Salvadoran food is straightforward, filling, and cheap. The national dish is the pupusa: a thick corn tortilla pressed around a filling and cooked on a griddle. The most common fillings are cheese (queso), refried beans (frijoles), and chicharrón (ground pork). More elaborate versions come stuffed with loroco (a local flower), shrimp, or a combination. Pupusas are served with curtido — a lightly fermented cabbage slaw — and a thin tomato salsa. They cost around $0.50–1 each at a pupusería and you will want two or three as a meal.
Comedores are the everyday option: simple, family-run restaurants serving a set lunch (almuerzo) that typically includes soup, rice, beans, a small salad, and a meat or fish main. Cost is around $3–5 and the food is fresh. These are where Salvadorans eat, and they are usually the best value in any town.
Other things worth trying: - Yuca frita — fried cassava, often served with chicharrón and curtido - Elote loco — corn on the cob loaded with condiments (mayo, cheese, hot sauce) - Sopa de pata — tripe and cow's foot soup, a traditional hangover cure - Atol de elote — a warm, sweet corn drink, popular at breakfast - Horchata — a cold drink made from morro seeds, rice, and spices (different from Mexican horchata)
The Pacific coast has good seafood. La Libertad's waterfront fish market and the restaurants around it are the place to eat ceviche, whole fried fish, and mariscos. Prices are higher than inland but still modest.
Coffee is taken seriously in El Salvador, which grows some excellent beans in the highland regions. Look for Salvadoran single-origin coffee at specialty cafés in San Salvador and Suchitoto.