El Mercadito Salvadoreno
Grocery store · Pico-Union ·
Pupusas, ceviche, fresh mangoes, and more from vendors.
Pupusas, ceviche, fresh mangoes, and more from vendors.
"This Central American street market in Koreatown will keep you occupied all afternoon with chicken soup, blood oysters tossed into ceviche, and pupusas sizzling on hot grills. The tented roadside market operates daily on the stretch of Vermont Avenue from 11th to 13th. In between the soccer jersey sellers and people snacking on green mangoes dusted in sour achiote powder, you'll see a ton of different Salvadoran stands. Our favorite is Pupuseria Jazmin’s #2, where you sit at long banquet tables and eat crispy-edged pupusas with equal parts frijoles, cheese, and chicharrón. These hit the table still spongy in the center, with pork minced so finely it blends into the molten filling like a spicy, fatty seasoning." - nikko duren, brant cox, sylvio martins
"They say you should never go grocery shopping while hungry, but in the case of El Mercadito Salvadoreño, we’ll make an exception. This Salvadoran street market takes up two blocks along Vermont Avenue in Koreatown and is home to dozens of food vendors selling Central American specialties like blood clam cocteles, sour green mangoes dusted with achiote powder, and fried yucca with chicharron. Pupuseria Jazmin’s #2, one of our favorite vendors, sets up a long banquet table where you can order cheese and loroco-stuffed pupusas and drink instant coffee as traffic zooms by. Time doesn’t exist when you’re snacking your way through this tented maze, so come with zero rush and a few friends who are in the mood to feast." - brant cox, garrett snyder, jess basser sanders, nikko duren, sylvio martins, cathy park
"Walk through El Mercado Salvadoreño with your eyes closed and you might mistake the sound of riguas sizzling on hot grills for a bunch of horny cicadas. This daily street market outside Koreatown’s Two Guys Plaza is a cultural hub for LA's Salvadoran community, and somewhere you can spend an entire afternoon eating blood clam cocteles, sour green mangoes, and scalding pupusas. By our count, there are near-infinite pupusa vendors here. But our favorite is Pupuseria Jazmin’s #2 with its long banquet tables where can drink refreshing guanabana agua fresca as your rice-flour pupusa crisps up on the grill. Think thin and spongy in the center, yet crispy around the edges. Get an order of revueltas. These have an equal frijoles to cheese to chicharron ratio, with finely minced pork seasoning every bite." - sylvio martins, brant cox, nikko duren
"They say you should never go grocery shopping while hungry, but in the case of El Mercadito Salvadoreño, we’ll make an exception. This Salvadoran street market takes up two blocks along Vermont Avenue in Koreatown and is home to dozens of food vendors selling Central American specialties like blood clam cocteles, sour green mangoes dusted with achiote powder, and fried yucca with chicharron. Pupuseria Jazmin’s #2, one of our favorite vendors, sets up a long banquet table where you can order cheese and loroco-stuffed pupusas and drink instant coffee as traffic zooms by. Time doesn’t exist when you’re snacking your way through this tented maze, so come with zero rush and a few friends who are in the mood to feast. " - brant cox, garrett snyder, jess basser sanders, nikko duren, sylvio martins
"This Central American street market in Koreatown (also known as Two Guys Plaza) will keep you occupied all afternoon with chicken soup, blood oysters tossed into ceviche, and pupusas sizzling on hot grills. The tented roadside market operates daily on the stretch of Vermont Avenue from 11th to 13th. In between the soccer jersey sellers and people snacking on green mangoes dusted in sour achiote powder, you'll see a ton of different Salvadoran stands. Our favorite is Pupuseria Jazmin’s #2, where you sit at long banquet tables and eat crispy-edged pupusas made with equal parts frijoles, cheese, and chicharrón. These hit the table still spongy in the center, and pork minced so finely it blends into the molten filling like a spicy, fatty seasoning." - Sylvio Martins
