Mi Carbonero #2 — Restaurant in Los Angeles

Clearly someone needs to let this business know about yelp and google reviews. They need help! All the giant signs in the window do not work if the service sucks!

I have looked at other reviews on Yelp and they are dead on...No service and the wait is sooooooooooooooooooooooo long. We came into the restaurant at about 4:00pm and it was empty! No ONE! We ordered at the counter as there was only one staff person in the room and she was standing at the cash register. She did not engage us or tell us anything about how the restaurant works. We looked confusingly at the menu and asked questions as we ordered.

With our in-house order, I asked for two glasses of water with ice but we were served 2 bottles of water which we were charged (we do not like wasting plastic with bottled water). We ordered tacos al a carte, Bistec, and a Pupusa. We asked for a couple of substitutions...the tacos...I only wanted one but it is mandatory to order two, they offer beef and chicken. I asked if I could have one of each...Nope! Not ALLOWED. Again, NO SUBSTITUTIONS! That sucks! The sign for the Pupusas show 3 on a plate but the actual order is for one. Each pupusa is $3.75 (which is worth the price but the picture advertising in the restaurant is misleading) but they do have a nice variety of choices for the Pupusa's. I ordered the cheese and jalapeno.

It took 35 minutes for the food to arrive...with no one in the restaurant! My husband was moments away from walking out (another note to the restaurant...you might want to collect the bill up front as I am sure others will walk out without paying, which we could have). No chips and salsa on the table, not anything to keep you happy before your long awaited food arrives, the bottled water came out first but after that, no service of any kind!

The food however is very good! It's so sad because this could be a slamming restaurant. I can only assume that the take-out orders are keeping them afloat but why pay for the Brick & Mortor if you are not going to service your in-house customers? The Pupusa was excellent, the bistec had a delicious flavor (the beef was a little chewy but forgivable), the tacos were good and all the tortillas were yummy.

It's time to start reading...

We had been ordering from this place almost every Thursday until my mom passed a way in 2020. Since then we’ve only gone a few times and not on Thursday. You may be wondering why I keep mentioning Thursday, well that’s the day when the pupusas are cheaper, but only the “Revueltas” and they don’t have as much chicharrón/pork meat and cheese as their regular ones. They are around $1.79 (back in 2020, they used to be $.99). Be aware that the prices for pupusas are rather high at over $4.00 each. I normally place phone call orders but I go to the restaurant to pick up our food. The phone order is easy to make. Last time I ordered, someone called after hanging up to get your payment information. It took almost an hour for our order of 3 dozen pupusas. The quality of the food is very good. I love the cheese pupusas and they have a very generous amount of cheese. We were able to freeze a few and continue to serve it to my dad on occasion until they run out. I gave “Atmosphere” 5 stars but I have never eaten there. However, my parents have and they didn’t have any complaints. There’s always at least a couple of families eating in and waiting to pick up food. Overall, I recommend this place—though I don’t have another spot to compare it to. But if you find somewhere with similar quality and cheaper pupusas,...

I liked this place. Yes it takes forever. The times I have gone it’s literally just one lady taking the order and cooking it. But she is very friendly and nice. Not a place to go if you have no time to spare. The caldo has been really good. Good size meat and lots of veggies. The bowl stuffed! Deserving of the price. The selection is limited. But yes, you gatta wait forever. Idk, the times I have gone the lady has checked in from across yelling “faltan 15 minutos”. She cooks on the spot. She doesn’t have a big bowl of soup premade as each time I have been there, I’ve either been the only customer there or maybe 1-2 more. I give it a 4 because they are not stingy when making the caldos. But it’s definitely understaffed. Seems like a one woman show. I don’t know if it’s changed since I haven’t been...