Photo by manda_wong.

Dish of the Week: Pupusas
Where: Everywhere (for a start, try Pupuseria San Miguel, Irene’s Pupusas, El Rinconcito I & II, or El Charrito Caminante)

Given their ubiquity, pupusas are arguably one of the unofficial dishes of Washington, D.C., somewhere behind the half-smoke and ahead of an overpriced steak. Thanks to Washington’s large El Salvadoran population, nearly every casual Latin American restaurant features them on the menu, usually for less than $2. A couple of the hearty cheese or meat-stuffed tortillas make for a cheap and filling meal.

For the uninitiated, pupusas are a typical Salvadoran street food consisting of a corn tortilla filled with either cheese, pork, beans (or some combination thereof) and cooked on a hot grill. Pupusas are typically served with curtido, a vinegary cabbage slaw, and a thin tomato sauce, which serves to cut the grease from the grill. Bad pupusas are kind of like thick, gummy hockey pucks — but a good pupusa is a crispy, cheese-y delight. In other words, it’s El Salvador’s answer to comfort food.

Mount Pleasant is pretty much ground zero for pupusas in D.C. proper; however, we know that lots of other good options exist in the suburbs as well. Let us know where you think the best pupusas are in the comments.