Atlacatl Restaurant

Delicious food, amazing service. Thanks my buddy John for recommending this amazing restaurant.

The restaurant has the best Salvadoran food. I highly recommend their Pupusas , they are very delicious and taste very authentic . Another thing I recommend is their supreme nachos , it comes with juicy grilled steaks and grilled chicken I always get it when I go dine there.

Ordered takeout - pupusas, cabbage, and nachos were all delicious and made quickly and fresh. Great service, great prices, great vibe in the restaurant, highly recommend!

Took a friend to try Salvadoran food, and we were not disappointed! The pupusas were authentic, with that perfect balance of crispy edges and gooey cheese, flavorful filling. Try the pupusas de loroco, yummy. The mariscada con crema (seafood soup with cream) was a standout dish—rich, perfectly seasoned, and featuring a blue crab that added a deep, savory flavor. We also tried the plátanos rellenos con crema (stuffed plantains with cream), which were deliciously sweet and tasted just like home. The atmosphere isn’t fancy, but that’s part of the charm—it truly feels like stepping into a traditional pupusería in El Salvador. If you’re looking for genuine Salvadoran flavors near D.C., this is the place to go. Highly recommended! 🇸🇻

First time there and I got their seafood soup 🍲 OMG it was so good. Very flavorful and complex deliciousness. I would definitely go back. I can't wait to try their other dishes!!

Horrible. First time here and this is what i found on my plate, yes it is a bolt. Someone need to investigate and inspect this kitchen. Who know what else is in this place. Pupusa weren't good. Very disappointing

The best salvadorian restaurant ever, the best service, and you food always on time!! Good price!!! I’m loving this restaurant 😩😩

Price point was great, food quality was mediocre. Nothing to write home about. They gave yucca fries before the food came, and I ordered the pupusas and yucca con chicharron. There were not enough bits of chicharron. The cabbage for the pupusas was a delightful suprise and was sweet.

I ordered three items Pupusa Revuelta, (Pork and Cheese) Beef Pastelito, and a Tamal de Pollo all three items served with Cortido ( Cabbage salad) the tamal de Pollo was and is the best Salvadoran Tamal I have had! The Papusa Reveuelta was perfect and the Beef Pastelito Is a new favorite of mine! The owners and staff are very nice and welcoming. You can go for lunch and dinner and you can also eat outside if you'd like it was a little bit cold and windy today so we ate inside there's parking in the back and it is on Columbia Pike in Arlington when you're going towards Falls Church it's past S Wakefield Street. I came here on recommendation, so I decided to take my brother and try it and I wasn't disappointments. We'll come back.

Food was fresh, beer was cold, and service was great. I would recommend coming here! Papusas were delicious. Great local spot.

Restaurant is under new management. They've made some changes not for the better (IMO). Ordered pupusas, normally they are overflowing with the filling. This time, there's barely any in the pupusa. It was more of a fat tortilla. Ordered the steak plate, the steak was overcooked and unseasoned, the rice was overcooked. Their seafood empanadas used to be flakey, now they are hard and burnt. Overall a disappointing experience.

Was disappointed with this restaurant. I expected a lot more. The one thing I will give them is that the price for the plate of food I got was pretty good. However the taste was not great. The tamale was still very wet and undercooked. The taco tasted like it was from taco bell. The papusas were okay. The best thing about this place was the complimentary yucca fries. I would come back and just order papusas to give it a second shot. The service was nice but it took like 30 minutes to get our food. They were playing a movie that had a sex scene which I would not be happy with if I had kids there. Overall, service was nice but slow, food was not great.

We stop here for the first time and we like the food. We have fried fish and chicken soup. We also tried the pupusa.

I love this place! I've been coming here since I was a kid and the flavors never change! This will always be my favorite place for pupusas in the DMV area. The service is great and it's def family friendly.

Definitely a classic for Hispanics living in NoVa, at least to my knowledge. Always got great food and the servers are always nice and welcoming. I would give this a 10 pound chuck of limestone out of a corrupted government official.

Cashew drink was refreshing,pupusas came out quick and were delicious! I got a loroco and bean pupusas. The server could've been more attentive though

This restaurant has been around for years! I highly recommend their yucca and pupusas. The bean and cheese pupusas are the best and are not greasy. The staff is nice; they usually have one server so the service is not the fastest but the staff is friendly.

worse soups ever. a couple of small pieces of meat and small vegetables pieces and most of it it's broth wow. we spent $100 in 2 soups with almost no veggies and 2small pieces of meat meat and a couple of beers. this place used to be great with real soup. Taste was bad too. I do not recommend it at all. We returned most of it after trying a little bit.

I want to start by saying that their papusas are great, so I would give it 5 stars based on that dish alone. However, I'm giving it 3 stars because my other food wasn't great and the service is slow (although friendly). I ordered the combination plate which comes with a taco, tamale, papusa and a side of beans and rice. Overall, it was okay but some parts were bland and others tasted like they had been in the fridge for a while. The yucca fries were great and I appreciate that they include them as a complimentary side, but it didn't make up for my main dish. Additionally, I think it took ~30 min to get my food. It's a well established restaurant that clearly has many regulars, but since there are many papuserias in the area, I won't be coming back to this one.

This is the best pupusa place in the DMV area! They offer the best pupusas in the area, all at incredibly reasonable prices. The service was quick and the servers were friendly. The pupusas, fajitas, and tacos are all great choices.

This place is amazing! The best pupusas in town for sure. My favorite thing on the menu is el tacos carbon. They are so freaking delicious! I go there a couple times week now and they are always so friendly! The horchata is a must get here and the yuca is really crispy here. Check it out if you're in the area!

great place, food was amazing definitely recommend. server was nice and accommodating, felt like home. place has a music box you can play off phone and adds a great vibe.

I love this place. My dad use to bring us here when I was small. We have been loyal customers since they were on the other side Columbia Pike.

The food is delicious and reasonably priced. I d recommend ordering a couple of pupas to start. There is a parking lot behind the building.

Let me start out by saying this was my favorite restaurant for 20+ years. I went last week and i was si disappointed. First of my tipico plate is no longer offered and the food no longer tastes the same. The pupusas had an off putting taste and the beans (which were my favorite in the past) were just gross. So sad this place has fallen from grace. At one time this was the best salvadorean restaurant in northern Virginia, no longer is this the case sadly. Won't be back, bye bye Atlacatl it was a good run.

Yo, it looks super skeevy from the outside and not very well lit inside, but hot damn the food is good and hearty and large portions. (Their margarita game is weak tho, thus only 4 stars). They have a huge menu, but lemme give you some recs. Basically, if it's tongue, you should get it. If it's got lemon sauce, get it. If it's beef tongue with lemon sauce, get two orders; one for now, one for later. Prices are reasonable, food is plentiful, the people are really nice, the tongue is tender, the lemon sauce is to die for, and leftovers are even better. Just pass on the margaritas. Get a beer instead.

Today Sunday at 12pm went to buy some food to go. First of all customer service is trash they have you waited forever for your food and if you don't say anything who knows when you will get your order. I ordered soup de res which was super salty disgusting and a soup de marisco had no fish which I find weird and carne asada no flavor rice was oily and 2 tamales de elote that were weird tasted like they mixed to much floor and watered it down disgusting had to throw them away no chance on eating it. After not coming here and receiving this type of customer service and food very disappointing. I would recommend going else where don't waste your time or money.

We ordered food for 30 people as we celebrated the life of our mother who passed last week. Since she was from Central America, we saw it fitting to order from Atlacatl. The food was amazing, delicious, and could have fed 100. It was delivered to our vehicle for pick up on time and with great care. The owners are wonderful people and the food is authentic and fabulous. All of the staff are great. We ordered a bunch of dishes off the menu and some by suggestion of Manfredo. Thank you for caring for our family! A superb experience.

My friend and I passed this place several times since it's located near his place. It's not very eye catching, and definitely looks sketch at night. Anyways, we decided to try the place out since we were both hungry and didn't want to drive too far for food. It was not a disappointment to say the least. The inside is not at all fancy, but it is pretty welcoming with a good amount of customers dining in. It can get pretty loud though if they blast the music up from the karaoke machine; something I didn't mind at all. The wait staff is very nice, however don't expect them to check on you often. After we sat down and gave them our orders, they gave us a complimentary basket of yuca fries and dip. While the yuca fries were average, the dip they paired it with is really good. Just beware, the dip is pretty spicy. The food took a while to come out, and was definitely worth the wait. My friend ordered their seafood soup which comprised of lobster, clams, mussel, shrimp, and I think there was an egg in it but can't be entirely sure. It came with a side of tortilla. It was a very generous portion for the price, and definitely really tasty. I, on the other hand, ordered something more basic; the beef and chicken fajitas. It came on a hot plate, so it was sizzling and smoking when the waitress brought it out. It came with the normal toppings (sour cream, lettuce, cheese, guac, pico de gallo). You can't go wrong with those sides and it'd really hard to mess up, it was good. I just wish they gave more of it. Lol. The veggies and chicken and beef were really good as well, flavorful and not dry. We also ordered a side of pork/cheese pupusas which was pretty good too. Though, honestly, I haven't had much of pupusas so can't really judge on the quality of it. Overall, I would definitely come back to this place for food.

Saturday afternoon and they were packed. The tables sit uncomfortably close together. Service there is short and sweet - it's not like a chain restaurant where the server comes back twice through the meal and asks how everything is. You sit down, someone finally comes over 5 minutes later, takes your order, and after the food is brought you don't see them until it's time to get paid. And then they're right there waiting. Aside from the service and how crowded the place is, the food is okay. It's the best carne asada in the area, but the nachos left something to be desired. Back to the steak though - it was cooked properly, seasoned properly, and the piece itself was HUGE (two to three times what I normally see). Plus, it was a great price (12.50 I believe). The nachos were okay - they were brought out 5 minutes before the carne was, despite my having ordered them as my entree. So by the time I got to them they were kind of cold. The steak and chicken on the plate were seasoned nicely and cooked tender. Probably wouldn't order it again though. Pro-tip: turn where it says "parking" because their lot is around the backside of the restaurant and if you don't turn when it says to turn, you'll miss it.

I've been coming here for many years and the food is always consistent. I'm very picky when it comes to eating food from my country, I always order the hen soup which is super delicious. I have tried many of their dishes and it never disappoints me. If you want to try the closest most authentic Salvadoran food in the area.

This is a divey place filled with locals. Hands down the best pupusas I have ever had. The other food such as the tacos and taco salad were alright. I would give it more like three stars. The pupusas were definitely five stars! It's also super cheap. Dinner for two with a couple margaritas and beer was less than $40. I will definitely come back but probably only for the pupusas. Yum!

me encanta visitar este restaurante x q es un lugar excelente y la comida deliciosa y los platos típicos q tienen en épocas especiales como para Semana Santa,jocote en miel mango en miel,pescado ...

I had lengua melinese And butter sauce with capers and lemon squeeze was fantastic Yuca Frita was served on the house The portions were more than generous I could take some home to share And the price was reasonable especially in this day and age with rising food costs This place is a gem it's worth your business Bezos

There food is really really good. But there customer service not so much. They have two servers at best and they aren't attentive and they talk about you up near the little bar area in the front. I like the food but I would recommend takeout not eat in.

Great takeout experience! They brought the food Out to our car. We ordered the beef nachos, plantains, yuca, pupusas, steak fajitas and extra chips and salsa. Everything was great and incredibly affordable- all this food was under 30 dollars!

Amazing staff and amazing food! If you want authentic Mexican/Salvadorian food at the best prices around, this is your place!

So far my favorite place to have Salvadorian food. I can come back just for the corn tamales, but the pupusas, rice and beans are always prepared well too. The plantain dessert could've been better. Sports/spanish music always on the tvs, wait staff is friendly, and every time I've been it's almost always a decent crowd, friendly atmosphere. Parking is a little tricky, though, so make sure you pay attention when you're getting close!

I love this place! Why? Because it reminds me of my grandmother's cooking on my father's side ( yes, I'm half salvadoran) It's hard to find a good spot that feels like home. As long you have a smile and you have patience, you'll enjoy this place. It's definitely a family run business. Sometimes it can get crowded. Don't expect fancy service, fancy food, and the whole 9 yards. Give it a rest- don't even bother going to this place if you want to become a "food snob". The owner will chat with you. Heck, his wife may chat with and you won't even know that waitress is his wife! So relax and just enjoy the culture of food and company. Food: I always get the combination papusas with rice, fried beans and plantains. I even get crema (sour cream) to go along with it. As for drink, my friends and I always get horchata or simply a Corona. The other dishes are good but I always turn to the papusas. =) FYI- You don't have to speak spanish to dine here. If you're in the DC area and not looking to come to NoVa, check out Ercilia's for your salvadoran taste buds. They are also delicious!

I have to give this place 5 starts, they've always been a favorite of mine, but their recent performance during our little freak storm and the electricity being out everywhere really gave them that last star. The pupusas are great, I'vd had the revuelta (pork and cheese, which makes me sick but it's my inability to handle pork in general), the cheese, and the loroco (with real loroco, none of that dried oregano looking crap....). I've had the nachos, love love love them. I've had the platanos, the beans, the rice, the steak, they're just so delicious. The service is good, they always come around and check on drinks. Instead of nachos, super crunchy hot yuca with salsa. ummm yes! Story time: Freak Derecho storm 2012. Northern Virginia is without lights. Spouse and I drive around looking for a neighborhood in Alexandria/Arlington that has lights and service. We're hungry and hot! We see Atcatl with electricity we go. The place was packed which is rare for the meal times we usually go. The service was slow, okay given. BUT EVERYONE FREAKING TABLE WAS TAKEN AND...PEOPLE KEPT COMING THROUGH THE DOOR. Those ladies and that one dude was HUSTLING. They were running like their life depended on it. Drinks were a plenty. They were sweating, they were nice, they were cheerful and the food was delicious. Unfortunately, my spouse and I were super bad luck and after getting our yuca the lights went out. That place got hot...IMMEDIATELY. We took our stuff to go, we tipped (apparently one of the few because apparently people can't tell the difference between bad service and packed service) and we ate our delicious food at home. I love this place, it's my new go to pupusa joint. It's my place where I get a salvadorian fix.

I was really excited to try this place out! My husband and I decided to check this place out for dinner. The owner seated us and we were given a basket of fried yucca with this nice salsa (finely minced tomatoes and peppers with a nice kick) while we decided on the menu - it was a great treat, and we both thought it was one of the best yucca appetizers we've had. We started off with a chicarron pupusa, a queso pupusa, a corn tamale, and then ordered a beef chimichanga for myself and Los Tacos Platter for the husband. I liked the cheese pupusa out of the two, and it was great with the yucca salsa (than the relish; I wasn't a fan of the relish); the corn tamale was good and you can tell that it was made in-house. The chimichanga was deep-fried, but it was covered in a gravy-type of sauce - the filling was a wet-version of ground beef, but it was cheesy. It came with a side salad with gaucamole and sour cream; I really enjoyed the rice (with the corn and carrots) and the refried beans (they were delicious!). The tacos platter was okay, but used the wet version of the ground beef. We also ordered horchata, and it was delicious - had a nice balance of the cinnamon/spices and it was nice and refreshing. I would definitely come back here for the rice, the refried beans, the complimentary yucca basket, as well as for the cheese pupusas. Service was very efficient and friendly, and it's a solid hole-in-the-wall type of restaurant. +cheese pupusas +corn tamales +horchata +friendly staff :D

Good Place, Good Food, Good Service! The choice of food is great.I had some pupusas and meat. Everything was fresh. The prices are reasonable.

Overall rating: 6.5/10, but papusas = 8.5/10. Food: My boyfriend and I went here looking for some nostalgic hispanic meals, but were somewhat disappointed. The steak was tough and mildly dry. The rice was dry, but wetly coated. The best thing we did have was the papusas. Those were great, but how can you ever go wrong with cheese and carbs? Cost: I forgot the total of our meal, but it wasn't cheap. I think it was around $45 for both of our plates. Atmosphere/Appearance: The restaurant was crowded and filled with people. It was pretty loud from both the music and the talking, but it was a Friday night, so I wouldn't really expect anything different. The space was decorated with bright colors and posters. Service: Employees were nice, but the service took a while. It was crowded, so it's ok! (:

The food is always great. Well seasoned and tasty. I've had a number of dishes and I've enjoyed eating all of them. Nachos supreme is my husband's favorite. They are best nachos we've ever had. The service is great. The ambiance is not so great. It's a dive restaurant.

Always leave happy from here. It's authentic, simple goodness. $2 bean and cheese pupusa is really stuffed and super filling. Delish cabbage & tomato sauce slaw that comes on the side is mellow and not vinegary like it is at other places. The interior is colorful and lively with an authentic vibe based on the clientele. Friendly staff too.

This was a great meal. We each started with a pupusa. I highly recommend the chicharron. The Salvadorena was also good. Our entrees were also very tasty. The Carne Asada A La Salvadorena had a nice flavor to it. After the pupusa and the complimentary fried yucca, I did not want much of the rice, but it had a nice flavor. Our other entree was Camarones Al Ajillo, which was nicely seasoned without overpowering the flavor of the shrimp. We will be back to try some more menu items.

Looking for a Salvadorian place to eat? This place it's to topical and feels like you are back home :-) Plus they have the famous salvadorian beers, pilsener.. I had beef fajita and it was pretty good. My friend has chicken soup and it looked good tho.

Don't be fooled by the outside of the restaurant -- it looks like an empty, outdated building. But it's actually full of local families and really fresh, delicious food! Their guacamole was killer, service was quick and kind, and the pupusas were hot and yummy. Also, their horchata was THE BEST horchata I've ever had -- real cinnamon, perfectly sweetened. Don't miss out! Try something new and grab a pupusa and horchata.

Ordered Pork and cheese pupusa's I enjoyed them with the spicy cabbage on top. I have been going here for lunch since it is close by my job. Staff is friendly and the prices are really good

Awful, awful customer service but the food is so good. Sooooooo, I keep going. Their pupusas are amazing!!! The yuca they start you off with is money! La sopa de gallina... eh. I've had better. Food is good, just be prepared to wait... and wait... and wait.

I really enjoyed this restaurant. I love their nachos, nothing like some melted cheeese! If that was the only good thing, I would go back just for that. I ordered a corn tamal and it was lacking, it may have come from canned corn because it did not have enough flavor. I did like their platanos con frijoles y crema. I also had a bean and cheese pupusa, very good but my only complaint was it needed a little more cheese. My wife got a nice piece of meat with beans and salad. She really enjoyed it. I really liked that they serve yuca with green sauce instead of chips and salsa. I will definitely go back. I want to try more!

I have been coming here since I was 5 years old. Same friendly people, and I love the dish they serve as an appetizer, the fried yucca with some spicy sauce. The Pupusas are efficiently one of a kind. The sopa de Marisco hits the spot especially if you are sick. Their horchata and jugo de frutas are definetly my favorite in the area. I hands down recommend coming here on a week day, parking can be a bit tricky, since their lot is very tiny.

What an authentic place to eat. My son and I tried the pupusa, and a few combo dishes. I really liked the chimichungas​. It was seriously the best I've had. They give you a lot of beans and rice which is nice. The servers were nice, but we just got take out so it wasn't really having a server. But the person I ordered from was nice. The inside of the restaurant is very authentic, and although I speak Spanish, I wished I could have read the reviews on the newspaper clippings on the wall. It looks like this place has been here for awhile and deservedly so. Next time I'll order ahead bc the food took a little longer than I had hoped, especially with a hungry toddler. I look forward to coming back and eating at their location, and trying more items.

Food was was DENSE with flavor. Portions were big, hearty and filling. Astonishingly, it was priced at a very good deal. If your looking for a big, tasty, fresh, high quality meal for a low cost, I would highly recommend checking this place out.

disappointed to say the least. I purchased the gallina rellena from this restaurant, and it was extremely disappointing the bird was extremely dry all throughout, sadly i know it was cooked the day beforehand. i had preordered a week prior, clearly confirming for Saturday the 25th. repeatedly confirming for Saturday multiple times (as the holiday fell on the 25th) when i went in for my order, i gave them my name and repeated my order. one of the waitresses overheard me and mentioned to the employee behind the counter (oh that's the one from yesterday). i thought to myself "there's no way they'll actually give me a day old meal, surely thats not good business practice". i should have checked my order before leaving. got home carved into it and to my surprise it was dried out completely, even the dark meat leg quarters and and wings were hardened it had sat in the oven for so long! i couldn't believe it was the most disappointing meal i've had in a long time especially as it was christmas dinner and this wasn't cheap neither, i'm out $75. this review is specifically focused on the christmas special.

Wow. This place looks a fright from the outside but wow. Just wow for flavor and quantity. 5 stars all the way. I ordered the chicken burrito grande dish and it came with ample rice, beans and salad. Also free was fried yucca. Similar to potatoes but mealier. Very good. Service was not so good but the quality made up for that.

When you're in the mood for some Salvadoran food that's tasty and a decent price point, check this place out. We ordered carne asada (grilled steak) and bistec encebollado (steak with sautéed onions). Our service was great and friendly. The place feels authentic. Loud music blazing. Pictures of customers strewn across the wall along with other festive decorations. Oh and be sure to try a pupusa! Buen provecho!