El Patio… Loco*

Aren't laminated menus so homey and old-school?

Have you ever had a pupusa?  My pupusa cherry was popped last month after a visit to El Patio Salvadoran restaurant in the Mission (SF).  What is a pupusa, exactly?  It’s like a flour pancake filled with stuff, such as cheese and/or meat, and grilled.  More importantly, it is delicious.

Two pork and cheese pupusas topped with salsa, served with beans and rice.

El Patio Restaurant is a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant with a family-run feel and very affordable dishes.  I liked that the decor was mix of kitsch (glossy red hearts — it was the day after Valentines day) and traditional Mayan paintings and sculptures.

Giant Mayan sculptures are part of the decor at El Patio. (Pretty lady not a permanent part of the display.)

Super brightly colored flowers (fake and real): also part of the decor.

I was feeling adventurous, especially with MA, my friend and guide-to-all-things-Latino, at my side.  Thus, I not only ordered 2 pork and cheese pupusas, but also the atol de elote, which is listed as a soup but which MA informed me is usually served as a drink.  A really, really thick drink that is ingested with a spoon.  I loved it — it was creamy and thick like corn chowder, but also sweet with a hint of cinnamon like horchata.  It was the perfect thing for a cold and rainy Sunday afternoon.

Don't let the boring looks fool you... this atol de elote was soooo delicious.

Of course, I couldn’t resist the offer to try some of MA and AJ’s fried plantains.  YUM.

Fried plantains, served with beans and crema.

*This post is dedicated to the original El Patio of my heart — El Patio Loco in Chapel Hill, NC which is sadly no longer in business.  When my friends told me the news last year, I was so stunned that I might have taken a moment of silence.  Even though El Patio Loco called itself a Mexican restaurant, they didn’t just serve tacos, burritos, and quesadillas.  They also served (and introduced me to) fried plantains and fried yucca.  Their real fruit juice margaritas and amazing, home-cooked style lunch specials made El Patio Loco one of the only reasons I actually miss Chapel Hill.  And it makes me sad to know that it’s no longer there.  RIP, El Patio Loco.