El Sunzal Restaurant

A really authentic and fresh meal that is very well worth it if you are in the area. The price is very affordable and the amount of food will leave you more than full. The pupusas are fresh and the tamales tastes like they just made it. Guaranteed to fill you up

The lady, I think she is the owner. I was there eating and she was kind of rude. Got my order wrong. Never wrote anything down. Than I ordered something else as I am already a sitting customer and she said I would have to wait because she was taking phone orders first. Looks like she didn’t have staff and that is not the customers fault.

This 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 don't come with their plates... the atmosphere is sad and gloomy. Music was way too loud. And food was mediocre at best.

We went on a day when everyone must've been working so we had the whole restaurant to ourselves. The pupusas are good (not as good as my mom's 😂). They didn't have horchata, which was disappointing. However, the agua de tamarindo was really good. The place looks run down, but the food is pretty good.

I really wanted to like this place, because it's local and cheap, but I just didn't 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.

This place is a great Salvadoran restaurant. The papusas are excellent. My Salvadoran friend swears to as to its authenticity.

I’ve been eating here for over 20 years and have never been disappointed. Hands down the best place in Austin—maybe even in the entire U.S. to get pupusas. 10/10!"

Just a good old place to catch a quick bite while awaiting the dog being groomed. Very authentic.

I like El Sunzal very much. Salvadoran cuisine is a style of cooking and recipes which Austin doesn't really get much of. I particularly like the Salpicon and the Sopa de Mariscos.

You know I don't come here too much anymore since I moved and I loved coming here but it has changed. At least the food still pretty good, but dame it took for ever to get my food and it was only us and another customer here. Another thing that upset me personally I'm a diabetic and I drink Diet Coke, they told me they no longer serve diet drink here like what. So I had my son run next door to H-E-B and buy me 2. I would give it a 2 1/2 stars not 3 based on their service today and not having Diet Coke. I just feel like I can't come here anymore if they can't even accommodate me with something as small as a Diet Coke.

Probably the best restaurant to get popusas and sopa de mariscos. 5/5 for food. Knocked it down a star due to all the disposable plastic ware used. Be prepared to wait a bit for food to be ready. Today (9/28) their card reader was down so was cash only.

El Sunzal is an amazing place to get your salvadorean food fix. I've ordered Pupusas (Pupusas de queso con loroco (cheese with loroco), revueltas (pork and cheese), and frijol con queso (cheese and beans) they were delicious, the Pupusas are a bit small but they are super tasty and filled with cheese and your choice of filling that you'd like. I also ordered empanas de leche (plantains empanadas filled with custard) they were delicious!!! It's super hard to find a salvadoreña restaurant in Austin that has them, and they have them. It's a plus plus. I have included a picture but keep in mind that I ordered them to go. Highly recommend this restaurant, can't wait to try the rest of the menu :)

Their menu is so authentic and tasty. i've been going here for years and i love that it's just as good as my family's home cooking. The best pupusas in Austin for me.

Absolutely one of my favorite spots for pupusas! Get the pupusas revueltas and you will not be disappointed. I love the plantains with beans and crema. This is a gem and an authentic place

Came here for lunch and thought it was great. Tried the tamales, tacos Al pastor, and papusas (bean and cheese). Tamale was solid but the Al pastor and papusas were excellent. Not pretentious at all. Server was friendly and attentive. Showed up just as breakfast was winding down. Looked good and will come back to try. Will definitely be back.

Love this restaurant! It's nothing fancy, but the food is delicious. I love ordering the plantains and the enchiladas. Be prepared, the salsa is pretty spicy! They are friendly, the food is very fairly priced, and the portions are great. Most importantly, El Sunzal is one of those restaurants that keeps Austin, Austin.

Extremely disappointed with this place, staff was rude and not helpful. Ants on table and hair in food, the beans were salty and it came with a mini peace of cheese. The salsa had hair and the chips weren't fresh.

EL Sunzal is amazing! Everything that I have ever tried has been a 10/10. The people that own El Sunzal and that work there are equally as amazing!! Highly recommend!

I found out about this place from a fellow Yelper and was super excited to finally come check it out because I LOVED El Salvadorean food when I visited and practically LIVED off of pupusas during my stay there, so I couldn't wait to try the ones here since I was told good things. I ordered one of each to go and was a bit taken aback that each one was $2!? Seriously, I know there is a bit of a price diff, but they were maybe a quarter each back in ES and about twice the size w/much more fillings and flavor. Needless to say, super duper disappointed and the pupusas here were nowhere near what they were supposed to be especially at $2 a pop! Wanted to love this place, but gave me zero reasons to, so I will not be coming back.

We came here to try pupusas for the first time. One of my coworkers is from El Salvador and he is always raving about them, so we found El Sunzal Restaurant to try them. They did not disappoint! I got the cheese and loroco and the cheese and bean one and I loved them both. I really enjoyed the cabbage that they give you to put on top of them as well. The cabbage kind of had a vinegary taste, so some people might not want to put it on top, but I liked them with or without anyway. I also got the plantain empanada with beans inside. This sounded so weird to me so I wanted to try it. I love all three things so I figured I would like them altogether and I definitely did! Everything was delicious and the service was great. I'd definitely come back to this place!

Got the Salpicon (see posted picture) and chicken tamales. Both were DELICIOUS!!.. The guacamole salad in the Salpicon was the best!!!!

*Great food. *Nice people. Interesting beer choices. *Easy to park. *Great food. *Consistent. 5 stars!!!!!

Took forever to get our food and the service really does suck. The food.... The pupusas were so freakin good. Like seriously good. Nachos, meh.

I have been CRAVING Salvadorian food since moving to Austin and this is the only acceptable spot I've found. Pupusas and platanos are SO GOOD. Almost as good as Grandma's homemade comida back in the day. Definitely worth the trip. Go get you some cultura!

The most authentic, delicious Central American food in Austin! Pupusas, platanitos, cozy

I wish this place was back home. This place is a small restaurant but with great food. Everything we ate was delicious and reminded me of my mother's cooking. The tamales are a meal just by themselves, you will be full after just one. The corn tamales with sour cream are a classic and a must. The pupusas are amazing and is what will make you want to come back. Glad I had the opportunity to try El Sunzal during my stay in Austin, can't wait to come back.

Tasty :) Every time I order for pick-up, it's about a 30 minute wait and they're always ready! The platanos are always cooked well. You can tell the plantains were ripe & ready to fry. My favorite are the pupusas revueltas and bean & cheese. I do order in Spanish, but it's pretty straight forward and simple.

Picked this place out because I wanted plantains and hadn't seen them on the menu at any Mexican restaurants (still can't see why that is). The actual fried plantains were underripe to my preference though still good, but the plantain dessert empanadas satisfied my craving. The tacos were nothing special for Austin but perfectly good. Probably should have ordered something more specific to the restaurant tho

Solía ir a este restaurante hace unos años atrás buena comida buen atención al cliente muy bonito todo ayer pase por hay totalmente lo contrario muy mal servicio la comida no se diga

I'm giving it two stars because the yucca was actually really nice. My husband wanted to try Austin's Salvadorian food to compare to back home. We walked in and the service is on par with places in Houston. Same cold blank stare from servers. Makes me feel like home. One huge surprise was that they didn't have coffee. What kind of Salvadorian place doesn't have coffee? That was a first. We tried to order a breakfast plate (which is normal to eat for dinner) and they said they ran out of eggs. Ok....sure. So we ended up ordering yucca, 2 pupusas (one mixed and one cheese), and a tamale. They brought over chips and some super spicy salsa (seriously the lady said "cuidado...picante"). Is this a Mexican restaurant or Salvadorian? I've never been served chips and salsa. So strange. Anyways, our yucca comes out first. It's relatively small with a little bit of meat. But the yucca is fried deliciously. Nice and crispy all the way through. YUM! The pupusas were tiny. Like smaller than my hand. they're supposed to be bigger! I felt jipped! I like the tamale but my husband did not. I really have experienced much better. This place doesn't know what it wants to be. I don't know why everyone is saying it's so great in the comments. Perhaps they've never had real good Salvadorian food. good luck.

This place is AMAZING. We found this place on google and decided to try it. They made date lunch here PERFECT and I left sleepy! (That's a good thing). Some really good authentic food. Friendly staff and a great warm environment.

I love their Papusas!!!! I usually call ahead and just pick it up and I have never had an issue. Every staff member I have dealt with were super nice. I'd definitely recommend to others.

I came for the fresh pupusas. We tried the bean and cheese and locoro and cheese - both were very good. Pupusas are served with hot sauce prepared in-house. I stayed for the banana leaf-wrapped tamales, which were delicious. The elote (corn) is served with cream. It's sweet and delicate. The savory chicken tamale included chunks of spicy potato. Prices are very reasonable at El Sunzal: our family of three (baby included) ate for under fifteen dollars. This is a family-friendly spot. Bring your kids, they'll love it!

El Sunzal reminds me of the Salvadorian restaurants I used to go to in LA. Atmosphere is bare bones, which works, the service is nice and the food tasty. Their seafood soup is definitely the way to go. It's packed with shrimp, mussels, octopus, crab (don't miss out on eating the crab meat within the shell), tilapia and more. The broth is fantastic with a crab bisque like flavor that's warm and comforting. Their chicharron pupusas are great too. Don't forget to put the slaw on top, plus some salsa before diving in. The plantains are good too and the refried beans that came with them had great flavor. As far as I know, this one of only two Salvadorian restaurants in town. I have not been to the other, but I will definitely come back here.

Went here today with the ever adventurous Kelly S. We were meeting for lunch and decided a food truck may be too hot with the June Texas heat, so went for El Sunzal. We both thoroughly enjoyed it from the chips and salsa (which is HOT) to the other items we ordered. We decided to try a number of items by sharing, and I'm glad we did. We probably could have ordered one less item, but all of this and two beers ($3 each) for $23 was great in terms of value. Papusas - a MUST have. We went for the queso and the queso and loroco (which is an herb of some sort). Fantastic! Tamales - we went for one pork and one chicken. Not wrapped in corn, but some sort of green leaf. Seriously great flavor - not sure I could pick my favorite and for $2, just order both! And they literally are the size of a burrito, so very filling. Ground beef pie - really good flavor mix. Fried plantains (with cream and beans) - really good. Four good sized slices of plantains - we weren't able to finish them. Everything came out at more/less the same time and all was hot. We were able to nibble and catch up for awhile. Has a small parking lot and plenty of seating inside. Very authentic - Kelly S. rocked some of her Spanish skills with our waitress, which seemed most appreciated by her.

This is NOT your Chuy's or Gloria's. Neither of those are good anyways. This is a no frill authentic Salvadorean joint that you know will be good because the focus address people's void of having a Salvadorean home cook meal. If you want to try real Salvadorean food, be open minded and walk through the rail bar gated blue building off the "not so hip" side of East Austin. Hope they sustain long term through the gentrification taking place a block down. I had, of course, the cheese, and pork and cheese pupusas. Firstly to-go since I wanted to be in the comfort of my home and TV and then in-restaurant. Piping hot even if it took me 17 min to get home. The best part is the crisp oozing side cheese and scooping the goods in the pickled cabbage and extra spicy salsa. With the salsa, do tread carefully. We also ordered the platano empanada con frijol (Fried Plantain with Beans) and tamale elote con creme (Corn Tamale with Cream). the platano emphanada was the perfect amount of fried and was not too greasy. The sweetness with dust of sugar gives your spicy mouth a break. The tamale elote con creme was similar. It was plush but wasn't as large as I remembered Honduran tamales were. This is my spot when the traffic is just too unbearable. Service is quick and price is literally $2.00 per pupusa. Fed the two of us for $11 (dos queso y puerco pupusas, tamale con elote, limonada y elote con creme. For non-Spanish speaking diners, I advise to take a look at the menu beforehand and google some terms since the servers don't speak english. They understand.... but they won't speak English. I do speak a bit of Spanish, however, and so I'll so recommend as the final the limonada (lemonade) that is refreshingly sweet and not alarmingly sour. I took it to-go and sipped on it all through the next day. Highly recommend and urge those to not be deferred by the outside appearance of the restaurant. Again, no frill because there's no fancies in El Salvador.

Bad service from the server twice in a row unable to provide good service when it comes to ordering food and drinks.

Unassuming little place near the HEB on east 7th. Delicious bean and cheese pupusas and very tasty yuca fritas. The husband had chicken fajitas that were perfectly seasoned. We loved it and will be back!

This restaurant makes Pupusas revueltas without beans. They don't tell you this when ordering. I found out later that You literally HAVE to ask and tell them to add the beans. Enough said. By definition revueltas are made with cheese, chicharron and beans. Never In my life have I been to a restaurant that made them This way (in El Salvador or the U.S.) Very disappointing. The chicharron was not very good at all. It was orangey, tomatoey, runny and just did not taste like chicharron. The sauce was too thick and acidic and the Curtido cabbage had a very Strong strong taste of vinegar. Additionally, the waitress was not the friendliest and just seemed flustered. Cannot recommend.

I love this place! The staff is very friendly and the food is amazing. This is an authentic spot for El Salvadoran food and is reminiscent of east Austin's origins. I highly recommend this place! When I go i get pupusas con Loroco Y plátanos fritas: the plaintains are served with cream and soft beans, just as in El Salvador. Please support this business!! Cheers

Yummy food. A bit more Mexican than I had hoped but there are some dishes. Papusas are yummy!! I had a shrimp plate when I went last and it was fine. Shrimp were large. Seasoned well and beans and rice were good. Nothing fancy, but good food here. Salsa is spicy so beware. I wanted more but man it was hot. I'd go back for sure

Echoing other sentiments, there is really nice homemade flavor in each item that I have tried. I think you could enjoy sharing several selections from the appetizers menu and fill up on those alone, to be honest. Tamales, pupusas, and plantains / fried bananas were delicious. The beans they serve have a rich flavor, and the cream served on the side is close to sour cream, but not so sour. Two types of slaw are compelling, far fresher and a thousand times more flavorful than the half-hearted shredded iceberg plop you typically get on the side of a dish at other restaurants. There do appear to be a number of Mexican / Tex-Mex selections, but I have yet to try that section of the menu. The level of service is not unusual for a homemade-cooking-type place; you may have to waive to get attention if they are busy, and they are more serious in demeanor than gushing and sycophantic. I actually prefer this type of service in this type of place, so I don't mind. For me, it's about what the food tastes like and whether I will feel nourished and satisfied when I leave.

WORST RESTAURANT TO BUT FROM IF YOUR PREGNANT! Because if the meat is nasty to you and you don't know it the will not fix your order for you or give your money back they basically tell you to deal with it.

I'm glad we stopped here. In Virginia I have my spot for Pupusas. If I lived here, this would be my spot for pupusas.

Well their sign says they close at 9:30, it's currently 8:45, the doors are open but they turned us away saying they are closed. They should really update their hours of operation so people don't drive out to their restaurant and get turned away.

Always a fave when I visit Austin! I've been coming here for years! Everything is always delicious as well as the service. The only complaint I had this visit (and it's been awhile since my last visit) but the chicharron on the yuca/chicharron plate got smaller! They used to put big chunks of chicharron on the plate today it was chopped up into small pieces but it was still good!

Hidden away next to HEB but definitely worth a visit. Everything was bursting with flavor and a homemade to

Great prices. Excellent Salvadorian food. Friendly staff. Love this hidden gem! I like the Ground Beef Pie, Yucca Frita, and the hot sauce is absolutely delicious!

Honestly, I was a little sad when I was leaving this place :( This is the first time I had tried El Salvadorian food and although I was super excited to come here after seeing the reviews, I was disappointed... The food here is similar to tex-mex, and although the seasoning was okay, the texture of the meat and other factors were not. First off, when I asked for some mild salsa, what I got tasted like some watered down marinara sauce :( The service was also kinda slow, despite there being just 2-3 more tables other than ours. The server was nice though! When my order came out a good 20-25 min later, it took me another 30 min to chew!!! The beef fajitas I got were soooo rough I literally hurt my jaw trying to chew it. It was a good workout for my jaw muscles though. I also tasted a tamale that my friend got and although it was pretty big, probably 95% was the corn meal outside and there was only a tiny bit of meat on the inside. Overall I was disappointed because I had high hopes for this place, but perhaps it just wasn't meant to be :(

Great food and great customer service! They make your order fresh so you won't ever get your food cold. I've been coming here since I was super young so i definitely recommend it to anyone and everyone!

Ate here the other night with some friends, and my first time trying Salvadoran food. The revueltas pupusas were delicious, and the seafood soup was a really nice surprise, with lots of fish, squid, shrimp, and some mussels in it. Friend's plantains were good as well I didn't leave hungry, and definitely would like to come back and try something else soon!

I grew up in a city that only had gloppy Tex-Mex restaurants. Nothing wrong with that, but Austin is more interesting because of variety. We are bursting with all kinds of taco stands and have plenty of cheese-laden enchilada spots. Try El Zunzal if you're looking for another tasty alternative from the Spanish-speaking world. I'd never tried a pupusa, but they are an apparent staple in El Salvador. It's like a pancake made of masa that has cheese/meat/etc inside. (Not like a quesidilla... more like a flat, tortilla-like meatpie?) You eat them with a tangy pink cabbage salad. Get one of these, they're all tasty and really cheap. The tamales are wrapped in banana leaf and are a little different than the corn-husk standard, but are still good. I really enjoy the corn tamales, which are really no sweeter than creamed corn and come with a generous dollop of sour cream on the side. My favorite is definitely the Fried Yucca with Chicharron, a plate full of chewy, deep fried yucca and pork. You should probably split this with someone. There is a page of the usual Mexican faire on the back of the menu, but don't order off that; what's wrong with you? You come to a place like this for the El Salvadorian stuff, not just another enchilada. The waitstaff speaks mostly Spanish. In the 5-6 times I've visited on an early weekend afternoon, there were rarely more than 3 other groups seated. There is a large flatscreen TV on one wall usually playing some Spanish soap opera (equally amusing and annoying). There are free chips and a spicy salsa provided. This is a no-frills low-key, hole-in-the-wall. Oh, but I remembered to get the hours Opens at 9 on weekdays, 8 on the weekend. Closes at 10 most nights, 11 on Fri/Sat.

I wish I could give this gem 10 stars. The best Latin American food I have ever had! The salsa is the best I've had period. Even better, incredibly affordable. We got a super filling meal for 2 people with dessert for $25 after tip. We had the fried yuca and pork plate (amazingggg) that came with one of those side salads that looks like you're not actually supposed to eat it, except it was delicious. A salty lime dressing on shredded cabbage and cucumber.. yum. We got all 3 kinds of papusas, the best one we both thought is the cheese & loroco. We split the fried plaintain stuffed with beans and it was incredible! The inside of the restaurant isn't Instagram worthy for the folks who go to restaurants for photos, but the food was life-changing!

Even though there were only 3 other tables when we ordered, the food took nearly 30m to arrive. On top of that, they messed up my friend's order, and she had to wait until we were nearly done eating to begin her meal. All of this would have been fine if the food was exceptional, but there is nothing great about dried, overcooked meat. I ordered 3 tacos (beef fajita, chicken fajita, and pastor) and every single meat component was incredibly dry and tough, making it hard for me to chew and swallow. I tried some of my friend's chicken tamale hoping for better results, but it was quite flavorless, and the wrapper/outside to filling ratio was too high. Save your money and spend it at (practically) any other restaurant in east Austin...

I found this place one day while shopping at HEB. I was pregnant and craved pupusas. Placed my order and got a drink. Went straight home to enjoy them, as I was putting on the cabbage I found not one but two roaches and little legs everywhere. I drove all the way back and told them to look at the cabbage and all the cashier said was "Oh you want more?" I declined and left my food there they didn't even give me a refund because I ripped a piece off of one. I felt sick for weeks ( due to me overthinking and being Prego)

I'm not sure this place is open anymore. I read great reviews but wait 15min after 10am and the doors were still chained. Really wanted to try the cheese bread I was told about

Very good quintessential hole in the wall. You know what I am talking about - hidden, in not necessarily desirable neighborhood, cheap food, but most importantly: amazing food. Pupusas for days! Check it out!

This restaurant is a Gem I love the pupusas revueltas! Other joints selling Pupusas don't come near as close as great tasting than Sunzal. I also recommend the mariscos soup with cream.