El Guanaco Auburn Hills Restaurant — Restaurant in Auburn Hills

Finally found an El Salvadoran place. Not since Bitia's in Sarasota, FL have I even seen an El Salvadoran restaurant. I thought it was just another Mexican outfit. That sounded great on 65° overcast Friday in September. I love surprises. 🥰 Wish it hadn't been so cold inside, though. By the end of my meal I was definitely cold. Odd for me, honestly. And the entrance to the men's room was partially blocked by a storage rack & a hand truck. Never get a wheelchair through. Otherwise, the place was very nice. Clean, good space between booths and tables. Music was in the background where it belongs. There is a small store-like area in ⁰the front. After going over a very extensive and well laid-out menu, I had to get the pupusas lunch special ($10.99 before tax). 2 pupusas with rice, beans and a coleslaw-like pickled cabbage dish that I want a bucket of. My pupusas are stuffed full of spinach and cheese, hot and fluffy. Delicious and hitting the spot on this grey day. The rice is light and flavorful, the beans are terrific. The service was very good but being called "boss" every time got a bit old. Need to mix it up a bit, guys. One more thing: the water had an odd flavor to it, sort of metallic. Not off-putting but not normal, either. Might want to check that filter system.

7/25 Update Been back several times now. The food still rocks. The odd taste to the water is gone. The temperature is no longer too cold. The staff doesn't call me boss anymore, either. Now, if they can just get that rolling rack out of the way for the men's room so that those in wheelchairs can get in. Well, they can use the women's. Rating updated.

Today, I had the Guanaco platter #1. Good gravy, that is a bunch of food! I'd had nothing since lunch the day before so I was quite famished. After two tamales, fried plantains, rice, beans, deep-fried yucca (my new favorite thing!) plus chips & salsa, I was stuffed. In fact, it's been 10 hrs since I finished and all I've had is some iced tea. It was that filling. It took two plates to hold it all. Worth...

Ordered carryout chicken fajitas and 3 tacos ala carte and an order of chorizo queso and chips. I left without receiving tortillas for my fajitas. $20 of my $40 order were the chicken fajitas and I was left without the base to eat them with. When I called, my options were to come get the tortillas or come get them another time (huh?). I'm assuming because when my friend got back to the car with our order, he said the person who rung him out said to 'just press one' after inserting his card which was the option to leave a default tip amount of $5. I'm assuming because since he noticed this and hit other instead and left none, that this could've very well been purposeful. Im not against leaving tips for take out but its not something you get automatically but earn based on service. We didnt sit down for a reason. I understand most peoples take on leaving tips for carryout but food in general is very expensive and to have my $20 fajitas leave out the tortillas and the only options you gave me were to come get them or get them another time (what??) was not the right move. The right move was to offer to come get them like you did, but also offer a monetary adjustment to my order like giving us our $7 chips and cheese w/...

Pupusas are phenomenal! They messed up my burrito order and confused with what I didn’t want with what I do want so I got the exact opposite. Wanted NO Guac, NO sour crème, I wanted nothing but onions and cilantro, rice beans and meat, I got sour cream and jalapeños instead? I wanted jalapeño’s in my pupusas . My wife got the fried tacos with steak and the meat was burnt so badly that 2 out of 3 were inedible. I also asked for hot salsa and just got regular tomato salsa. First time eating there so I’ll check my order next time to make sure it right before I drive 5 miles home. But the pupusas were great! And the spicy slaw was amazingly good! Food quality was great I just think they over fried the fried “tacos” which are rolled. Have tried them again since and the Pupusas and burritos are spot on.pupusas are the best I’ve found in Michigan in the 3.5 years I’ve lived here and we are from SoCal… the Mexican food and Salvadoran food there is way better and more authentic, but this place comes close. Definitely worth a try for sure! You will be...