La costa azul — Restaurant in Indianapolis

If you’ve not experienced Salvadoran cuisine and are open to new, different recipes than you might expect then La Costa Azul is for you. If you are expecting Mexican recipes or franchise food this at the minimum will alert you that there are other cuisines in this world beyond your own travels. Be prepared for uniqueness.

Vuelva ala Vida was a room temperature seafood smorgasbord unlike any other I’ve had. Almost a chopped seafood salad in slightly spicy lime juice tinged non-tomato light salsa like vinegar and cilantro sauce is scrumptious served with table crackers was a delight. Diced octopus, and what I believe included clams, oysters and some correctly spiced minced vegetables that at first bite seemed almost sweet and tangy but pleasurably by the end of the serving somehow the spiciness escalated in the mouth to a noticeably more spicy moderate level on the fringe of the ‘burn’ you’d expect similar to habanero sauce! I have only had any blend of this seafood ingredients and mix of accompanying flavors and pleasurable spiciness at this restaurant. Would order again!

Also had (vegetables, steak, shrimp) 3 different papusas. Pita like shell was slightly thicker yet softer texture than experienced at other restaurants and had a slight pan searing yet not burnt. The vegetable and shrimp papusas as is were very mild flavor that included melted (mozzarella) cheese and had much better flavor using the side bowl of salsa brine (not chunky). The steak papusa as is was more seasoned beef so the salsa was optional to enhance the flavor.

Others had a beef steak burrito that I sampled and found the ingredients well seasoned and flavorful but don’t compare it to a Mexican restaurant burrito as latter usually doused in cheese or queso sauce. This came with a side bowl of moderately spicy avocado like light sauce I found a unique compatibility not like other restaurants burritos. The person who ordered the burrito expected a slathering of white queso atop and inside more cheese liquid so they did not appreciate the Salvadoran non-Mexican restaurant version and couldn’t broaden their palate so I am discounting their biased food stereotyping and I am giving high ratings for burrito ingenuity.

Other had a Camarones Rancheros (seared shrimp in a well seasoned tangy slightly red tomato like sauce) Mexican like rice not overcooked nor soggy and tasty alone or in the shrimp sauce, flour tortilla shells, cucumber/tomato lettuce salad. Very tasty,

Do not come to this restaurant with preconceived Mexican fast food domestic expectations and you will be pleasantly entertained by the very different recipes that I found delightful and unique not experienced elsewhere.

I would give 5:5 star rating but 4/5 by all participants’ average in our group due to their preconceptions of expectations even though this was their first Salvadoran food experience as they had mainstream Mexican standards. So since this is my Google account and I have had this cuisine previously I am vetoing their opinions am...

I wish I could say something about the food.

We went on a Wednesday at 11:45am. Me and a friend to have lunch. Neither of us had been there and the reviews were solid. We walk in and no greeting. We stand for a couple of minutes and a gentleman looks at us, doesn’t say hello. We motion that it’s just the two of us and he motions his hand to the seating area. So we go sit. A couple minutes later he comes over with menus and takes our drink order. And a couple minutes later he takes our order. At this time, I ask for queso when they bring the chips and salsa. That’s when he tells us that there are no chips because the delivery hasn’t come yet. Wish we knew that earlier but we understood.

We then wait 45 minutes without a single update. I go to the kitchen area, and we see the guy preparing a Togo order and I ask about our food. He says something to the cooks and says just a few more minutes. By this time, we were ready to leave and when we got no verbal response that we mattered, that they were sorry, or anything…we left.

I have never in my life walked out of a restaurant after ordering. The lack of effort by this place astonished me. Another couple also walked out at the same time as us because of the lack of service.

Obviously the reviews from the past are what influenced me to try this...

Quite literally the worst Latin American food I’ve ever had. Zero ambiance in the restaurant, no chips or salsa when you sit down, the server was fine, no complaints there, but I thought something might be up when the parking lot was nearly empty on a Friday night but thought to give it a chance because the location is so bad. Now to the food, I wish I didn’t waste my money here. I ordered the fajitas, which I get at every Mexican restaurant, and what came out was not fajitas. The best way I can describe it was diced chicken breast tossed in teriyaki sauce, pan fried with some thick cut red peppers and onions. The menus said ‘served with rice and beans’, which is true, if you count rice-a-roni chicken pilaf complete with peas and carrots as rice in a Latin restaurant and the beans from Pink Floyd’s song The Wall when the teacher says “you can’t eat your pudding if you don’t eat your meat” as Latin restaurant beans. The pupusa bread, served instead of tortillas, was excellent - had I ordered pupusas and not fajitas, I would have been happy but it was far too doughy...