Gloria’s Pupuseria

Reviews

• Kunal K.

  star star star star star 15 September 2026

  As a veteran pupusa aficionado in the 14/U and columbia heights area, this is my first five star pupusa review in the DC area.  
  
  Order:
  Cheese pupusa, chicken enchiladas, and corn tamale
  
  Key takeaways:
  1) Pupusas were soft and moist - great flavor, not dried out, great filling:dough ratio.
  2) Chicken enchiladas here are not chicken enchiladas elsewhere - this was more like an open faced tostada and doesn't really have anything like an "enchilada sauce".  However, the chicken itself was absolutely perfect.  Outstanding seasoning and flavor, tender meat, perfectly cooked.  
  3) I find myself wishing they'd offer a chicken and cheese pupusa
  4) Good red sauce here.  Added great flavor, and was even better when mixed with a bit of sour cream
  5) Wished the service was just a bit friendlier, but the food was fast and delicious and very reasonably priced.
  6) Loved the corn tamale. Just the right amount of sweetness.
  7) Slaw not as good as others I've had, but again, as a transplant, I'm still missing Balompie in San Francisco.

• Hannah C.

  star star_border star_border star_border star_border 9 September 2026

  1.5 stars. One of the worst meals I've had in a long time. We started out with the mixed (pork/cheese) pupusas. If this was all we'd gotten, I would probably have given this place three stars. They didn't have great flavor (or that much flavor at all), but they were griddled cheese cakes with meat, so what's not to like. I ordered the shredded beef entree, my boyfriend got chicken fajitas. The shredded beef was basically inedible - it was chunks of unseasoned shredded beef mixed with egg, it mostly tasted like an omelet. The chicken fajitas consisted of decently charred chicken with a few pieces of pepper, onions, and tomato. Both came with beans (which tasted like something straight out of a can) and rice (which tasted like old chicken stock) and undercooked stale corn tortillas.
  
  As some others have noted, waitress definitely rounded up/overcharged (ie, we were charged $8 for the order of 3 pupusas, which we were told was a normal order, even though the menu listed them at $2.50). They will take cards for the meal but only cash for tips. Service was fine.

• Coco T.

  star star star star_border star_border 8 September 2026

  I think I'm addicted to fajitas.  Gloria's is close to my home so I walked to try their fajitas.  Delicious!!  The chicken was very tasty, seasoned and cooked to perfection.  The shrimp were tasty as well and a nice size.  With the fajitas, they give you pupusas!!! I'll definitely be back again.

• Diane S.

  star star star star star_border 2 September 2026

  What an interesting hole in the wall. The utensils were plastic, a telenovela was blasting in the background, and half of what was on the menu wasn't available when we tried to order. We came for pupusas and they were quite tasty, the curtido could have used a little more time to ferment, but the enchilada was really the star of flavor.

• Jason Z.

  star star_border star_border star_border star_border 20 August 2026

  Unethical behavior by management merits a one-star review.  My wife and I enjoyed our dinner at Gloria's (good, not great pupusas), but upon receiving the bill we noticed that we had been charged an extra 50 cents per pupusa.  When I told our waitress about the overcharge, she said that she couldn't do anything and that I could talk to the manager.  She retrieved the manager, who adamantly insisted that I had no cause for complaint:  even though the menu listed a lower price for the papusas, the price had since increased.  Unbelievable!