Pupuseria Mama Emilia

Truly authentic Salvadorean food. I came in for take out of papusas, and they were great! In fact, they were made to order while I waited!Pretty smiling waitress met me at counter and took my order. Super friendly staff!While I waited, several locals came in, including families, so clearly has the Salvadorean seal of approval!In a strip mall off the Rockville Pike, so plenty of free parking.Great prices!

Great service, staff and pupusas w/a wide variety of fillings but the real magic is twofold:1. You can can customize the fillings however you want!Pro tip: love adding garlic/ajo to the carne asada and experimenting w/other combos.2. If you don't mind an upcharge you can make your own putaco! (Well worth it. See below. Freaking delicious and can't really be found too many other places around)Enjoy!

One papusa is enough to fill me up and they're less than $4 each. Such a good deal. Lots of vegetarian choices for filling too. My son had broccoli and cheese and the vegetable papusas.

Solid pupusas. These are great and the cheese pull is top notch on the pupusas with cheese. Service is friendly and place is pretty casual.

Tuesday 7/23/2024I came across this spot when looking for the best pupusas in Maryland so that's mainly what I came for but I also got some other items.I made a takeout order with DoorDash and got: pupusa sampler $16.35, bread with hen $11.15, plato mixto $18.95, plantains $3.50, plantain empanada (with milk) $2.25, horchata (large) $3.25, and fruit salad Salvadoran style juice (large) $3.99.- The pupusa sampler is 8 pupusas that are half corn and half rice with 4 traditional flavors and 4 speciality flavors. I'm newer to pupusas so I couldn't really distinguish which flavor was which but i can tell you that the top half of the pupusas were the best of the halves especially the top 2 on the right. Also I'd say these are definitely the best pupusas I've had.- Bread with hen was massive and extremely stuffed but it didn't do it for me. The bread and the side of pulled chicken (I think) was decent but everything else was underwhelming.- The plato mixto was awful: the meats were terrible and dry (I couldn't eat the steak), the homemade tortillas were okay, and to make things worst they forgot my beans which was the main reason why I got the dish.- The plantains were pretty good (as they should be).- The plantain empanada (with milk) was alright but not as good as other spots.- The horchata was a pleasant surprise, I think it was my 3rd time having it and I can definitely say it's the best I've had, solid 7/10.- The fruit salad juice was alright but could've been better if I there was less ice & fruit so I could get more juice.All in all, besides the pupusas, plantains, and horchata this place really disappointed me. I would ONLY recommend this spot for the pupusas as they are main thing saving this spot from not being less than a 3 star.

SEASONAL DRINK:** Atol de Calabaza (Pumpkin Hot Drink) = (4.25) Very tasty. Same flavor profile as Pumpkin Pie;)

The pupusas here were delicious. I got the jalapeño and cheese along with the beef pupusa and the flavor was great! The staff here is extremely nice. Their juices are also great (tried hibiscus and passion fruit). I would recommend this place to anyone who is in the mood for pupusas. Can't wait to come back!

The food was great no issue there at all, I did order 3 different style of papusas. The beans tho in one was extremely dry and sadly wasn't too much of a fan. However as far as service there was a missed communication. We had one waiter take our order and someone totally different that brought it out. Causing some of the food order be incorrect and had to be sent back to the kitchen. The place is nice however the music can be a bit loud causing people to talk louder just to hear themselves talk at times.

Unfortunately, we had a terrible experience with this restaurant. We ordered carry out for an array of things from their menu and were disappointed by each one. We ordered a Carne Asada which was inedible. The meat itself was very hard and rubbery. Think hockey puck. It wasn't grilled, but was pan fried and overly done making it extremely hard and chewy. The rice that it was served with was not rinsed prior and was overly starchy, and the texture and flavor was ruined by the addition of Lima beans. The salad wasn't bad but at that point, we didn't move forward eating the dish. We also ordered pupusas which were mediocre. In an area where you can find amazing ones, these did not compare whatsoever. I wouldn't go here for them if that's what you're looking for. Finally, we got a side of fries and a side of yuca. Both were stale and you could tell were deep fried again to re serve during a different meal. The French fries had a random piece of meat in it as well. Overall, very disappointed in the quality of food.

We went here on a uneventful Tuesday here for some grub.We went with my sis in law and my brother. They recommended it since they have been here before.The food was good, flavorful. My brother and I ordered the carne asada, my sis in law ordered the pupusas she said they were really good. My son got the steak quesadilla and my husband got the steak and cheese sandwich. But i wish that the carne asada has some pico de gallo in the serving that would be a nice addition. Everything was pretty good portions. Huge and prices were decent and affordable especially the pupusas.The service was good. She made sure we were taken care of. The whole restaurant was quiet big spacious.