SAN ANTONIO – Francisca Alvarez started cooking her famous pupusas in a food truck in 2007 as a way to earn a living after finding the job market was a little difficult.
More than a decade later, she recently opened a brick-and-mortar restaurant, El Buen Paladar, on Potranco Road.
“I said, ‘One day, I want to have my own business.’ I’ve always wanted to own a business,” Alvarez said in Spanish.
While her daughter and son-in-law help run the business, she’s the heart of the kitchen, making 100-200 pupusas daily.
William Salinas, Alvarez’s son-in-law, says the pupusas are the most popular dish, although getting her clientele to try them took a while.
“It took a very long time for them to get established because nobody knew what a Salvadoran pupusa was,” Salinas said. “You can eat it for breakfast, lunch, dinner. You can have it as a late-night snack. They’re good all day. People absolutely love them.”
Alvarez migrated to the U.S. in the 1980s with a dream of success.
“If you have a dream to work for, something you want to do, you will succeed because this country is a place of opportunity,” she said.
The restaurant has a diverse menu that includes dishes from all over Central America.