I am stuck in Chainland. Around here, when you say Italian, people say Olive Garden or Macaroni Grill. You say seafood, they say Red Lobster or Bonefish Grill. You say steak, they say Outback. You say breakfast, they say Denny’s. You say pizza, they say Hut. OK, so the last one is an exaggeration but you get the picture.

I suspect that Chainlands cover much of these United States, any place that's not a large city or a small town. Cities have enough critical mass of people and money to spawn independents of varying cuisines and aspirations, from greasy spoons to fine dining. Small towns lack the population needed to carry any chain except for fast food such as McDonalds and Dairy Queen. In the middle, the chains of Brinker, Darden and OSI flourish.

My particular Chainland is in South Florida. It spans north to south from West Palm Beach to Boca Raton and east to west from the Atlantic Ocean to the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Reserve where the developers had to stop filling in the swamps (oops, sorry, wetlands) so they could build McMansions.

With this backdrop, you can imagine my relief when I stumbled upon a really good indie joint, an oasis in this desert of chains, El Salvadoreño. Not surprisingly, given the name, it's a Salvadoran restaurant.

As I stated in Fútbol Central, Balompié Café is my gold standard for Salvadoran in the City. El Salvadoreño meets and, in some ways, exceeds the bar set by Balompié.

Pupusas ($2.50 each) were, of course, front and center. Chicharrón, good. Loroco (actually loroco con queso) very good. Revueltas (mixed), the best freakin' pupusa I've ever eaten. I think the secret is the cheese, which imparts a wonderful flavor and texture without being greasy.

The accompanying curtido was excellent. Unlike the variation I've found in the City, El Salvadoreño's curtido (think Salvadoran cole slaw) included nippy onions and jalapeño slivers, providing some heat to balance the sour of the pickling.

The salsita, however, was inferior to Balompié's. Its tomatoes were not puréed finely enough for my liking.

El Salvadoreño's fried yuca with pork ($6.00) was also good but the yuca absorbed a bit too much oil during the frying process.

The Especial Salvadoreño ($12.50) included shrimp, chicken and steak. The shrimp was basic but good. The steak was a thin, lean cut, a bit chewy but with a flavorful marinade. The chicken was also good but needed something extra to give it some oomph. A bit of sauce, à la Balompié's lemon chicken, would have been a welcome addition. I didn't care for the accompanying salad, shredded iceberg with a couple of cucumber and tomato slices. I ate the tomatoes and the cukes but left the rest.

I capped both of my meals at El Salvadoreño with the best flan I've eaten in ages. The thick, rich, firm custard was topped with a generous amount of absolutely perfect caramel sauce.

Service at El Salvadoreño is friendly but inefficient. During my two visits, the lone server seemed to be distracted by prep work, which caused some delays. Also, English was not her strong point. Ordering iced tea required that I request tea con hielo (incidentally, I've found hielo to be by far the most useful word in my very limited Spanish vocabulary). However, the iced tea is very good, despite (or because) its not on the menu and each glass is fresh brewed with hot water from the espresso machine.

The restaurant's decor is, well, odd. It's situated in a rundown strip mall that's attempting a comeback via a brand new Wal-Mart. Not exactly upscale. But they provide tablecloths, cloth napkins and fine china. Totally not in sync with the location or the type of food. I suspect that they went shopping at the liquidation sale of a fine dining restaurant.

If you find yourself stuck in my particular version of Chainland, I highly recommend you visit El Salvadoreño. The sanity you save may just be your own.

El Salvadoreño
6177 D-12 Jog Road
at Lantana Road
Lake Worth, FL  33467
(561) 439-8770
Map
No web site
Food inspection score: Not located in San Francisco
Symbol of Excellence: N/A