Cafe Platano

Salvadoran restaurant · Downtown

Cafe Platano

Salvadoran restaurant · Downtown

1

2042 University Ave, Berkeley, CA 94704

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Cafe Platano by null
Cafe Platano by Platano/Facebook
Cafe Platano by null
Cafe Platano by null
Cafe Platano by null
Cafe Platano by null
Cafe Platano by null
Cafe Platano by null
Cafe Platano by null
Cafe Platano by null
Cafe Platano by null
Cafe Platano by null
Cafe Platano by null
Cafe Platano by null
Cafe Platano by null
Cafe Platano by null
Cafe Platano by null
Cafe Platano by null
Cafe Platano by null
Cafe Platano by null
Cafe Platano by null

Highlights

Dive into the vibrant flavor of Salvadoran cuisine at this lively spot, where cheesy pupusas and folk art create a delightfully warm atmosphere.  

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2042 University Ave, Berkeley, CA 94704 Get directions

cafeplatano.com
@platanoberkeley

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2042 University Ave, Berkeley, CA 94704 Get directions

+1 510 704 0325
cafeplatano.com
@platanoberkeley

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dine in
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Last updated

Jul 10, 2025

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"This bustling, colorful restaurant serves many dishes from El Salvador, but it’s hard to not order the cheesy pupusas. The $11.50 combo plates offer a great deal, delivering you both pupusas and a choice of sides like sweet plantains, an avocado salad, or a chicken tamale." - Janelle Bitker

The Best Places to Eat and Drink in Downtown Berkeley - Eater SF
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Toni Mojo

Google
Quite a nice place. In Berkeley, as you approach the restaurant and enter, you are warmly greeted with a sweet smile from Adriana, and she kindly guides you to your table. The scene is nice as you notice all the beautiful art all around the restaurant. The menu is detailed with a few vegetarian options. Needless to say, We came for their famous Papusas! Papusas are stuffed thick corn masa tortilla served with curtido & salsa. They were all delicious, a good size, and served fresh and hot. It is not too salty with a decent amount of cheese stuff mixed well in. They did not come soggy they came fried to perfection. The Papusas we ordered were... 1 Revuelta & Frijoles 1 Revuelta 1 Chicharron 1 DE Res y Queso 1 Queso & Frijoles 1 Queso & Loroco Delicious 😋

ayush kalani

Google
The place was packed when we got there. We went their during lunchtime, so we tried their lunch specials #3, #4, and #9. Lunch special #3 comes with 2 pupusas, plantains, casamiento, and sour cream. Lunch special #4 comes with 2 pupusas, casamiento, and chicken tamale. Lunch special #9 comes with 2 pupusas and a small tropical salad. We also tried their horchata, atol de elote, fried yucca, and chicharrones. Pupusas were good but needed a little bit more flavor, so we all pretty much used up an entire bottle of the sauce they provided us. Plantains were cooked really well. Chicharrones was delicious, too. Overall, it was a good experience.

Maxine

Google
Talk about delicious pupusas! Wow! Cafe Platano is the best Salvadoran restaurant in the Bay Area. I've been to El Salvador and my mom is Salvadoran and we both enjoy the pupusas when we visit the Berkeley location. "El fresco de ensalada" is also delicious, very legit. I've honestly never gone to this restaurant for anything other than the pupusas, so I don't know about their other entrees. I recommend the rice flour pupusas, "revueltas" and "de queso con loroco." Yum! The prices are reasonable too. Street parking is challenging, either Uber there or prepare to drive for a while until you find an open spot. It's all worth it though.

Allan Santiago

Google
Been here twice and liked both experiences. The pupusas are tasty and they have a house salsa that is very spicy, which we love! Their ensalada beverage is very refreshing and great to sip after eating some of said salsa. The second time around we ordered the Fried fish. Overall had some nice flavor but was too fried and tasted more like chicharon. We'll stick to the pupusas.

Lynnkitty

Google
This was our first time at Cafe Platano. The food was fresh, hot and delicious! They offer a few vegan items and several vegetarian dishes. We will absolutely return next time we are in the area.

Rebecca Gloyer

Google
10/10 would visit again when I'm back in the area. Authentic and delicious--my partner and I shared a lunch special and some yuca fries and it was a good portion. The yuca fries didn't come with sauce, so we tried dipping them in the tomato sauce and crema. The crema was a great impromptu sauce! Completely wiped the plate clean.

Victor Wang

Google
Really delicious and authentic food. The pupusas my friend got was delicious and the ribs I got had fantastic flavor. The service here is a bit lackluster and we sat around without water for over 30 minutes and it didn't help that the entree prices are a bit high. The pupusas however are great value and quite filling.

Clinton Tran

Google
Plátano is a salvadorian restaurant with delicious Pupusas 🫓!! The Pupusas sizes are large and can fill you up. There are many other typical salvadorian plates to enjoy as well. There are plenty of seats and the restaurant size is pretty large for a space in Berkeley. Service was great and the food was yummy. Parking around this area can be a challenge, so be prepared to circle around a bit if not trying to park in the structure/garage.