The world loves its hot pockets: pasties, empanadas, dumplings, samosas. In this genre, El Salvador wins the Best Name prize with its pupusas. And a happy pupusa this is indeed at La Pupusa Alegre: the masa’s corny sweet and soft, with a little bit of blackened goodness that reminds us of what we love in a pizza crust. Inside is a filling that might include any combination of shredded pork, cheese, refried beans, or loroco (an herbaceous flower indigenous to El Salvador). The standard order on the streets of San Salvador is a revuelta, with chicharrones and cheese oozing out at each bite. Sure, they’re a little greasy, but not overly so, and anyway you’re supposed to cut it with the runny salsa and curtido (pickled cabbage) that comes in a little heap on the side.

In this neighborhood, there are pupusas aplenty, but we like this place best for its dressed-down simplicity—it’s definitely a hole in the wall, complete with checked tablecloths, Spanish soaps on the TV, and scarcely English-speaking (but patient) service. And each pupusa is less than $2, so even though it’s cash only here, you can probably scrounge up enough change in your car to give you a mighty good snack.