Sarita’s opened in January, in the space Biriani House briefly occupied after Dosa closed.
As we reported earlier, young entrepreneur Natali Juarez named Sarita’s, her first restaurant, after her late niece, and the restaurant is a full family affair. Juarez’s mother and sister are doing all the cooking, with her sister-in-law helping with front-of-house duties. Juarez has created a space to meld the good food and culture of her people; on the wall across from the bar are a series of fun facts about El Salvador, such as: Salvadorans eat pupusas with their hands. A rather messy, if delicious, prospect!
On my first visit, I had a few friends to help out. Of course, we tried a bunch of the pupusas:
By now, everyone in the Mission has their favorite pupuseria. But I’m going to tell you to go try Sarita’s. The permutations are a bit staggering: You can get the classic cheese, or you can get cheese and beans, or loroco, or pork, or chicken, or jalapeno, or shrimp, or zucchini, or spinach. Or, just 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 wholly satisfying, a great representation of the genre; a puffy, warm and tender yet slightly crunchy exterior gives way to the pillowy interior, never dense, abundantly cheesy. Their curtido is a cut above, with perfect tang, heat and crispness to offset the richness of all that queso lusciousness.
One of our party tried a Salvadoran tamale:
This one was chicken and, while he said, in general, he prefers Mexican tamales, I find the masa in their Salvadoran cousins infinitely softer in texture, kind of melty, and infused with so much corn flavor. To my taste, this was a winner (although I’d have preferred pork, which they do have.)
I had one of the pupusa combos:
My pork and cheese and loroco pupusas were a delight, but the soup was maybe the star of the plate, if only because I’ve had so many Latin beef caldos in the neighborhood, and not one has had as much deep, beefy flavor as this one. Bold and in your face, chock-full of tender meat, yuca, carrots, cabbage, and potatoes. A hearty combo to be sure, and I had no problem finishing every last bite.
Another in our party had the shrimp soup:
Again, so much flavor! And tons of peel-on shrimp. My friend did not go for the optional egg and sour cream, which, for me, would have taken the dish up yet another notch. Her only quibble was that she wished the shrimp had been peeled, and/or that she’d been provided with a plate for the shells. An easy fix, but really, this is a good, warming soup, especially on these rainy nights.
I thought I’d be adventurous and order something I’d never had before, canoas:
Somehow, I hadn’t clued in that this was a sweet item (it was in the Antojitos section), and ordered it before the rest of our meal. No matter, it made a fine appetizer. A fried plantain split 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 crispy edges of the tender plantain.
For my second “visit,” the BF and I did takeout.
For him, the chorizo super burrito:
Slices of avocado are tucked in between layers of chorizo, black beans, rice, and crema. Again, such flavor! Even the chips that came with it were extra good. And, unlike many of the gut bombs you might get elsewhere, here you could taste every element distinctly. We found this to be one of the best burritos we’ve tasted in ages, and the BF devoured it.
Excess being a virtue, I also ordered a pork and cheese pupusa, and a shrimp pupusa, to share.
First time trying a shrimp pupusa, but not the last. It included large chunks of perfectly cooked shrimp that lost none of their texture for being smothered in oozing cheese.
For my main, I ordered the Salvadoran chicken over bread (AKA pan con pollo.)
I’d heard of this dish, and had maybe even had it before, but expected nothing like this gorgeous monster. You can’t really call it a sandwich, as it is massive, and there is no way to pick it up with your hands. A crispy, light French roll is split in half, piled high with tender stewed chicken — two actual, whole pieces of chicken, bones and all — and then drowned in the flavorful, tomato-y stew juices.
All this is gilded by a huge amount of fresh watercress, tomatoes, cucumbers, and carrots. They thoughtfully packed the broth separately, so that it wouldn’t get too soggy before I got it home, at which time I poured it over 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 is something decadent about the chicken stew soaking into that French bread, eaten with bites of watercress and the other crispy veggies. Wholly satisfying, homey, comfort food. Think, perhaps, coq au vin on a baguette? Nah, it’s pan con pollo, and it is divine.
While there are a lot of pupuserias in the Mission, and quite a few Salvadoran restaurants, Juarez is aiming to make Sarita’s a standout, and with her mother and sister’s cooking, it’s bound to happen. It’s great to have pupusas in this corner of the Mission, too, and in a cozy, yet rather elegant setting. There is a bar, too, where you can sit, eat, have a beer and watch the game.
Sarita’s menu has a dizzying amount of options: Fried chicken, yuca with pork, empanadas, ceviche, tortas, chicken or beef Milanesa, garlicky shrimp, fajitas, soups, breakfasts and, of course, pupusas. Juarez has plans to expand the menu, too. There’s something for everyone, so take your family, your friends, and get messy with a pupusa!
Sarita’s Grill and Beer
995 Valencia St.
Where is this?
995 Valencia – near 21st Street.