LAReview
Panadería El Salvador
If the name, menu items, or abundance of patriotic memorabilia didn’t blatantly give it away, this East Hollywood bakery wants you to know that it’s a 100% Salvadoran bakery (and a great one too.) Here you’ll find excellent quesadillas salvadoreñas that are always the right balance of sweet and savory, and a rather sticky and eggy bread pudding with custard and sweet bananas that we usually devour before making it back to the car. There’s plenty more to sample in case you want even more variety, like large sheets of jelly-filled semitas, cheese-stuffed pupusas, and some tall milhojas made from slabs of whipped cream sandwiched between flakey puff pastry.
Sign up for our newsletter.
Be the first to get expert restaurant recommendations for every situation right in your inbox.
Food Rundown
Bread Pudding
If the most delicious banana bread you’ve ever had did an Olympic 10-meter dive into a pool of eggs, milk, and sugar, then you’d end up with this decadent pudding. It’s wonderfully moist and tastes like a very sweet banana mush that sounds unappetizing when we describe it, but is actually too good to put into cohesive sentences.
Quesadillas
These quesadillas provide plenty of sweet nuttiness, and while the inside is still beautifully moist, the crispy edges and browned exterior can feel a tad overbaked. Stick with the bread pudding if you really need something sweet ASAP.
Cheese Pupusas
These corn flour pupusas are nicely grilled and full of salty, melted cheese, but we can’t help but think of them as an afterthought. There’s nothing particularly wrong with them, and they’re actually quite big, but they just don’t shine as brightly as some other cheesy pupusas around town.
Milhojas
If you’re someone who occasionally sneaks mouthfuls of whipped cream straight from the can, these milhojas are for you. This flakey puff pastry is so delicate that it shatters the moment you stare at it too hard and is filled with a heaping amount of fluffy whipped cream.
Empanadas de Leche
There’s a lot to love about these fritters, starting with the dough that’s gently sweetened with cinnamon, vanilla, and boiled plantains. The final result is a spongy dough that’s fried after being filled with a thickened sweet cream mixture of cornstarch and cinnamon milk. Think dual textures in each bite and a great sweetness that’s never overbearing.
