On a nice Saturday morning, we headed to this restaurant in old downtown Overland Park, not knowing what to expect. What was food from El Salvador? Was it like Mexican food or a different experience. It was different, but in a good way.
We apparently didn't know that downtown Overland Park had a Farmer's Market on Saturdays that attracts an annoying crowd of privileged people with multiple strollers and day-walking John Knox Village zombies who won't get out of your way for anything.
We walked in, saw that there was nowhere to sit, walked back out and then back in again (we did the hokey poky and turned ourselves around too). The dining room was packed, but we found a few seats at the counter and sat down. Word to the wise, don't sit at the counter. The stools are very uncomfortable. Get a table if you can.
We both ordered sampler platters (since we didn't know what anything really was on the menu) and horchatas. The sampler platter comes with papusas which are like flat but puffy masa tortillas topped with your choice of topping, Spanish coleslaw called curtido and salsa; a tamale (chicken or pork), a yuca frita (fried yuca), some kind of salad and maybe an enchilada. Don't quote me on what exactly was on the plate since I didn't take a picture of the menu.
All of the food on the plates were devoured. The food was divine. While some of the samplers were familiar, like tamales and enchiladas, many weren't. What a delicious treasure this place has.
The one drawback that morning would be some of the patrons in the place. As we waited, we had to hear how advanced little Madison or Kayla or whoever it was behind us. I was secretly happy that "advanced Madison" didn't like to take directions from mommy. For being so advanced, it was irritating that mommy had to talk in baby voice the entire time. I was praying for a tantrum from "advanced Madison", but alas, no such luck. Then there were the other Johnson County Housewives who had to go on and on about this trip to Chile or that trip to BFE or what ever. Spare me the pretentiousness. Oh, that statement might make us pretentious. Ha!
The food was great, the counter stools (and hearing every conversation in the place) was not.
Will we go back? Probably, but not on a Saturday afternoon when parking is hard to find. Our friend Mia knew we were going to this place and punked us by going the night before our visit. She ordered the same thing. Shoo.
Check out this place for food that is different from the norm. It may be a little pricey for lunch but it is an extraordinary food experience.
You don't like words you can't pronounce (assuming most of which are from other languages/cultures), parents, children, the elderly, people with money, or people from Johnson county...so, pretty much anyone who is not the exact same as you? You're discrediting yourself as a restaurant reviewer. Would you care at all about what I had to say about a restaurant if I complained about all of the gay people eating there?
ReplyDeleteWell Kelly, then you won't like the review of The Beacon either. Thanks for your opinion. This is meant to be a light-hearted restaurant review blog and we're not getting paid to do this. The entire dining experience is a combination of the atmosphere, food, and the people around you. If there were gay people being as obnoxious as some of the people and children eating around us, they'd be in the review too with just as much of the spotlight given to everyone else.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the good review no matter what people say around you, the food speaks for it self.
ReplyDeleteBenjamin Sol, Owner
El Salvadoreno
The food is divine. Expect to see us back there at a less busy time. -- John Eric
ReplyDelete