El Cuscatleco — Restaurant in Durham

I became slightly disappointed, I admit, when I received seafood fajitas without crabmeat (and instead mussels place) as the menu states it comes with shrimp, scallops, squid and crabmeat. I became more annoyed when realizing there were onions in my fajitas because I requested to Roxanna, my server, no onions or sour cream (I was once a server; maybe she didn’t catch that part). However, the taste and quality of food drove me to overlook the minor annoyances. 😃 and the food prices? Unbeatable! My seafood dish was insanely delicious, as well as the rice, beans and salsa! My daughter gave me a sample of her steak, well done, but juicy and well seasoned nonetheless. The guacamole needed a bit more salt (no problem) and didn’t come with pico de gallo as in other locations. In other words, it was just avocado smash, no tomatoes, onions, jalapeños, cilatro or lime flavor. The horchata was alright, a bit diluted in my opinion. My final critique? Maintenance, overall neatness and attention to detail. I noticed chips and crumbs on the floor here and there, and toilet paper was spilling out of the waste bin in the ladies restroom. Furthermore, the restrooms lack actual “Mujeres” and “Hombres” signs. There was also a section in the restaurant that contained a pile of chairs stacked on each other, which could be put away elsewhere. Perhaps to render them readily available is the purpose of their specific location? Anyway, as previously mentioned, the food was amazing, the environment was welcoming and great service was provided to us by Roxanna. I will certainly recommend the food served here to my family and friends! 😃 See attached pictures for menu options. P.S. I found a tiny crab in one of...

We are all entitled to our own opinions, right? Well here's mine:

Parking: -1 Location: 2 Decor/ambiance: 2 Customer Service: 2

WARNING Roached came out to greet us!

I would normally just not write a review if i had nothing good to say ... but I do have something good to share. El Cuscatleco... wow... well I came here with some coworkers on a lunch break. The parking lot was SLAMMED! There was no where to park at all. People where parked all in the middle of the driveway blocking one anothers cars. Once we finally got a parking spot we made our way inside. This place is more like a Spanish hole in the wall so don't go expecting any lavish views. As soon as we walked in all i could notice was a 'make shift' bar directly front and center. Once I sat down I looked to the right and low and behold a roach was running down the wall. Once we killed him the waitress came over to take our orders. Once she left another roach was spotted on the wall across from us. We didn't kill him... we just let that one run free. The server was nice but I think she was a little over worked. There was about 4 other groups and she was running rapid between the four tables. The place is small (probably no more than 16 tables). I asked her for 'togo silverware' and i didn't receive it until it was time to leave... The whole idea was for me to use the togo silverware (I was scared, I'd done viewed two roaches and wasn't trying to use nothing they lend you).

All in all, the food was decent and the price was amazingly cheap! But hey, you pay for what you get right? Bad parking, roaches and janked service isn't worth it to me. Maybe we came on a bad day. Just...

Full transparency this was my first time having Salvadorian food & Mexican is my least favorite food. How I ended up here, I had just watched an episode America's Test Kitchen ( S22, E25) Pupusas and Yucca and their preparation of Pupusas & Fried Yucca made my mouth water. I've driven by EL Cuscatleco several times , saw the awesome reviews & said " Today is the day, I'm going to try it out" and I did. So glad I did! Rarely, do I give 5 stars to a restaurant but this meal deserved 10 stars! I ordered the Pupusa combination platter. The platter included your choice of pupusa, I had a cheese and pork pupusa at the recommendation of the owner's son; a chicken tamale, fried yucca, sweet plantains, refried beans & rice and a salad. I am not a fan of refried beans but kept them on my platter because I didn't know what to replace them with, so glad I did you also receive salsa & chips. 1st- Lots of food for $16. 2nd- Everything was seasoned to perfection! I loved everything especially the beans & rice. I wanted to go back the next day but I showed restraint! If you haven't tried this restaurant please put it on your list. ...