This week our search for the best tacos in Chatt Town took us to a Salvadoran treasure located in East Ridge: Pupuseria Marelyn #1.
Tacos at a Salvadoran diner? Yep!
They offer street tacos with sliced grilled onions and a pinch of cilantro. Your choice of steak, pork, chicken, shrimp and cow tongue. I enjoyed their shrimp tacos with an ample amount of their salsa verde squeezed on top. It is not that spicy.
The shrimp was cut into bite size pieces but there was plenty of shrimp stuffed into the tortilla! A squeeze of lime and some salsa verde elevated the flavors. I was nearly stuffed after eating two tacos!
They have guacamole and chips on the menu. It’s bursting with lime flavor, not spice!
This is where I tried my first pupusa. It’s a national dish of El Salvador. It reminded me of a Colombian arepa, a flat bread made with corn flour. An arepa is typically assembled much like a sandwich with the items stuffed between the sliced doughy bread. But these are stuffed into the dough with your choice of veggies, cheese, meats, or a combination of all three. They are served with the traditional fermented cabbage slaw they bring to the table. They even provide tiny tongs to pull the cabbage out of the glass container.
The first one I tried was a cheese pupusa. The pupusa was warm and the cheese stretched for days! The exterior was toasted on the grill and tasted like Indian fry bread. On a subsequent visit I tried the pupusa stuffed with cheese and shredded pork, which was delicious, but my favorite now is their shredded pork, refried beans and cheese stuffed pupusa. All those great flavors together, 10 out of 10 for sure! They also have a squash pupusa and a spinach one I must try.
The fermented cabbage was like a cabbage pico-de-gallo in terms of having a slight pinch of heat. I added that as a topping on my pupusas and my tacos, giving them a nice added crunchy component!
The menu lists their pork dishes as chicharron, which, traditionally, means crunchy pork rinds made with pork belly. But it also means made from pork utilizing pork shoulder or pork butt, too. The chicharron in their tacos and pupusa is marinated shredded pork. It’s tender and delicious.
They have an appetizer which features fried pork, with fried yuca served with a tomato sauce. If you’ve never had fried yuca, you must give it a try. I am accustomed to having fried yuca frequently in some of the Cuban dinners mom makes. We prefer fried or cooked yuca to potatoes any day of the week.
They call it an appetizer, but the portion is massive and could serve as a full meal alone. The same can be said for their garnachas plate, which is fried tortillas topped with shredded beef, coleslaw, salsa, cheese and served with pickled jalapenos. It’s their version of a tostada!
Pupuseria Marelyn has a kid’s menu, offers chicken wings and has quesadillas, Guatemalan style tamales, and fajitas. They have several entrees to choose from and soups!
They also have a small dessert menu. The best part is the adjacent grocery store accessible from inside the restaurant offering a variety of specialty items! This place is open daily, except for Wednesdays, starting at 10 a.m.
Pupuseria Marelyn #1
- 3992 Ringgold Road
- Chattanooga, TN 37412
- (423) 541-1904
- www.facebook.com/pupusaseriamarelyn
- $-$$
What’s your favorite taco place and why? Send me an email at Pattyl@brewermediagroup.com