Sarita’s Grill and Beer – pupusas and more!
|Sarita’s opened in January of this year, in the space occupied by Maison Biriani for a short time, as it opened at the height of the pandemic and replaced Dosa. As we reported earlier, young entrepreneur Natali Juarez named her first restaurant after her late niece, and the restaurant is a full-fledged family affair. Her mother and sister do all the cooking, while her sister-in-law helps her with household chores. Juarez created a space to merge good food and the culture of its people; on the wall opposite the bar are a series of fun facts about El Salvador – for example, Salvadorans eat pupusas with their hands. A rather messy, albeit delicious, prospect!
On my first visit, I had a few friends to help me. Of course we tried a bunch of pupusas…
Now everyone in the Mission has their favorite pupuseria. But I will tell you to go try Sarita’s. The permutations are a little mind-boggling: you can get the classic cheese, then you can go crazy and get cheese and beans, or loroco, or pork, or chicken, or jalapeno, or shrimp, or zucchini , or spinach – or just go for it. go ahead and get the “Crazy Pupusa” – a sampler, if you will, and about twice the size of the others.
I found the pupusas here quite satisfying, an excellent representation of the genre; a puffy, warm and tender but slightly crunchy exterior gives way to a soft, never dense, abundantly cheesy interior. Their love is a cut above – perfect flavor, heat and crunch to offset the richness of all that queso deliciousness.
One member of our group tried a Salvadoran tamale…
This one was chicken, and while he generally said he preferred Mexican tamales, I found the masa of their Salvadoran cousins infinitely softer in texture, quite meltingly tender and infused with so much flavor from but. For my taste, it was a winner (although I would have preferred the pork, which they have.)
I had one of the pupusa combos:
My pork and cheese and Loroco the pupusas were a delight, but the soup was perhaps the star of the plate, if only because I ate so much beef latin broths in the neighborhood and none had a flavor as deep and beefy as this one. Bold and full-faced, full of tender meat, yuca, carrots, cabbage and potatoes. A hearty combo, to be sure, and I had no problem finishing every bite.
Another member of our group had the shrimp soup…
Once again, so much flavor! And tons of shrimp with the skin on. My friend didn’t opt for the optional egg and sour cream, which for me would have taken the dish up another notch. Her only complaint was that she wished the shrimp had been peeled and/or provided with a plate for the shells. An easy fix, but actually it’s a nice warming soup, especially on those rainy nights.
I thought I would be adventurous and order something I had never eaten before – Canoes:
Somehow I didn’t realize this was a sweet item (it was in the Antojitos section) and ordered it before the rest of our meal. Regardless, it was a good appetizer. A fried plantain cut open like a canoe, topped with creamy arroz con leche and sprinkled with cinnamon. The rice pudding was rich but not too sweet, contrasting nicely with the crisp edges of the tender plantain.
For my second “visit,” the boyfriend and I did takeout.
For him, the Chorizo Super Burrito…
Slices of avocado are tucked between layers of chorizo, black beans, rice and cream. Once again – what flavor! Even the chips that came with it were extra. And unlike most gut bombs you might find elsewhere, here you’ll be able to taste each item distinctly. We found it to be one of the best burritos we’ve had in ages, and the buddy devoured it.
Excess being a virtue, I also ordered a pork and cheese pupusa, as well as a shrimp pupusa, to share.
This is my first time trying a shrimp pupusa, but not the last. Huge chunks of perfectly cooked shrimp, which lost none of their texture by being covered in oozing cheese.
For my main course, I ordered the Salvadoran Chicken on Bread (aka Chicken Bread.)
I had heard of this dish, and maybe even eaten it before, but I wasn’t expecting anything like this magnificent monster. You can’t really call it a sandwich, because it’s huge and there’s no way to pick it up with your hands. A crisp, light French roll is split in half, piled high with tender chicken stew – two real, whole pieces of chicken, bones and all – then drowned in the savory tomato stew juice.
Everything is browned with a huge quantity of fresh watercress, tomatoes, cucumbers and carrots. They carefully packaged the broth separately so it wouldn’t get too soggy before I got it home. I poured it on when I got home and dug in. This is absolutely a fork and knife operation. And if you think you don’t like soggy bread, get over it. There’s something decadent about chicken stew dipped in this French bread, eaten with bites of watercress and other crispy vegetables. Utterly satisfying, warm and comforting food. Perhaps think of coq au vin on a baguette…? No it’s Chicken Bread and it’s divine.
Even though there are many pupuserias In the Mission and many Salvadoran restaurants, Natali aims to make her family’s restaurant unique, and with her mother and sister’s cooking, this is inevitable. It’s great to have pupusas in this corner of the Mission too, and in a more comfortable, seated setting. There is also a bar where you can sit, eat, have a beer and watch the game.
Sarita’s menu offers a dizzying amount of options: fried chicken, pork yuca, empanadas, ceviche, tortas, chicken or beef milanesa, garlic shrimp, fajitas, soups, breakfasts and of course, pupusas. Natali is also planning to expand the menu… There’s something for everyone, so bring your family, friends and get messy with a pupusa!
Sarita’s Grill and beer
995 Valencia Street.