Irene's Pupusas — Restaurant in Maryland

I've lived in the neighborhood for 5 years and never tried the food, finally decided for Mother's Day this year to buy Pupusas for the family. I was told over the phone it's only going to be 20 mins to pick up my order. We show up at 20 mins, pay for the order, get the receipt to sign, and then sit there for another 10 mins. I go to the bar to try to get help from the waitstaff who are congregating up there (there's no cashier's space aside from the bar). There's at all times 3-5 different waitresses up there. Not one so much as looks in my direction the entire time. Not because they're busy, they're just avoiding me. No one tries to help me, as I'm standing there with my teenage son, ON MOTHER'S DAY. Finally I'm able to flag someone down and ask them to please check on my order. It's been about 40 minutes since I ordered, 20 mins past when it was due. A lady goes in the back and comes back and tell me, 10 more minutes. I get frustrated and call my Spanish speaking husband and ask him to call the restraunt to see what they tell him, which is: there's a soccer game on and they had some big orders so it's going to be AT LEAST 20 more minutes for my order (which is less than 10 pupusas). Meanwhile to my face another person tells us at this point just 5 more minutes. I had cupcakes in danger of melting in the car so I left to go start the AC and asked my husband to just call and have the order refunded. He calls back and they can't even locate my order, they have no idea who took my order, what the order was, how to refund it, etc. My son was still in the store and they smile at him and say, 2 more minutes. By this point I'm so frustrated and disappointed with the whole encounter I ask my son to come out to the car so we can leave to make our next Mother's Day engagement, and I'll just contest the charge on my credit card (because they gave me a timeframe for an order and did not meet that time, then supposedly couldn't locate the order to cancel it when I had to leave). I was so excited to try these pupusas but I cannot support a business with such poor customer service. I can't help but wonder if my order would have been so delayed if it was my Peruvian husband ordering over the phone and showing up to get the order. Regardless, we will not be returning for a second try. So...

I was a big fan of this place once. I found its run down look to be endearing. And it's next to the Glenmont Metro. But I don't know if it's chef's apathy or new chefs, but the last five times I've gone the food was subpar. And when I think about it, their quality was always inconsistent. Unfortunately when you're paying good money for food and tip, the quality must be close to consistent. I cannot in good faith recommend this place to anyone anymore. Maybe I'll visit in a couple of years to see if things have changed but I'm tired of wasting my money just to be disappointed. They're not the only game in town.

I recently discovered La Pupuseria Familiar. While it isn't as accessible as Irene's, It is about a 15 minute walk from the Wheaton Metro. By car, It's only about 5 minutes away from Irene's. Their quality is consistent, and quite frankly, their pupusa variety...

While in the area, we noticed Irene's Pupusas, and decided to eat lunch there. We tried a variety of menu items: pupusas, tamales, a Honduran item, plantains w/black beans, and a yummy crispy beef and egg (I think it was supposed to have sausage and cabbage in it too. Not sure) mixture enveloped with a thick flour tortilla-like package. Whatever the last thing was, it had "a todos" in the menu description. EVERYTHING was tasty and well prepared. I have spent a total of about 4 months in Central America, my son has eaten many meals at the home of his best friend (son of Guatemalan and El Salvadoran parents), and we look for authentic Hispanic restaurants. We're definitely adding Irene's Pupusa's to our list. The food was amazing, and the prices...