idling outside) to get to this spot. That being said, the food and service was great. We went for late lunch and it was a quiet little spot. The waitress was awesome and she recommended several dishes and was extremely helpful. We sampled from the Guanquita Combination platter from the traditional Salvadorian menu section and it was more than enough food for both of us (although one person can probably finish it all if you really tried). Great place and I would go again to try more! read more

The best restaurant in KW!!! The Mexican dishes are good, and probably better than any Mexican food you can find in the area. But their specialty is the Salvadoran food, which is amazing. Tons of choices for your papusas, and many other tasty items. The hidden gem on the menu is the chicken soup! read more

My #1 favourite restaurant in KW. I spent 5 years in this city as an undergrad, and I was introduced to Guanaquita in my last year of school. I'd checked out a lot of different food places in KW, but the food here was by far the best. Oh, and it's also got terribly fabulous service. If it's going to be your first time there, try out the Platter! It's a great start :-) The only con is that it's a bit tricky to find, as it's hidden upstairs. read more

The guanaquita platter was one of the best meals my friends and I have had for lunch. It basically is the best introduction to salvadorian cuisine (or Latin American cuisine) in the whole of Kitchener-Waterloo region. The lady serving us, whose name was Brandi, was really friendly to all four friends and we didn't have to wait too long to get a place to sit. Food was served to us quickly and Brandi made sure we were satisfied. I had the platter and the platter gave me a sample of all different kinds of Latin American food. Also one of the only places to serve chimichangas in KW. All in all this is KW's best Latin American restaurant read more

I have never tasted Salvadorian food but I was feeling adventurous and thought it would be similar to Mexican so I decided to try it! I can now say I love Salvadorian food :) I tried the combo platter which lets you choose four dishes off the menu. I won't try to spell the dishes but I will tell you each one we tried was fresh, flavourable, homemade with love and delicious. The staff was patient and helpful explaining the dishes, very good service. We will be back very soon, my husband is still talking about the food! Give something new a try, you won't regret it! read more

Been here twice already and they haven't disappointed! Our server was pretty attentive and was more than happy to explain any of the dishes!

Tasty, authentic and cheap! The staff is super friendly too!

This restaurant is fantastic! It's located in the heart of downtown Kitchener but feels like it's a world away. The waiters are super friendly and offer suggestions very willingly when you ask them. The menu is extensive. I got the pupusa platter. For $6.50 you get to pick two pupusas and a drink. I got the pork, beans and cheese for the first one and chicken and cheese for the second. The pork was my favourite. So flavorful. They are so rich that you get full with two pupusas. My cousin got the vegetarian options which include zucchini and some greens which were also very tasty. They also have dance classes every other Tuesday for a donation of $5 read more