Olivos

Olivos has quickly become one of our favorite neighborhood spots. The restaurant isn't much to speak of, so we usually order take out, but today we headed back there with a camera to make sure Olivos gets its due.

The #1 thing to order there is the menudo. For about $10 you get more than a quart of rich, spiced (but not spicy), thick, slightly sticky soup with large chunks of tripe floating around in it. J likes to order it without the vegetables to make room for any pork hocks or extra offal the kitchen might feel like sparing. The menudo is served with a few lime wedged, chopped cilantro and onions, and two tortillas that you can either rip up and throw in the soup or use to wrap pieces of tripe. I think even people who don't like offal should try this soup. It's really meaty and delicious.

I always order two pupusas. It's hard to resist this much food for under $5. Today I picked cheese and pork pupusas, which are served with a side of Salvadorean cabbage slaw.

Olivos serves a wide array of Mexican food that you can find at Taquerias, but it bills itself as a Salvadorean restaurant and the pupusas are what people seem to go there for. There are other decent Taquerias in the area, so when we go we always get the menudo, pupusas, and get out for about $15 (sometimes with leftovers!). You can see why it's what we eat when we're feeling too lazy to cook.