Pupuseria Doña Azucena

We had gone to Gamsalot, the Korean restaurant right next door, which I was not really pleased with.  I saw this place, and so we came back the next day in the late morning for an early lunch.  Was pleasantly surprised.  I had cravings for pupusas and tamales after watching Guy Fieri's show on Food Network that showcased the Tortilla Cafe on Capitol Hill. Forget Capitol Hill, where you have to drive in traffic to D.C., look for street parking, and probably pay for it.  This place is my new go to place for pupusas!  Only 10  minutes from my home in Van Dorn.  We will probably come here once a week or every other week.  

This place is unbelievably cheap. The pupusas are good. Tamales good also. My husband liked his marinated steak with rice and salad for $9.  When I was a grad student 15 years ago living in D.C. I used to eat pupusas every week, which we bought from some place on 11th street.  Now I am so happy to have found this new place. I only love the cheese pupusas. These were a bit liquidy, if that's the word, but I couldn't finish one after stuffing my face with 2 tamales and 2 pupusas.  The one I brought home tasted so much better after it hardened and I miked it in the microwave for 30 seconds.  So good.  I love this place.  I will be coming here every month. This place is so friggin cheap! We spent $20 on 3 pupusas, 2 tamales, a steak platter, 2 drinks, and the complementary cabbage.  On the other hand, we spent $40 on the bolgogi and 2 bibimaps next door at Gamsalot, and I was not full or satisfied with that meal and later gorged on cookies and lychees I bought from the huge Asian supermarket nearby.  

This place beats McDonald's in taste and value any time.  This will be our new junk food/semi-fast food  place from now on.  So glad I found this place. My husband was so excited and raving non-stop at the restaurant that I was embarrassed. After the horrible papusas from El Paraiso in Van Dorn, I gladly give this place 5 stars.  I didn't really like the hot chocolate.  It was very watery.  I have had hot chocolate in Spain, which is very thick and good compared to this.

Great food pupusas were on point and only $1.50 each... I was fully satisfied all under $10 bucks only bad thing is they don't have fountain drinks

We went here yesterday for the first time after we had a taste for pupusas.   We were very pleased.   The pupusas were outstanding, the prices were VERY reasonable, and the service was adequate.  A lot of the reviews are dinging this restaurant because of the service.  I imagine it's hard to retain good servers when the average bill is probably between $5 and $15 dollars, therefore, the tips are going to be very small.  Check this place out!