Bye Bye BBQ, Hello Pupuseria!
/Owner Jose Orellana outside the new restaurant.
Well, that was quick. Cabana Grill, which opened last November at 4128 Georgia Avenue, has closed. In its place is now a pupusa takeout called Pupuseria Miraflores.
The pint sized pupuseria sports a fresh blue paint job and a bright sign with the picture of a garrobo — a small iguana native to El Salvador, where owners Jose and Sandra Orellana are from. The pupuseria’s name, Miraflores, is the Orellana's hometown. Inside, Jose mans the cash-only front register while Sandra cooks up pupusas, tacos, enchiladas, chicken sandwiches, and other Salvadorian treats.
Owners Jose and Sandra Orellana
This 4124 Georgia location has been tough for businesses. Before Cabana Grill went out of business, this store front was home to Epiphany BBQ, which closed in 2015. But on two recent weekday lunch hours, Pupuseria Miraflores was packed. Jose says he’s been selling about 100 pupasas a day since the restaurant opened 3 weeks ago.
The pupuseria is open Monday - Saturday from 10 am to 7 pm.
Cheese pupusa served with pickled veggies and hot sauce.
This isn’t Jose’s first restaurant: he previously owned La Placita, a Mexican and Salvadorian eatery which has been operating outdoors in a parking on 14th Street since 2011.
“The first location is outside and it’s cold in the winter time,” Jose said. “Here, it’s better, indoors.”
Miraflores serves up hearty cheese, cheese and bean, and pork pupusas for $1.50 a pop. Jose says the pork pupasas are the most popular. He says the secret to tasty pupasas is his wife's mix of Salvadorian spices, some of which she buys locally and some of which she procures from El Salvador.
I was sad to see Cabana Grill go; I thought it served up some of the best bbq in the area, but it was perpetually empty. Now I’m rooting for Pupuseria Miraflores to stick around. Judging from the brisk business it’s already doing, it seems the quick, inexpensive options it offers are filling a need in the neighborhood.
A simple menu of tasty food.
Pupusas are such an easy snack that if Miraflores can perfect its offering, it will also snag peckish Yes! shoppers and foot traffic on the way to and from the Petworth metro.
Jose hopes the neighborhood will give Miraflores a chance. “Anybody is welcome, come take a look!”
Pupuseria Miraflores
4128 Georgia Avenue NW
Monday - Saturday from 10am to 7pm
