Pupusas Lover

As you're waiting for your meal to arrive at this Salvadoran eatery, listen for the sounds of clapping from the kitchen: It's proof that your pupusa is being made to order. You can get the corn-masa pockets stuffed with anything from cheese to loroco (a tropical flower bud) to shrimp, or go loco and opt for the Loca, a monster filled with pork, beans, cheese, loroco, zucchini and chicken. Diners who have yet to succumb to the charms of the pupusa will find plenty of other dishes on the menu as well — though they'd do well to brush up on the differences between familiar Mexican dishes and owner Claudia Quijada's recipes of the same name, which reflect her upbringing in El Salvador and are completely different from what's served at most Denver taquerias. (Chicharrón, for example, is not fried pork skin, but fried pork minced almost to a paste, while enchiladas resemble a tostada.) The menu is a great foray into the underrepresented cuisine of Central America, as well as a great reminder of culinary diversity south of the border.