Acajutla

I haven’t been here for a couple years but they have the best pupusas in the city. Get the mix kind and you can thank me later. The service here can be a bit slow, but I promise the food is worth the wait. Inside décor was kinda bleh back then but I heard they may have renovated more recently.

I have been a regular at this restaurant since the beginning. I actually started going when they were on 97^th St and 108 Ave, so obviously I really like this place. But lately something has changed that has really irritated me. They have become more and more expensive relative to other restaurants. For instance there tacos. They are delicious for sure, but you only get three little ones for $ 11.00 while you can go to Tres Carnales and get 4 amazing tacos for $ 10. And no offence but the atmosphere at Tres Carnales is substantially better than Acajutla. Also annoying is the new practice of portioning out how much curtido (or the cabbage) you can have with your papusas. They use to bring out a nice big jar when you ordered more than 5 or 6, now they bring you exactly what they feel is enough for you. We had a group of 3 order 5 papusas and they brought out a tiny little jar of cabbage. This was enough for 2 papusas tops. When we asked for more we were charged an extra $ 4.50 on our bill for another little jar. I find this ridiculous for cabbage! If you ask for the tasty green sauce that they use to always provide complimentary, they charge you extra for that as well. There papusas are still the best in town but at $ 3.75 each, they are not a great cheap meal out anymore. By the time they charge you for the extra cabbage and green sauce your spending $ 20 for a plate of papusas! These things go for 50 cents each in El Salvador and Honduras. We have a lot of Latin friends who refuse to come here because they can’t believe the prices.
We use to come weekly to Acajutla but we won’t anymore as I hate being nickel and dimed for everything in a run down unappealing restaurant in not the greatest part of town. The food is still good but the changes have annoyed me enough to move elsewhere like El Rancho for papusas and Tres Carnales for tacos.

the mixed pupusas here are my favorite in the city. NO ONE else comes close in my opinion! the only thing i dont like eating here, is the smell from the bathrooms.
but just ask for a seat far away and you will be fine!

Excellent food! Everything is so fresh and hot when it comes out, we have always left happy. High quality ingredients with average portion sizes. Definitely a place to take note of! Service can sometimes be a little off, but food is ⁵⁄₅.

Amazing papusas! Tacos are good to great. Highly recommend. Odd hours so call in advance to ensure their open. Go!!!

Very disgusted from this place. Ordered a beef soup (menudo) and a burrito because from my last visit I knew that the soup was more of an appetizer than a serving of food. The soup had black skin with hairs on it which is not typical of menudo, I would know coming from Florida and being very familiar with Hispanic cooking. As the for the burrito, I was just about finished with it and when I cut the last bit up… I noticed a thick, long hair in it.
I notified the waitress, and all she had to say was «do you want something else?» Why would I want something else? To get MORE hair? No.
We paid $ 55 for the food — did not discount the price. Waitress said that the cook says she «thinks» it was a hair from corn stalk. My wife asked her how does beef, or beans get near corn stalks? No answer for that.
We told them we would report this. They acted all nonchalant, and said ok.
So they’ll be reported and we also won’t be visiting here again.

I went here today for my birthday. The puppaas were delicious but my friend’s chilli con carney was tougher than a saddle. We told the waitress when she checked our table. She apologized but that was the end of it. They didn’t even offer a complementary coffee. I tried a piece of his chilli and just had to swallow as it was too tough to chew. My friend isn’t having luck with his menu choices here. It’s time to move on.

Mixed Papusas.
‘Nough Said.
The End.

For my first time at acajutla I am very impressed with the quality of the food. I tried the tortilla soup (a bit over priced in my mind) but very tasty, and the Mexican enchilada, the chicken was cooked to perfection and I really like the cheese factor. I gave four stars as an all around experience, the service was good and the décor reminded me of my only trip to Mexico. I’ll def. go back again very soon!

After driving past this place numerous times (and recently developing a fixation with all things Spanish), I finally decided to give it a go.
My friend and I went on a Friday night. I got there a few minutes earlier, and was immediately greeted by a friendly, French-​accented waitress. The interior had that quaint and cozy atmosphere typical of family-​run restaurants, and was tastefully decorated with a few Mexican-​Salvadorean-​themed decorations, and a painting on the back wall.
There was only one other table, occupied by a large family. I asked what she recommended to drink, and they do have some interesting looking fruit-​based drinks. The one she recommended included peanuts and milk, which I will probably try next time. I settled on a pineapple margarita. It was tasty, but pretty typical– identical to what I’ve had at Julio’s Barrio.
My co-​diner and I started with the chicken tamales. Neither one of us had any idea what to expect. They arrived wrapped in a leaf, appearing to have been steamed– and consisted of very soft dough, holding a small piece of mildly spiced chicken and a piece of green pepper. I was hoping for more spice, and doused it in hot sauce to compensate.
Next, I had a mixed pupusa, which was pretty satisfactory– especially when topped with the cabbage slaw and yet more hot sauce! My co-​diner was dissatisfied with the lack of veggies in his quesadillas. I felt the same way. The food was filling, but rather boring.
3 Stars for the service and décor– 1 star for the food. If you’re looking for spicy, exciting Latin/​Spanish flavors, check out El Rancho on 118^th Avenue.

The service at this restaurant was good; our server was attentive and friendly. However, the food was terrible. The chili con carne ($ 17) consisted of a few small chunks of meat, some rice and «salad» (lettuce and a few sliced tomatoes). The nachos had been microwaved and tasted stale ($ 12). After reading the positive reviews, I was excited to give this restaurant a try. I do not intend to return to Acajutla.

The only reason this place gets 4 stars is because of the food, if it were for service it would be a –1 star. The waitresses don’t give a damn about the customers, its incredibly evident. They are slow to serve you and not at all friendly.
However, the food is superb. the pupusas were out of this world amazing, especially with the cabbage slaw and avocado cream you put on them
I would rather get take out then dine in because of the haughty attitudes.

Appearances can be deceiving. The restaurant décor is something from small town Saskatchewan café design — but the service makes up with happiness and friendliness. Our waitress was serving everyone in this café, and she was still happy go lucky. That sort of server is a rarity in Edmonton!
A great place for Latin American cuisine.
It appears that they ‘tone down the intensity’ of their dishes for ‘white people”? The side dishes are bland, BUT the Pupusa’s (?) & cabbage slaw are execellent. Remind the server that you can take the spice — and it will all work out for the best. We wouldnt drive across town for a meal, but a good choice if you are in the neighborhood.

Acajutla is one of my top 5 favourite restaurants in Edmonton. We’ve been coming here for years, probably once a month. Let me break it down for you:
Décor/​Atmosphere: 2 out of 5 stars
Service: 2 out of 5 stars
But the food! 5 out of 5 stars
The décor is fine, but nothing noteworthy. They play fun, well-​themed music, and it *is* clean, so that’s good.
The service is sporadic. Sometimes it’s fine. Other times you have to wait a long time to place your order, or get your drinks, or get your food, or the bill. The servers are not overly friendly, but not unfriendly.
The food though (some of it), it’s amazing, and this is why we come so often. Not ALL the food though, only specific items, and I think I have tried almost the entire menu.
** The number one reason to go to Acajutla is to eat their MIXED PUPUSA **
It’s crazy delicious. You top it with the red hot sauce (not very hot), the green avocado sauce (kinda hot), and a heaping pile of the (pickled?) cabbage they bring. It’s glorious. Many times we come and that’s all we eat. 4 mixed pupusas and that’s all you need. Usually we get 2 or 3 mixed pupusas each and share the Mexican enchiladas which are also very good. Other than these two items, the rest of the menu isn’t all that exciting to me. Our friends’ favourites are the burrito and the mixed plate though, so, you might want to try those.
Go to Acajutla, ignore the décor and the service, eat the mixed pupusas, and you will become a fan.

Authenticity is the selling point here. The food is fine if you like Mexican and most people do. For me it seems like the sort of place you visit because you are interested in a new experience but then don’t return for any particularly great aspect of it. Appeal for a themed restaurant like this lies in the sense of adventure it can give you, unfortunately I don’t feel they have entirely succeeded at this.
Decorations and settings are plain and seemed to lack effort, from this I didn’t get the impression that they put all that much better into the sourcing of ingredients or the preparation of the food. There are a few colourful murals on several of the walls that liven the place up and there were colourful hanging piñatas when I was there, basically everything you would expect to see in a styled restaurant of this theme. T-​shirts were de rigueur.
Serving staff are pleasant but don’t really seem overly engaged in maximizing your enjoyment. They don’t help you pronounce the dishes they speak that accent all the time anyway (and no repeating a word twice isn’t the same as helping me learn to pronounce it). I could ask about something and get no additional recommendations, further explanation or engagement beyond what is already on the menu.
Serving sizes are smaller than average and the low prices are a reflection of this. They have a nice selection of Mexican branded soda which you may not have tried. Nothing really stand out on the menu and you may end up ordering taco or a burrito which may not seem entirely adventurous.
Drop in for a weekday lunch with friends, but maybe avoid taking company you actually want to impress.

I took a Spanish class in school, so I had this menu down pat. Yes, I love mexican food and Acajutla appeared to bring that with a El Salvadorean influence to the menu as well.
It was decently busy but snared a reservation pretty quickly.
I take pride in my ability to eat anything whether I like it or not and I struggled with that on this day.
The first course was the beef soup. It tasted good but they ran out of tripe earlier in the day and replaced it with more beef tendon. One issue with this dish; is that it smelled terrible enough I couldn’t finish.
We ordered: ceviche, pupusas, tamales, enchiladas, carne asada steak and sausages.
Ceviche was refreshing but I should’ve asked what kind of fish it was because it had an oiliness to it.
Pupusas came with an awesome cabbage slaw. We got the mixed plate and they were great little pockets of meat and cheese. Definitely worth a try.
Tamales and Enchiladas were forgettable. Both were painfully dry and the enchiladas were probably the worst I’ve ever had.
The steak was requested medium and it definitely probably was medium but you probably couldn’t tell because it was just gristle. The sausage were nice and earthy but small. The beans and rice were definitely something I could stand behind.
At Acajutla, I failed to find anything that stood out despite suggestions from friends and the waitress but I will definitely give it another shot because there were things on the menu that I wanted to explore.
The décor and lighting was plain in a run down way but the flourishes of color around the dining room gave it a distinct South American feel.

I want to preface this review by saying I have zero tolerance for spicy food… standard hot wings from a pub are usually too much for me… it’s pretty pathetic actually. And when I eat spicy food, I get hot and sweaty and generally unpleasant.
With that out of the way, I’ll get to my experience. The restaurant is very bright, vibrant and welcoming. I wouldn’t say the food was slow to come out, but being a small kitchen it takes a little longer than your average chain restaurant and I’m perfectly fine with that.
Our server was nice and attentive and helped me decide on a dish. I went with the Chicken Escabeche, which was three chicken thighs with peppers and onions and chimol on the side, which is kind of a salsa/​salad with tomatoes, green peppers, jalapenos and cilantro. Our server asked if I wanted the chicken spicy or medium and because of my aforementioned weakness for anything that is spicy, I didn’t hesitate in choosing the medium option.
Thankfully, the chicken wasn’t overly spicy. It warmed me up a little bit, like a hot toddy after a long day of snowboarding, but nothing to complain about. Then I tried the chimol — an innocent looking mix that was anything but. It was a raging inferno disguised as a cute little salad. After a large bite, my eyes started to water, my sinuses instantly cleared up and I started sweating… I actually wanted to go home and shower. Now mind you, my wife and friend, who both have much higher tolerances to spicy food, didn’t have these same symptoms, but did say that is was probably too hot for them to enjoy. And I understand that since Acajutla is known for being very authentic, this is probably the way this dish is meant to be served, so that’s cool. But it was way too much for my unaccustomed tastes.
We also had three pupusas — bean, pork and mixed. They were all pretty tasty and I would recommend them as a small appetizer.
Overall, the experience was great. If my mouth and lips didn’t feel like a flaming upside down police car on streets of Vancouver after a Game 7 Stanley Cup Final loss, I probably would have given it a five.

I can’t say that I am a mexican food expert. I’ve been to Mexico, I’ve eaten Taco Bell, that’s about it for me. But I started going to Acaljutla at the request of an old friend, and I really fell in love with it. I fell in love with it even more when I took a new friend (who moved here from Mexico) to it and she couldn’t get over how much it was «like home.»
The place is in a shifty part of the city, on 107^th Ave. I’ve witnessed more than a few homeless guys getting tossed into the police van while sitting there, eating my dinner. But when it comes to food, I’m one who goes for more of a tasting-​experience over all else, so I remain undeterred.
The restaurant is a shabby little place with colorful decorations tacked up all over the walls. It is family owned and while the service isn’t exactly bursting with cheerfulness, they are efficient and know what they’re doing. The food is cheaply priced but wonderful and authentic. The menu is rather large and there are lots of new things to try. When you walk in and get settled, you kind of feel like you’re eating in someone’s home. That kind of care and love for the food goes into your meal.
If you are seeking an authentic, different meal with no frills and satisfaction, definitely try out Acaljutla. Definitely great for the long winter months when all you need is a little vacation — if you can’t go to Mexico, bring Mexico to you!

PAPUSAS! Need I say more? My husband and I come here just for their mixed papusas — (my feeble attempt to describe) a corn like tortilla stuffed with cheese, beans, and mixed meat (pork and chicken I think) with a variety of hot sauces and sweet and salty cabbage served on top. An El Salvadorian staple and Acajutla’s does it right!
We have tried several entrees there but nothing is as delicious as the papusas so we usually just order a platter of 6 or 7 to share and we are happy as clams!
Be advised the wait can be awhile and if you want a large order of papusas for a large group, it’s best to call ahead and let them know. They make everything from scratch to order so be prepared to wait… oh so worth it! Have a nice margarita while you wait…

OK, I lied. I decided to give this place another try. In all honesty, I drove by Acajutla to go to another Mexican restaurant but I found that one to be closed. So, last time I came here, the soup was good enough to allow me to convince myself that I may have ordered the wrong entrée. Here we go again.
I ordered the Tortilla soup again. It was even better this time. This stuff is delicious. It really isn’t worth $ 6.99 but what bowl of soup can be. I must admit, this is as close to being worth it as you get. It has a little feta, cilantro, avocado, onion and chunks of chicken in a slightly spicy broth. This is a must for any new customer. I’m sure it will hook you.
I decided to have the Combonation plate and a side of re-​fried beans. The combo had a beef taco, chicken fajita, chicken tostada and a deep fried thing with potatoes and pork in it called a pastel. Kind of like a really big perogy that was deep fried.
The chicken tostada was delicious. With re-​fried beans, chicken, lettuce, cheese and egg it was definitely the best thing on the plate. The crisp taco on the bottom made it almost impossible to eat but the flavor kept me trying.
The beef taco was chunks of steak and onion on a soft shell. It was good, but plain. I was impressed that it was actual chunks of steak instead of ground beef. I added some Pico de Galo and dipped it in my beans and it made it pretty good.
The chicken fajita was ok but I could have done with out the pastel. It didn’t taste terrible but for as bland as it was, I’m not sure my cholesterol spike was worth it.
I don’t know what the spicy vinegar cabbage is called but it seemed to be «Mexican cold slaw» if there is such a thing. It was quite nice. I enjoyed it so much that I have tried to duplicate it at home, with out any luck I might add.
The plate didn’t come with re fried beans so I ordered a side. They looked like paste, but they were very good. I like the beans to be baked a little and with melted cheese and these were neither.
All in all, this place was ok. If I’m in the area I will probably try it again.