Salvador’s Bakery

I need to talk about this disgusting «pastor» burrito I just received. One bite into it, I get chunks of black mysterious objects in my mouth that tasted like soapy, metallic pieces of a used S.O.S. pad. I would wager that’s exactly what it was! I’m still feeling nauseated just thinking about it. Aside from that, the meat itself is disgusting– I’m referring to the soggy mess that sits along the side of the flavorless rice in the burrito. Any cook with a basic knowledge of food would not call this meat «pastor». If that weren’t enough to deter me from ever stepping foot into this place again (which it definitely is!), there is also the memory of the pathetic $ 1.99 charge for mediocre salsa and a $ 4.99 charge for a «veggie bar» that consists of wilted lettuce and dried up onions that were probably cut days ago. One of my biggest pet peeves about mexican take out is having to pay for salsa. Do they not want me to like my burrito? They should be happy to give me salsa– especially considering how disgusting the food is! It’s like eating bad meat loaf and not having any ketchup to cover up the flavor. And, it’s just pathetic. If they have to charge for salsa, something is very wrong in the first place. Lesson learned. You have been warned.

Love this place for the champorado and tortas… my favorites! But the BEST thing ever is the cake… Mi Hojas!!! It is gorgeous and delicious! Can’t wait for the next occasion to order it again!
***UPDATE 5/1/2015-I’m told they no longer make the mi hojas cake. :(

Small, intimae location. Great food and no bs staff. Had the pork carnita torta for lunch. Big, filling, and inexpensive with a pop. «I paid 6 bucks.» Salsa bar is the bees knees! Providing a great variety of different salsas and picos. Definite return to, and pass it on about this little place!

This is my favorite Mexican place in the whole state. The Tacos and burritos are fantastic and atmosphere is spot on. The pastor is my favorite on the menu. I’ve been coming here for a long time and the food never disappoints. The food is cheap, fresh, and authentic. The salsa bar is the icing on the cake. They have sauces for everyone’s liking and it’s all super fresh. I highly recommend for any one looking for a good Mexican fix.

very expensive for food that are dry and you can tell that its old by the looks and taste. i will never come here and I recommend people not to come here

Fresh, delicious pastries, pretty inexpensive too. I got half a dozen generously sized pastries for under $ 5. Don’t know what to get? Try a little of everything! The pink crescent thingies and the pie/​turnover/​empanada thingies are especially yummy.

Well I just can’t ever return.
Although my first visit was exceptional, my second and third positively sucked. The meat in my tacos (pastor) was tough and dry my second visit but my quesadilla was OK. And even though something gave my guts a bad time, I decided that it must be a fluke and returned a third time.
This third visit was ridiculous. I ordered another quesadilla but was not given the same thing I had received at my other two visits. See my first picture, and then see the new one. Can you see the glaring difference? Same price, totally different item. Not to mention the tortilla was as hard as a rock.
I tolerated the surly attitude of the staff the first two times because the food was great. What I won’t do is put up with a shitty attitude and shitty food. As if there aren’t enough authentic Mexican food joints in this town!
Goodbye Salvador.

Unfortunately Salvador’s isn’t as fabulous as everyone says it is (not even close), which was really disappointing. The area its in is run down and dumpy, but Salvador’s itself is mostly clean — and colorful! I did have to ask a gal to come wipe down a table as all the empty ones hadn’t been bussed yet (and she definitely let me know I was being a problem for her), and there were some flies buzzing around, which is never appetizing.
Obviously the bakery is the real going concern here — all their Mexican pastries and baked goods looked gorgeous and fresh. I have never had Mexican baked goods, except churros (which are delicious), but if I ever decide to try them, I would come to Salvador’s.
We were there for lunch, however, as reviews rate the food as being authentic and amazing. It’s not — except for their beans, which were really, really good.
When I first walked in I saw only Mexican people eating — which gave me hope that it would be authentic and delicious. Sorry to say, that’s not the case.
You order at the counter and seat yourself. They bring you your food when it’s ready — or not … my friend’s food was brought out, but mine never was. I guess it didn’t occur to the gal who brought my friend’s food that I probably wanted to eat, too. After waiting 5 – 10 minutes, I went to the counter to ask about it, and it was obvious they had forgotten … but weren’t at all concerned or apologetic.
My friend had the chicken tacos — and that’s exactly what she got… chicken meat (it looked stewed) in a small tortilla. No cheese, lettuce, tomato, sauce — nothing. A fellow Unilocal reviewer messaged me and said that you’re supposed to put your own toppings on at their «topping bar», which I did briefly see when I was taking pictures, but thought it was some sort of buffet. That makes me mad — the wait staff should TELL you about the topping bar. Grrrrrrr… I HATE BAD SERVICE!!!
With or without toppings, my friend said the tacos were «just OK». Came with rice & beans. As I said, the beans were delicious, but the rice was awful. Completely flavorless, and the texture was as if it had been sitting out on the counter for a week … dry, crispy, like little rocks. Terrible.
Rice at Mexican restaurants always seems to me like a throwaway item, which is a real disappointment because I love rice, and Mexican rice in particular (when it’s done right). Salvador’s is say just another failed Mexican rice.
I had pork tamales, which were OK. The meat to masa ratio was good. The masa was good — spicy, flavorful. But the meat was dry and stringy.
They serve the food on Styrofoam plates with tiny plastic forks. Fail.
The «service» here is non-​existent. I thought maybe it was because we were the only two gringos in the entire place the 2 hours we were there (and believe me — we got the looks that let us know they thought we were in the wrong place!), but no — I watched how the three gals waited on all who came in, and they had the same «I couldn’t care less» attitude for everyone.
Not impressed. And, again, I have to question — do the people in Salem know what good food is??? I keep trying these places that people are reviewing with 4 & 5 stars, saying they have the best food in town, only to be sorely disappointed. Step up your game, Salem!!!
Won’t go back to Salvador’s.

The veggi burrito was a big hit and we can’t wait to try the pastries. All for less then $ 11. What a great deal this place is!

Delicious and generously portioned tacos, some of the best I’ve ever had. The tamales were also amazing! There’s a huge selection of baked goods, too and very reasonably priced. Highly recommend!

Salvador’s makes some of the best (and most spicy!) salsa I have ever had and has great prices too. I always look forward to my trips to get food there.

Obviously cooked and ran by good people who have never stepped foot into a Taco Bell.
i had a carnita quesadilla and a got a few pastries the lady told me where called ‘rocks’ and then said the spanish name, which of course i went, que? oh, si!, grazie. because i mix my languages up. but my heart is in the right place and these things are huge and heavy and i can see the resemblance to rocks but that is where they stop… cakey, crumbly, sweet but no so cloyingly sweet it makes you sick… reminds me of what many american places call a ‘scone’. which is nothing like an english scone. Although i bet there are more than a few women cooks whose family eats these ‘rocks’ begrudgingly because, well, they are like, rocks!
The carnita quesadilla is homemade. i love a good simple pulled pork but the rest of it, i haven’t even conceived of before today… honestly i don’t know what the cheesy and creamy stuff is but i will ask next time i go back. probably tonight. what???
the place was clean and well stocked, i felt as though i had walked into Mexico… the lady was patient with my ignorance…
And all this for UNDER $ 6… that is what blows me
They also have a butcher shop and grocery with all sorts of things i sorta recognized and much i didn’t and i was a very interesting and educational trip :)
I will return… muchas gracias!!!

This is not just a bakery. I had great tacos and I also had a tamale, very good. I would recommend this place if they would like some authentic Mexican food. The tacos remind me of going to mexico, small tortillas filled with meat and cabbage. Condiments are yours to put on and they have a good assortment in the salsa bar.

Their vegetarian burrito is NOT vegetarian! Quite the misnomer. The rice is the non-​veg part. Luckily I asked first. (It has chicken broth, which has both chicken and cow in it.)
The quesadilla I had instead was okay (just okay, nothing to write home about), and their dessert was decent. They also have an assortment of grocery-​type items, like packaged foods, soap, etc. I came with friends, but probably wouldn’t come back on my own because of the nonvegetarian vegetarian burrito issue.

My wife sent me to Salvador’s to get a sandwich (torta) about a year ago. It was good but nothing to bother writing a Unilocal review about.
A couple weeks back I stopped in to grab a couple of pastries. These were easily the best donuts I have ever had. I like a custard filled donut and these were spectacular. They were crispy, greasy, custardy, heavy, and delicious all at the same time.
I will go back in a couple weeks to try some tacos. If the tacos are as good as I am hearing this will become a five star review.

Salvador’s Bakery is awesome in so many ways. The food is delicious for vegetarians and meat-​eaters alike, they have a wonderful spread of condiments including delicious salsas, the horchata (Mexican rice drink with cinnamon) is yummy, the staff are friendly, and they have pinatas covering the ceiling, which my two-​year old and I really enjoy! It is also very reasonably priced.
Being a vegetarian, I used to order the veg. burrito, which is very good. My new favorite is to order tacos with beans, rice and queso fresca (watch out: they’re filling!). Two of these tacos is usually enough for me unless I am starving, then I go for three and overstuff myself.
At the end of your meal you might be tempted by some of the gorgeous baked goods in the display cases. Salvador’s also carries a small amount of Mexican grocery items such as tamale wrappers, Masa flour, tortilla presses, bottled salsa and much more.
This place is worth checking out!

I love the chicken burrito here. Throw some hot sauce on it and it tastes like heaven. Great hot sauce on the tables. The Tamales are great too! High quality chicken in the burrito and its clean, beans don’t run everywhere.

UPDATE TO INITIAL REVIEW after second visit.
1^st visit on a Friday: We stopped in to eat and got our favorite beef lengua tacos, a chicken taco, a beef lengua burrito, and chicharrones. The salsa bar was exceptional — cabbage or cabbage with tomatoes and cilantro, radishes, lime wedges, grilled chilis, and a good selection of salsas, and guacamole.
There’s a chill case with good Mexican beer along with another for sodas and bottled water. There’s a display case with some delicious looking pan de dulce. I was too full to get any but did pick up a bag of duritos to go (it’s Friday and I will need some munchies to go along with my «it’s Friday at last beverages»).
2^nd visit on a Saturday: I hate to downgrade a review and I don’t think I ever have in all my Unilocaling years but when an establishment has employees that act like JERKS, a downgrade is in order. Yesterday we enjoyed the fresh fried chicharrones, the tacos and burritos so much that the bf and I returned today for more. We took the food home and discovered the chicharrones were disgusting. Terribly dry, hard, and old and resembling over cooked pork jerky. You’d lose a tooth or three trying to eat these things.
The bf took them back and was given attitude instead of service. The cashier told him that the lighting in the place made the chicharrones seem darker and that they were not old. (They were DEFINITELY not fresh. They were over cooked and terrible.)
Among other customer service no-no’s, she actually had the cojones to talk about my bf while he was still standing there at the counter.
Tsk, tsk, Salvador’s employees. Your employees made a bad situation worse. All you had to do was swap the bad for some decent chicharrones. Now all our money will be spent at other places.

Undoubtedly the best taqueria in Salem.
They also have lots of pan dulce and a pretty good carniceria. Oh and chicharrons, with or without meat, bring a little tear to my eye.

These guys (and girls) are awesome.
I ordered a few carne asada tacos and they were AMAZING — probably some of the best I’ve eaten in Salem. Their soft taco shells were hands down the best part for me. I would eat here every day if I could.
I also ordered a few pastries as well — a few churros and donuts. It was all amazing. The prices were great, the staff was very friendly and informative (especially on my first visit). And though I didn’t order any, their selection of other pastries and meats appeared great.
It’s a great little shop that I highly recommend to anyone who is wanting some great food and a great selection.