Monse’s Salvadoran pupuseria has customers asking for more

By Kristian DePue

In January 2018, Monse Hines opened her eponymous Taste of El Salvador in the heart of Old Colorado City. On the corner of 25thand Cucharras, it was previously home to Motif Jazz Club. Starting with a limited lunch menu, Hines offered traditional Salvadoran dishes to the Colorado Springs community and tourists.

“We were only open Wednesday through Saturday,” says Hines. “We had our wholesale accounts in grocery stores – and we needed to manage those while starting the pupuseria. We quickly grew, and people asked us to open at nighttime. Then customers started asking for breakfast. Now we are open Tuesday through Saturday 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.”

Hines was born and raised in El Salvador, the smallest of the seven countries that make up Central America – bordered by Guatemala, Honduras and the Pacific. “I’m from a rural town called Chalchuapa – no traffic lights, and most walk from place to place,” says Hines. “In the morning, there is a milk man with a horse and cart.”

While an undergraduate in El Salvador, there was an opportunity to enroll in a German student-exchange for a year. That September, in Germany, her school friends took her to an Oktoberfest celebration two hours away – that’s where she met her husband, who was stationed in Deutschland with the U.S. Army. Soon after, they married in El Salvador. “Sometime this year, I plan to go back for the first time in 14 years,” she says. “My country went through a bad period, but the new president is doing so much good.”

Throughout the 20th century, El Salvador has endured political and economic instability – including a major uprising in 1932, and a civil war from 1979 to 1992 between the military and a coalition of guerilla groups, but unrest continued long after.

“We are very friendly people, and very giving to others,” she says passionately. “We have a beautiful country.”

Those qualities flow out of Hines – she’s incredibly warm and exceptionally generous. When dining, you feel as though you’ve been welcomed into her home.

The Hines family initially moved to Colorado Springs in 2011, seven years before the restaurant opened. Within a month of arriving, she began looking into supplying wholesale products to local grocers. Now she’s in various stores across the state – including Whole Foods and Natural Grocers in Colorado Springs, Longmont, Frisco and more.

Her young restaurant has an outdoor patio that doubles the seating capacity and a roll-up garage door, both allowing for fresh, open-air dining during warm weather.

“I’m not aware of others in Southern Colorado with a focus on handmade pupusas (a stuffed corn flour flatbread) … or a scratch-kitchen dedicated to a Salvadoran menu,” says Hines. “I’m very, very grateful to introduce the food of my home and culture! We are a small, family-owned business. I’m proud how far we’ve come.”

Indeed, Hines’ Taste of El Salvador has come far, featured in print publications, television and blogs. The restaurant was listed inYelp’s Top 100 Places to Eat in the U.S. 2019, only one of three Colorado venues to be included that year.

The restaurant is best known for handmade, made-to-order pupusas – with a long list of varieties: cheese, pork, chicken, beef, chiles, black bean, zucchini, loroco (an edible flower native to Central America), and more. Lately, though, the buzz on the streets of Colorado Springs is her breakfast menu of skillets, omelets, and dishes customary to Latin heritage. Her recommendation – wanting new guests to have a Salvadoran experience – is the menu’s Traditional Plate: eggs, black beans, fried plantains, cased chorizo sausage, served with thick corn Salvadoran tortillas.

Around the time Hines introduced breakfast options she added cocktails, including: mojitos (regular or strawberry), margaritas (regular, strawberry, jalapeno), a Bloody Mary, a Cuba Libre, Rumchata, Moscow Mules, and an Old Fashioned – all for $9 or less.

In addition to cocktails, she also offers a few beer and wine options and Sauza Auga Fresca: sparkling water spiked with tequila.

Asking Hines what she would like readers to leave with, and she says: “I want Coloradans and visitors to know we make everything locally and take pride in our authentic, home-style menu. We believe in providing fresh, all natural food and are dedicated to providing options for dietary needs – we accommodate gluten-free and vegan lifestyles.”

Monse’s Taste of El Salvador

115 S. 25th Street
Colorado Springs, CO 80904
719-473-0877

https://www.monsestasteofelsalvador.online/

Instagram: @monsespupuseria

Facebook: @monsespupuseria