Disneyland Visitors: Don't Visit Tacos y Pupusas, No Matter How Broke You Are

I try to visit any restaurant in Orange County that sells pupusas, not because I'm obsessed with the Salvadoran staple (although they're muy bueno) but because I've reviewed basically every Salvi restaurant in la naranja. A new, disturbing trend is spreading among Mexican restaurants: the selling of pupusas. And it is my grand conclusion after trying a couple that, while Salvadorans can prepare so-so Mexican food, Mexicans cannot cook Salvadoran cuisine worth madre.

The worst example is Tacos y Pupusa in Anaheim, in a section of the city not far from Disneyland that we'll call the Damned Kingdom. It's nestled on a sad strip mall wedged between the 5 Freeway and a no-tell motel, and the clientele is among the saddest, most-worn down I've ever seen: methed-out gabachos, cholos, old African-American ladies who look as if life dealt them a haymaker decades ago. I once saw a convention-goer walk in, get a bewildered look on his face from all the human misery around him, and glumly take a chair next to a Mexican mom who kept yelling at her poor kids. Child Services? You should park an employee at this restaurant nightly--I'm just saying.

The food? Expensive ($2 for tacos made from cold tortillas), bland (horchata that tastes like caulk), and simply mysterious: when the convention-goer asked what were those meats sitting under heat lamps and in a pool of liquid, the lady at the counter couldn't answer. The service is non-existent, the floors dirty, and they won't clear the dishes off the table until you sit down. This just might be the worst restaurant in Orange County--STAY AWAY. The Del Taco across the street is better.

Tacos y Pupusas, 214 E. Katella Ave. Anaheim, (714) 535-6863.