El Tucan Restaurant

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  I'm salvadoran and my husband loves Mexican food so it's really nice that this place has both. It is a hole in the wall so don't expect waiters named alfred & caviar garnish here. But it will get the job done if you want authentic Salvadoran food. Their Pupusas are tasty and served with the traditional curtido its meant for. The salvadoran horchata is spot on with its cocoa flavor. My hubby always goes for tacos and was happily munching on his steak tacos. Pretty cheap, 2 people can eat a good lunch for less than $20. Its kinda small though so its not suitable for larger groups.

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  Posted on 11.29.11 vanessa g.

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  Yikes - the food was really bad. Blubbery meat in our tacos and enchiladas, undercooked instant rice passed off as Mexican rice, $9.95 margaritas that were small and had almost no alcohol, stale chips and a watered down salsa. My husband is from Mexico and this food made lean cuisines taste gourmet. We left feeling ripped off.

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  Posted on 07.09.11 Bryanne S.

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  Having been corrected that Pupusas are Salvadoran and NOT Guatemalan (which may have been the source of my ire towards pupusas), we stopped here en route to Charleston.
  
  First: the service is very slow, which may not make it the best place for stopping when you're already tired.  But, they have a full bar as well as tacos and pupusas for under $3 each--yeah!  
  
  Also--if you don't speak Spanish, your order may be a bit confused.  Just order the taco with cilantro and onions; anything else may cause you to get shredded American cheese and dried out lettuce on top.
  
  Complementary chips and salsa which we finished off but which I have zero recollection of.
  
  Jim's order
  *2 tacos al pastor: these were not as expected; they were made from pork chops and not well marinated, or seasoned, aside from salt.  
  *ceviche (taco?): meh at best
  my order:
  *taco lengua: fantastic.  perfectly marinated and tender without any chewy bits
  *pupusa (pulled pork): great!  A masa pancake stuffed with pork, beans, and cheese, and nothing like the mealy thing I was worried it might be based on past experience.  I have definitely become a fan even if it is basically a pancake as grilled cheese sandwich; hot cheese on bread is always good.
  
  Total including a soda and 2 Dos XX amber, ~$20 before tip.
  
  Credit cards are accepted, and the bathrooms a bit dingy.  There's a pool room in back and happy hour with cheap beers.  Nice but slow service.  It should be a 2.5, but it's a sunny day and I'm in a good mood.

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  Posted on 12.01.09 C S.

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  Stopped here for dinner.  They advertise themselves as Mexican AND Salvadorian.  Prices are decent, but it's not a bargain.
  
  Hubby ordered three hard ground beef tacos with rice and beans and it was $9.    Hubby did say that they were decent.  The beans were more like a mashed black bean dish than a traditional refried dish.  Hubby really liked the beans.
  
  Kids each had a single beef taco that consisted of a soft white corn tortilla with some chopped beef and pico de gallo.  Not particularly hefty in size, but ok for the kids.  They were about $1.50 each.
  
  I decided to do an assortment of "appetizers".  I had one tamale (I wanted pork but they only had chicken).  It was good, but small and nothing different from other tamales that I have eaten. I also chose a tostada de ceviche.  It was a small fried orangish tortilla topped with a ceviche of small shrimps, tiny mussels, and some diced fish.  It was nicely seasoned with the right amount of acid from the citrus.  Not huge, but tasty and a little pricey.  It also had some fresh avocado chunks on top of the ceviche that my kids begged for and I had to share.  My final dish was pupusas, a Salvadorian dish that is a stuffed flat bread.  This one was much thinner than I have seen in the past.  It almost seemed like a thin potato pancake with a little cheese and shredded meat in the middle.  It was served with curtido (a pickled/fermented cabbage salad) that was good and a small dish of salsa rojo (red salsa).  It was a good dish and nicely seasoned.  I just wish it was a tiny bit less greasy and a little more crispy.
  
  I'd definitely go back again.  Salvadorian food is not that common.

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  Posted on 09.22.08 Amy G.

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