Cabalito
“The owner assembles each pupusa by hand to order and is presented with a side of salsa and curtido.”
“All sides are vegetarian, gluten free, and by glancing at the menu, most could be made vegan as well.”
“The horchata must have a Salvadorian twist – not the Mexican cinnamon flavor, tasted like it had lime and something flowery in it.”
Cabalito
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Accepts Apple Pay: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$ Price range Under $10
8 reviews
Rate and write a review Cancel reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Another great find thanks to the Yelp app. Over here in the Midwest, we rarely have the opportunity to eat Salvadoran so we jumped at the opportunity to dine here. We were not disappointed and found the food excellent, and the servers friendly and the prices reasonable. The Pupusas are great, try to eat a variety of them. Also, make sure you order some of the Salvadoran soda (Boing! Guava Juice) to drink with your food. Oh and definitely order some of the plantains. Excellent food!
There are a few dive bars nearby and this food would make a great base before you get crazy 😉
Came here for lunch during the week.
Ambiance: Place is small (fits about 15 people), clean and cute.
Service: Guy at the counter was helpful and told me about the lunch special which includes 2 pupusas and one drink for $8.50 (most pupusas are $3.50-4).
Food: For the pupusas, I got the revuelto and de pollo. If you never had pupusas, you will like them, if you have, you will notice the ones here lacked some flavor, so I was a bit disappointed. The cabbage and sauce that comes with it, was flavorful. I had the horchata drink and it was soo soo yummy.
I might go back and give their pupusas one more try…not sure yet.
Amazing pupusas, convenient location, and a small, totally unpretentious space! Perfect for getting something to go, a solo dinner, or a casual dinner with a friend. I came here with a friend after reading Robert SIetsema's article on Eater NY about new "cheap eats" on lower Essex St. We went to Sam's Spring Rolls first and came here for a pupusa! I got the carne y queso. It was delicious! Super flavorful. It had just the right amount of filling, and the tortilla was perfect. It came with sauce and some picked cabbage, which was also really good. You could get three for a meal and still come in at way less than $15. I'd like to go back and try the "plato tipico", which comes with tortillas, beans, plantains, and an egg.
Great addition to the LES/Chinatown neighborhood, it just keeps getting better and better.
On one rainy night, I stopped in to pick up some food on my way home. The place still had 2 other customers. Cool.
The cook and cashier were both very nice. Now, just note that all pupusas made to order, so it will take a few minutes, but it is well worth it.
Pupusas are native to El Salvador. They are corn masa rounds filled with your choice of filling. I had the loroco y queso (Salvadorean flower with cheese) and ordered a side of papas rostizadas (potato wedges with cilantro mayo). My order came to $6.50.
Pupusa was wonderfully flavored, think along the lines of squash blossom. All pupusas come with a side of fermented cabbage salad called curtido. The cabbage brings out the flavors in the corn masa, drizzle with a little bit of hot sauce, and you're in heaven.
I'll def be back here for more pupusa love!
A-OK is a good summation I feel. My wife is Salvadorian and introduced me to pupusas and I absolutely love them. While, she has had a lot more than me I have had my share. As this is really one of the only places to get them in Manhattan and not deeper in the boroughs we decided to swing by on a Sunday afternoon.
We each ordered 2 pupusas and an order platanos. The platanos were delicious and covered in crema. The crema was from a can so not house made, but still tasty. The pupusas were OK. I got the bean, cheese and pork and chorizo pupusas. While there a decent amount of meat in mine, there was hardly any cheese or beans. The wife had the same issue but with less meat in here, she ordered the pork and vegetarian one. The sauce was ok, not full of flavor, but again OK. I do like how they pupusas are made to order.
I was a little bummed they didn't have tamales. Some of the places in Brooklyn have the best Salvadorian tamales.
Overall, this place was good, if I were in the neighborhood again I'd grab a couple but it wouldn't be my first choice for really amazing pupusas. The wife agreed.
I stopped in here during their vegan day, where they veganized their entire menu, which was fantastic. I'm disappointed to learn that they will not continue having all these options (they only have one vegan option, the mushroom pupusa but I don't like mushrooms). The service was super friendly and both the pupusas I had were tasty. I was really impressed they made a homemade vegan cheese – yum! I also sampled their amazing strawberry chia lemonade and their homemade vegan horchata, both were fantastic. I will go back and request they offer more vegan options!
This is an awesome cute joint with authentic pupusas! Pupusas are an El Salvadoran dish that is like a stuff pancake- they are stuffed with various yummy fillings (cheese, meat, beans) with a corn meal dough that is gluten free so this place is celiac compatible! The staff is super friendly – Edgar takes your order and Randy makes your pupusas right in front of you by hand -so each order is fresh off the grill. I love how they label the pupusas indicating the filling as well as your name with a cute little flag on each pupusa. I have already been here twice and really enjoyed all the different flavors I have tried. I especially enjoyed the one with cheese, pork and beans as well as the chorizo and cheese. The prices are super affordable-the average price is about $3.50 per pupusa and they offer many vegetarian options as well like mushrooms and cheese and beans and cheese. All the pupusas come with a side of pickled veggies curtido and it is mildly spicy and tartly delicious. Remember to get the side of Guac with chips- the guac is super yummy because it comes with a hard boiled egg in it. Enjoy!
A small shop in the neighborhood, this store's vibe is super chill. If you're looking for a quick pop in pop out experience, you gotta keep looking.
We ordered a few Pupusas to try and they were all super tasty. Their platanos not so much. I thought the amount of crema on top was borderline disgusting. We were rubbing some of the crema off on the side of the plate. Otherwise the food was pretty amazing here.
Decor was super on point.