El Sunzal Restaurant in Austin
Site: https://www.facebook.com/El-Sunz...
- Monday:10AM–9PM
- Tuesday:Closed
- Wednesday:10AM–9PM
- Thursday:10AM–9PM
- Friday:10AM–9PM
- Saturday:10AM–9PM
- Sunday:10AM–5PM
I love this place always quality food but service was a bit slow.
It was recommended to us that we try the Pupusas from here, having tried them at other locations and not being impressed. They were really good here. I would recommend them totally and theyre only $2 apiece. They were so good that I ordered another one and Im now curious about the rest of the menu.The downside was that it wasnt busy and it took longer than expected, like 15, 20 minutes to get our food and they were just Pupusas, at least on this experience, but its worth it if you have the time, if we were in a hurry on this particular outing that would have been a major disappointment.We will be back. Looking forward to trying their tamales.🤗
The food is usually good, but this time around we came & not only did they take FOREVER when the the restaurant was completely empty, but they were skimpy on the meat for all of our plates! We opened up the pupusa & there were like 2 little shreds of pork in it. Then the fajita plate had just enough to make one taco yet they give you 3 tortillas, but whats making it bad enough for me to leave this review was the service, when we brought all this to our waitresss attention, she just looked at it & told us to order more. Really!? Not going back unless Im dragged there.
Beautiful little hole in the wall. Not sure how authentic this food is as i have never been to el Salvador, but judging by the enthusiastic patronage that this place enjoys without any advertising, i would guesstimate that they are pretty authentic.Food is top notch and employees are really nice, especially the patience that they show a non Spanish speaker!!!
The food at El Sunzal was great! Their menu has plenty of dishes to choose from! It is helpful if you are able to understand and speak a little Spanish :) Service was quick and food came out in a reasonable amount of time. We will definitely be back soon!
I was excited to have found an authentic salvadorian restaurant, but I have to say I was truly disappointed. The pupusas I ordered (which I had to pay Xtra bcuz they only make them w cheese & fried pork) ea one cost $3! ☹️The beans & plantains were also a disappointment. My BF ordered breaded shrimp & couldnt eat it, bcuz the smell & taste of frozen oozed even after they had been fried. 😷My search will continue...
Good food. Not alot of Papusa places in Austin like it is in Houston but this one is the best. They dont speak good English and usually has like one server but I guess its worth it for the food. Its not good ac either when its really hot in the summer . so if you are trying to cool off and eat you may be disappointed.
Their Salvadoran guacamole is amazing. Really good food in a friendly, unassuming atmosphere. Try it, youll like it.There are some options for vegetarians, but not too much that is vegan.
Overall food was good. The only thing that disappoint me was that the corn tamale qas super soggy and super sweet. I am not sure if is supposed to taste that way or have that texture though. But my husband and i will be returning.
This place is a community nursery. It actually has a feel like a night market which is pretty cool. Live entertainment, little shops of handmade crafts, play area for kiddos, water features, tropical plants galore!
Amazing food!! We went to another place that was overpriced and decided to go here instead for Sunday brunch. If you want good tasting and authentic Salvadoran food, this is the place to be!
I have been looking for good pupusas for a long time since moving to Austin. Anyone interested in trying out Salvadoran food should definitely make the trip to this restaurant. The staff is extremely friendly and the food is delicious!
The food is good but a little on the expensive side. I ordered 2 pupusas and some refried beans with an horchata and my total was over $14. If I go back, Ill probably just order some pupusas to go and save myself about $8+. Too expensive for a date or family trip.
This was my first favorite restaurant in Austin. So happy it hasnt changed even with all the gentrification around it. The papusas are delicious! The salsa is SPICY, so be careful if you cant handle heat
Went here for the first time on Sunday. Read all the great reviews and decided to give it a shot. Hole in the wall kinda joint but your their for the food not the decor. I decided to play it safe and go with the Popusas and Tamales both were delicious! Horchata is different from mexican horchatas Im used to but it was really good. Will definitely come back to tryout more of their food.
There was only one waitperson, and she tried her best, but I really thought that there should be more wait staff. The food was okay, but the beans were cold and I complained, the waitperson said that they were warm. I immediately corrected her by saying that the plate is warm but the beans were cold. She still tried to argue and I said, Are you calling me a lier? Then instead of offering to bring warm beans she decided to not charge me for the beans. This is why I believe that there needs to be more than one waitperson. I still tipped her as I know that she must be stressed so did tip her and I know that this is not her fault.
Outside of a street vendor in Honduras, El Zunzal was my first pupusa experience, and it lived up to my expectations. Great pupusas and tamales, very affordable price. Big fan of the salsa as well. I dont like the horchata at all, though Im not quite sure on that. Ive gotten it about 4 times. 3 times were good, 1 time was straight up bad. It tasted like chocolate and sand. Ive been hesitant to order it ever since, though that may be a bit unfair of me. Anyway, great food and cheap prices. You can leave full for $6-7.
The tamales (cooked in a banana leaf as opposed to corn husk) are are really really good. So are the pupusas. I havent had the tacos yet cuz i always get tamales and pupusas, but they look good too. If I happen deviate from tamales Ill edit this post to provide taco info.The default salsa they provide is good but very spicy but they do have another salsa that is far less spicy. Chips and salsa are not free, btw.They have 3 rotating agua frescas and offer some interesting flavors like cebada and marangion (sp?) as well as standard ones like horchata, tanarindo, and pina.
To Ms. Maldonado, if youre complaining about SALSA being too spicy then please dont go to a authentic restaurant and go to a commercial place. The pupusas were pretty great and I loved the maracuja juice! My waiter was incredibly sweet I loved the service.
I really love this place, yes its missing some decor but I come for the food so it doesnt bother me. I love their pupusas, so tasty. My husband and I always come here for the Mariscada con crema. It is just so delicious. I dont think its pricey. The salsa its very spicy but great to go with chips. People complaining about the salsa being too spicy probably prefer the tex-mex restaurant salsa that comes from a jar (yuck) great selection of Latin American beers, my husband loves that. Not so great for large parties but other than that its great. I love it. I will be a customer for life. Great food good service reasonable prices. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Food was not good at all, salsa for chips was devil spicy couldnt eat it, carne asada felt too cooked almost burned. Pupusas were good but way far from excellent, the curtido for the pupusas was bitter but the jugo de pina on theother hand was the best I had.
Wow, what a find! Right next to the large HEB was a super authentic Salvadoran restaurant. While very sparsely decorated, the service is friendly--though only in Spanish. The salsa had a nice citrus taste, and they had a selection of Salvadoran beers to go with your food. While the pupusa was good, the fried yuca with chicarones was amazing!! Very cool place, Ill definitely be back.
Ive been to other salvoderian restaurants and ordered pupusas and Ive never waited so long for them. I paid my pupusas first than the other customers who walked in but the waitress served their food first. I will never come to this restaurant again because i feel they discriminate against Afro-latinos.
I just went up there to change my pupusas and was told NO REFUND AND NO CHANGES, to my PREGNANT WIFE !!!! The owner herself with attitude !!!! It is your fault that your ordered them and you have to deal w it, would not HIGHLY RECOMMEND COMING HERE, if you make a mistake it’s YOUR FAULT NOT THEIRS !! Don’t even bother coming here
Went here with my Salvadorian friend. The staff is friendly and the food is delicious. You can get a full meal of 2 pupusas or a pupusa and a tamale with a beer for under ten dollars. Also, they offer chocobananas and other treats sometimes.
Nobody who works here seems to care about anything. Service was lackluster and slow, food was coarse, not prepared properly, overcooked, and dumped on plates. Did not feel welcome, but then staff rarely smiled.Food was nasty and inauthentic compared to other central american restaurants at which Ive dined. Expected the oysters in a seafood soup to be out of shell and shrimp to have head and tail removed. Since when is southern fried chicken part of ANY central or south american dish...putting a salvadoran tomato sauce over the top of yesterdays (last week?) fried, breaded chicken pieces (with bones) not convincing or tasty. All three of us dining felt like we were eating leftovers.Entire place is dreary, dirty, and dusty. Bathrooms are filthy...the alley is cleaner.Go to the Colombian restaurant around the corner on E. 7th for a sumptuous latin meal.
Its ok...pupusas underdone and chiccharon/yuca appetizer way overpriced. $10 for 6oz pork and some fried yucca? Not hardly. Service needs help too...
I adore this spot! The fantastic service and platanos keep me coming back.I feel like Im stepping into El Salvador when Im there. My order is always taken in spanish, they always have the most incredible latin dancing music playing, and the food doesnt have the Tex touch. Customer for life.
Great place for pupusas. No frills decor but cheap, delicious food. A couple pupusas and the plantains will fill you up. Watch out, the house salsa is hot! 🔥
Place doesnt look that great from the outside but its the food that counts. Love their pupusas and tamales. Something i missed since leaving home.
This is a very authentic El Salvadorian restaurant in east, east Austin. Be prepared to order in Spanish at this hole in the wall, with menu items like Fried Yucca, Pupusas de Chicarron (excellent), and Caldo de pescado. Cheap, good service, and extremely crowded during futbol!!!
Found this place while going to Austin for medical follow-ups. Very good food... great taste. And the prices are fitting! So ready to go back!
Unpretentious and honest Salvadoran cuisine. Tried pupusas, tamales (quite unlike the familiar Mexican version), meat pies, and soups - all were well prepared and comforting. Both the fish and seafood cream soups came loaded with goodies - an entire fish in the former and a variety of shrimp, mussels, crab, and krab in the latter. Try a chocobanano as you close out your check and head out the door.
I love this place for true authentic El Salvadorian food. One of the things i missed the most about living in Central America is the food, this place solves my cravings every time. Pupusas and platanos all the way.
This was my first ever Salvadorian food, and I was really happy that they worked with me to find yummy veg options, which ended up being cheese, bean, and loroco pupusas, plus a sweet tamal, crema, and plantains.
If you really like central american food this is a good spot, I recomend las pupusas and sopa de mariscos, empana de platano is not that good so you can skip. Dont expect a fancy place, this is more like low level place with good food
Welcoming. Unpretentious. Authentic. As a Salvadoran myself, I had my concerns about going to El Sunzal, a Salvadoran restaurant located in a predominantly Mexican part of Austin. Would the menu be less authentically guanaco? More tex-mex? Would the pupusas be greasy, filled with beef, or some way americanized?While there is a part of the menu that is of tacos and quesadillas and the like, the place lives up to the expectation that it will be como un rincóncito Salvadoreño. So, yes, expect to SPEAK Spanish. Duh. But also expect to eat the meal any Salvadoran imagines as comfort food: pupusas con loroco, platanos maduros con lado de crema, pollo encebollado.They have suprema and pilsener and colashanpan!One star less than perfect for the Mexican portion of the menu. Also the pupusas could have come with slightly more filling.
Best $5.95 Ive ever spentIncluded: 1 chicharon & queso pupusa, 1 elote (corn) tamal & a drinkD-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-SI didnt dine in so I cant rate waitstaff but the lady at the register was friendly
Ive eaten at several different pupuserias in Maryland and California but this has to be the best pupuseria Ive ever been to.
Good food and good customer service but they needed for employees to long to get are food.
Great food, reasonable prices. Small hidden gem for a nice dinner.
Best pupusas Ive had at any restaurant. The budin is delicious too!
Great prices and amazing, authentic food. Just be prepared to wait a little longer than normal for the food. It’s worth it!
Papusa and tamale. One of the best sub-$5 meals in town.
Food overcook. Not enough curtido for pupusas. Waitresses never come back to check on what you need after they dumped food on your table.
Love this restaurant! Great Salvadoreño food...pupusas, tamales! Reminds me of my country!!! Come try it out. Its a hole in the wall...but its great
This place had a hidden gem. Great prices on breakfast and delicious papusas. The is my go to for papusas in Austin.Pro tip: get extra slaw with your papusas.
I saw all the coments about the pupusas and we went here, and let me tell you something... my wife loves them!!! Come by anyone, Pupusas is $2 each, worth the purches!!!
Wonderful pupusas, curtito, tamales, platanos, empanadas. Low key, affordable. Usually a few families with kids there.
Ordered a carne asada and got a greasy beef jerky.. meat was so hard and burnt! Not authentic at all! Very disappointed defiantly will not be coming back.
Absolutely love this place. Horchata is super good, the loroco pupusas are my favorite, and ending with a chocobanana makes life perfect.
Terrible service. Nasty feel inside. Waitress seemed bored. Paid 9 bucks for a small breakfast. They gave me beans like they were running out.
This is one of my favorite places to eat ethnic food. If you have never tried Salvadoran food, this is the best place to have your first experience.
El Sunzal is one of the best places in Austin to eat Salvadorian food!The prices are just right, they have all kinds of beer from Latin America, and the food keeps you longing for more even after youre full. Platanos fritos, pupusas, tamales, yucca... mmm
Great place. Great food, dont go too hungry it take a bit of time for the food to come out
I love this place been coming here for years and not once have I had a bad experience. The food is great and so are the people.
Great pupusas! Great authentic food for reasonable prices. Loved it!
Delicious food I love the food and the salsa is amazing great place not too crowded nice staff as well
Ive only really had the papusas and tamales but those are good enough that its hard to try anything else.
Excellent food and service
If you really want good, big, pupusas for a reasonable price and a more authentic location, go to the Dallas and Houston area for pupusas.
The pupusas was so delicious but the service was slow, however its a good place.
Hole in in the wall but so so Good for the soul!!! Needed some Salvadorean food. Grateful to our waitress, Yamilet.
Good ordering service. Its a bit of a wait but the food seems good.
Really good pampousas.. service was quick. Nice family owned business. Ill be back..
Best Latin American restaurant in old school East Austin. Salvadorian cuisine. Try the papusas.
Great food! I highly recommend their pupusas.
The pupusas were amazing! Specifically the revueltas(pork and cheese)-yummy!
Great little hidden gem. Food is always delicious and they are fast.
Delicious popusas
My favorite place for more than ten years. The lady thats their has always made me feel like Im at home.
Ignore the bars on the windows and no those are not bullet holes in the window. This place looks rough from the outside but the popusas are awesome.
Great food service kind of slow but food delicious
Very basic interior , however very friendly and attentive service, great breakfast and tamales.
Great service, great food. Very reasonable prices.
Authentic Salvadorian food. Delicious and friendly service. Will be back!
I’m all about it. Super authentic place with some seriously spicy salsa.
Hole in the wall, Great food, somewhat slow service, but the food is good
Very authentic and good food.
Hidden. Gem. My favorite salsa and tamales in Austin, hands down!
Food is good typical Salvadorean food, but place needs a facelift.
Awesome Salvadoran food in Austin.
Food is pretty good but service is slow.
Great food, friendly staff, keep on coming, must control my urge!
Not many places where they sell Salvadorian food would recommend here to try out their food
Always clean. Great service. Excellent food.
Not the best service. Pretty decent food
The f ood was great and waitress was wonderful.
Such good Pupusas and Horchata!
The Mariscada was great but the read that was served with it threw it off....
Food was good but they take a long time
Pupusas were a spiritual experience.
Good place to eat Papusas! Ignore the emo haters.
Tasty and reasonably priced. Seems like its popular with locals
Good food. Must try!
Love salvadorian food very good pupusas
The food was not very good.
The food was not so great.
Its very food food and the salsa is good
Great Delicious Food & Spicy Sauce !
Marginal food, rundown place. Would never recommend to anyone.
Delicious! Every thing is very authentic. Loved it!
Unassuming Mex-Salvadorean restaurant with those giant Salvadorean tamales.
Love the popusas and delicious tamales!
Friendly staff and great papusas!
Friendly place and great Popusas
Very small pupusas and pricey.
Ive had much much better. But its cheap!
Food is alright. Small place tho.
I like their popular popusas.
Great food and great service!!!
Below average. Go to Juan in a million which is next door.
Good food, good service
Amazing place! I’m addicted
Best pupusas in Austin!
Good food and good sevice
I enjoy eating here
Large plates, and authentic food
Very good
Amazing food!
Best beans in austin!
Best Mariscada in town!!!!
Cool
Just plain good.
Liked it
Cozy good service
Slow and rude service
Its really good
It was pretty good
Delicious
Great food
Great food
😋👍
I hat it
Amazing food
Recommend
Authentic
Wow the pupuasas
Excellent!!!
I always come to this place, I dont know why they have this lady as a month, she has no manners to serve the person, her soup is very good, but it is very uncomfortable with her, she treats the person fatal
Exelelente place the truth of the best an excellent attention and a super delicious food the best this is I recommend it seriously the seafood with cream that is totally something delicious has no comparison go through this delicious place will be fascinated selos assure
The pupusas in particular are very good, it is the only place I have visited that makes them very tasty.
A lot of arrogance from their employees. They do not let you wait for a table inside the restaurant, they send you to wait outside. They do not clean the tables quickly. Many nests of spiders to eat outside. They should improve their customer service. The lighting inside is not good. Creepy. Should get 0 stars.
Food very good but service very bad
The food is really good. It tastes good. Unfortunately the place is run down inside it looks quite old.
Excellent attention, small, neat place and food with true Latin flavor
Nice attention, I like the place, it has an ancient vision and it is nice
Excellent pupusas and service! 100% recommended, if you are in this area or are passing through
The best pupusas in Austin!!
Hello, I do not recommend this place at all, the attention is rubbish the waitress with thin glasses who served us very rude and the shrimp broth that I asked very simple only the shrimp and 2 pieces of raw potato very bad do not come
The food was very good, but I had to bring the chair for my baby while I was carbacating it, after having asked for the stew ... I did not check the table to see if everything was fine even once, I do not leave any chips with sauce at the table, the other tables if they had them, & I had to ask for my box to take to the cashier ... I am also a shopkeeper & I attend up to 12 tables alone & at least check my tables 3 times to make sure everything is fine.
If I could not leave a single star, I would make it very bad to come to breakfast at a restaurant where they open wings (10: am), and you realize that they do not open until the waitress arrives ???????? ! ??? That was an employees response.I have been calling to see if they can take my order on the phone but they also dont take the phone to make an order is 10: 18 am and this place still does not open should change these rules.
Bad food, the pupusas have almost nothing and do not try to guess what they are doing because it is impossible, tanned a little that does not come to anything, the sauce is for nachos not for pupusas, the tamal pequeno (half of a normal Salvadoran tamale) and without any flavor and aver that they give them I asked for chicken and they gave me pork.
Well, the prices are not 🤷 so bad but the truth is that waitresses always have a bad face 🤷
I like the food of the Sunzal, the baleadas are delicious. The prices are very low. I eat all my favorite foods pupusas, chicharones, fried yucca, roofs. I hope that in the future they can scare to other places.
I really like the taste of the pupusas but they just need something to put a little more sauce
This place is a shame for our country the pupusas stop in Mexican tortillas and the waitresses are slower than a turtle I came from Houston Texas to eat here and I am leaving the restaurant, I do not recommend them to anyone or air conditioning they have
Good place to eat well and very cheap.Chicharron pupusas were my favorites, the tanning is very tasty.
Soooo rich food
What a relaxing meal is that, when you have a restaurant, you have to dedicate yourself only to one type of cuisine because here is a jumble or is it Mexican? Salvadoran? Or from Honduras make it clear
Very good food but lacks staff to better serve other than that everything is delicious.
Very bad service, we waited more than 45 minutes for them to give us the food and it was served cold. Part of the food was hard and burned. Very bad service I never fly and I do not recommend it !!!
Excellent very rich more pupusas and cassava, I recommend it
Rich pupusas and good service !! Yummy pupusas and great service!
The food is good, too bad the service is fatalIt took more than an hour to get my order out.
Rich food but the attention is fatal should hire more waitress s not serve well and tanbia with a bad face is a shame
Very good food and service
They make you wait a long time for few staff who count
The food is delicious and the prices are moderate is a good family restaurant
Excellent service, variety of Salvadoran meals, very good!
Rich pupusas very good snacks
Very nice place ... Very rich food and a reasonable price !!!
I love yucca with pork rinds and passion fruit water
Bad service, dirty tables and they dont really cater
There is no good attention, the tables where you want to sit do not allow it if not where they say, I really do not recommend it
Delicious pupusas
Family EnvironmentVery good foodReasonable pricesVery Good Customer Service ....... etc, etc, etc
The pupusas very tasty and very attentive staff.
The chicken counted is delicious and the seafood broth is 1
Do not lose your time or money :( only the waitress was friendly she is not to blame for the pity of food: /
I love super recommended corn tamales
I love popusas, thats why I go 😄
They do not have good service and when ordering your food they do not pay attention
Very good seafood soup
Neither chips have very bad attention
The food and service is excellent price is also good.
Most of their friendly employees and burn flavor food
A lot has been left to owe, the seafood platters are no longer the same
The worst customer service for the girl they have in this place does not know anything about this business.
Total reviews rating 4
199 Reviews for El Sunzal Restaurant 2023:
Review №1
2022-03-26This review hurts me, I was here 7 years ago and it was the most authentic salvadorean food I had since my home country. This recent visit was very sad, 2 other clients during peek dinner hours, had to share a menu because we only got one. And were informed tortillas dont come with their plates... the atmosphere is sad and gloomy. Music was way too loud. And food was mediocre at best.
Review №2
2022-08-01I really wanted to like this place, because its local and cheap, but I just didnt like it that much. Had a papusa, but it was way too small and had little filling. Two tacos, but they were average and the tortillas needed to be fried a bit.
Review №3
2022-09-08If I could I will put zero stars to the service!! The food I do like !! Horrible service the lady at front definitely need to go take a class of costumer services Immediately. I call several times to place a order never answered ! I got there she was very rude not just with me but with everyone in the restaurant she have the mean look her response to whatever question was Awful !! Please please restaurant owners talk to your employees do something! I don’t want come ever again!!
Review №4
2022-07-19Love this place! Yummy pupusas and other things. It was a they are closed on Mondays on Google but they weren’t closed today! Def check it out
Review №5
2019-09-01This place is a great Salvadoran restaurant.The papusas are excellent.My Salvadoran friend swears to as to its authenticity.
Review №6
2021-09-21Hidden gem of East Austin! I went here first with my Dad and we both loved it. Everything was delicious and I’m surprised more people don’t come here. The guacamole is so fresh with chunks of avocado - really tasty. Our enchiladas and tacos were great. Wonderful vibe inside as well; laid back and unpretentious. If I need help ordering, other patrons are friendly and helpful. Love this spot
Review №7
2021-06-15The best of the best pupusas in town!!Very good flavor on the pupusas.Fresh and tasty...About service: Excellent service from the waitress. Kind, friendly and very well knowledgeable about the Menu.About location: easy to find out. On east 7th street and pleasant valley, next by the HEB. Across street of autozone.About price: affordable rates.About the food: SUPER DELICIOUS!!
Review №8
2020-08-18Excellent food and excellent service. I will be back there often.
Review №9
2020-12-07Def a 4...good not great! Pupusas are my favorite food and theirs are just alright. Had revuelta pupusa, plantains, beans and cream. As stated on other reviews, the service is on the slower side but very friendly. I didn’t have any issues.
Review №10
2019-07-27The food was excellent and the prices even better.. Will be returning... 😋😋😋