Popoca

Weekends in Old Oakland with community >

Swing thru & check out our latest dish on the menu 👇🏽

guaca-mol: herb guaca-mol, snap peas,
asiento (crispy beef oil), yolk, tortilla (GF)

📸: / from

Carne Asada y Camaron 🥩 🦐

short-rib steak, head on prawns, scallions, salsa negra, white bean fried in beef tallow. the salsa negra is made from roasting the shrimp shells, burnt alliums and covering them in salsa inglesa hecho in casa.

One of our favorite cocktails this spring at Popoca—the Pineapple Plane is our take on a paper plane using bourbon, Aperol, lemon juice and Amaro 🍍

We substitute the typical Amaro Nonino for Heirloom Pineapple Amaro which gives it delicious tropical fruity notes from the Queen Victoria pineapples while still keeping its typical Amaro bitterness from the Jamaican Quassia bark.

The next time you’re visiting us, make sure to try this out—you won’t want to miss it! 🤌

“We didn’t know dough and cheese could taste this healthful, and nourishing. Salguero uses freshly ground masa for his pupusas, which gives them a mild toastiness and blistered crunch.” - Mercury News

Not only is our masa nixtamalized + ground in house with labor and love, but everything you see on this plate is made en casa. From our salsa rojo, salsa verde and delicious curtido.

We enjoy rotating our pupusas on the menu based on seasonal offerings and our culinary inspiration. What’s been your favorite pupusa you’ve had at Popoca recently?

It’s Oakland Restaurant Week and we’re *hyped* about the special menu that we’ve put together for y’all 💯

During enjoy a 3-course menu featuring one of our newest & delicious dishes the Ceviche Rosada, for $45/per person. It’ll be available until Oakland Restaurant Week ends, March 24th.

Make your reservation before they sell out 👏🏽

Community is everything.

We recently hosted ‘s table scape workshop on tropical maximalism, and it was a dream. The event curated a beautiful group of people who all created something unique and everyone complimented each other’s work with genuine appreciation. Hosting this event at Popoca was truly a collision of two labors of love.

Interested in learning more about hosting a private event at Popoca? Get in touch above, we’d love to host you.

📸: .j.a

Here’s one of our favorite sandwiches, the Pan con Pollo Frito available only during lunch. Tuesday-Friday, 11:30am-2pm.

You can enjoy it in the restaurant, or order for pick up via Toast to bring back to the office ✌️

Let’s talk about pricing. I love breaking down why we charge the way we do. Transparency with our guests and my team is always super important to me.

Nearly everything we serve in the restaurant is hecho en casa. Every detail from our crema to our condiments are made in-house with labor and love. Our masa requires specialty corn that we grind in-house and spend days preparing. Even our sausages are made from scratch. Our ingredients are curated carefully, often hand-picked at markets or from a variety of trusted vendors.

The cost of running a restaurant has gone up tremendously over the last decade. Truth be told with the cost of goods, fixed costs, and labor the way it is now it’s extremely hard for Restaurants to stay open in the Bay Area which is why you see so many closing down. We’re no different. When you value high-quality ingredients, well-paid labor, and taking our time to plan a memorable service, it will show up in the pricing.

To be candid, I think some people don’t expect that from Latin American food. Some tend to expect cheaper quality food and lower pricing. A $15 French onion soup isn’t scrutinized in the way that a $11 shrimp pupusa often is. The cost of great dairy is the same for both of those items—they don’t go down just because one is Latinx. And I think it’s worth reflecting on why that is the case.

I’m always looking to open up the conversation because I want to understand where folks are coming from. I also want folks to understand where we’re coming from. Thanks for taking the time read this. Sincerely, it means a lot.

We’re open tonight from 5:15-10pm. Walk-ins are welcome ✌️

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Crab en Alguashte 🦀 A half cooked crab in pumpkin seed sauce, trout roe, crab rice, and quisqil.

Have you ever eaten a hot dog, salvi style? 🌭

Meet Chori-Pan, a salvi style hot dog con salsa negra, homemade crema, onions and mustard. Only available during lunch.

Who’s in?

The hottest sandwich in Old Oakland, the Pan con Pollo 🔥 🍗

This sandwich is packed with grilled chicken, gravy, cress, cucumber, radish and comes with a delicious pickled egg.

Only available during lunch, Tuesday-Friday 11:30am-2pm. Swing thru 💯

Hecho en casa, a new series.

Have you tried our crema? Our fresh crema is always made in house using the best ingredients, and tons of amor in our kitchen.

Why did I open Popoca?

My son. My family. My community. Both here in Oakland and in El Salvador. My dream is to share the beauty of Salvadoran culture with my Oakland community in the best way I know how — by cooking.

I got my start in fine-dining kitchens while working as a ranch hand in Montana when I was 16 years old. After spending the day repairing barbed wire fences (and swatting horse flies), I would hang out in the kitchen of the high-end lodge next door. I soon traded ranch work for washing dishes. In that intense little kitchen under Montana’s Big Sky, I discovered my connection to food.

My career has allowed me to develop my culinary skills working with some great chefs and cooking crews in the Bay Area, including Plumed Horse in Saratoga, Saison and Commonwealth in San Francisco, and Quattro in Palo Alto. I then stepped into an executive chef role at Michelin-recommended Michel Bistro in Oakland. As co-chef, I helped open Bardo Lounge & Supper Club in Oakland in 2018.

With the opening of Popoca, I’m realizing a dream that has been simmering since I first fell in love with El Salvador on a visit to spend time with my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. The beaches, the mountain towns, the culture, the food. I loved it all. I decided then and there, that I wanted to spend the rest of my life learning about my roots and the food of El Salvador.

I’ve traveled throughout El Salvador learning old techniques and recipes. I’m excited to share this food with you. My hope is that, just maybe, you’ll get a taste of the absolute beauty of El Salvador.

This is my offering, my popoca.

In community,
Anthony

Feast your eyes on our Pollo Frito plate lunch 🔥

Fried chicken, carrot rice, refried black beans, grilled green onions, pickled egg, escabeche, homemade cream and hot sauce.

Lunch at Popoca is Tuesday-Friday, 11:30am-2pm ✌️

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If you’ve been into Popoca recently, you most likely would have seen these amazing people around the restaurant.

We’re incredibly proud of our staff, and they continue to make Popoca such a beautiful space to work in, eat in and drink in.

The next time you’re in, don’t be shy, say hello 👋

Pictured: Paloma, Manny and Eric.

Amor is in the air at Popoca, and we’re so excited to welcome you and your 🍯 (or bestie or just yourself) to our special Valentine’s Day dinner ❣️

Join us for a beautiful night to remember, blending the rich tastes of El Salvador with the crescendo of the season.

We will have two (2) different menus to choose from: meat or veg—swipe to see the menus. Reservations are now available online, make sure to snag one before the night sells out!

Hope you come and celebrate with us! 🎊

One of our favorite parts of the day—our masa is nixtamalized and ground in house with labor & love ❣️

Sourced from 🌽

At Popoca, we actively choose not to partner with DoorDash or any other delivery app. Pero, why?

They charge restaurants 15% to 30% of their sale, and as a small business, it’s just not sustainable for us to lean into.

We hope y’all understand & if you’d love Popoca at home, feel free to order via our website and pick up at the restaurant 🙏

Drop any questions or comments below.

Hecho en Casa, a new series 🍍

Our Piña Chicha starts with the pineapple scraps that we get form the making the Atol de Piña, so mostly the skin and some of the meet and core. We then add some water and panela, an unrefined cane sugar to help kickstart the fermentation process.

We let it sit out in room temperature for about a week or so until it reaches a slight ferment similar to kombucha but not enough to build any alcohol content. After it’s ready, we strain out all of the pineapple chunks and add panela syrup to sweeten it slightly.

Have y’all had it? What do you think?

Meet who’s behind our bar program, the one & only Eduardo Peraza 💯

“I started working in restaurants when I was 16 years old at a Mexican restaurant and fell in love with being in kitchens. I worked in a bunch of kitchens from cheese cake factories to mom and pop restaurants. I’ve been working in Oakland for the last 7 years starting at Drake’s dealership before moving over to Blind Tiger where I was introduced to being behind the bar by an old friend, Sam Jimenez.

From there I worked at Bardo and Here’s how, while still cooking up tacos at Hometown Heroes, a neighborhood bar in Emeryville. After the pandemic I was able to land a job at Viridian and really learn to bartend behind some of the best bartending team/leadership ever. That’s when Anthony reached out to me and floated the idea of opening and running a bar in his restaurant.

As the opening was coming along I decided to come on board to be able to help introduce people to Salvadoran flavors and drinking culture as I best remember from growing up there. I like to use my background in the kitchen and my love for science driven cocktails to try and bring the flavors from El Salvador to the bar here at Popoca. I love my job here because even though it’s my first time running a cocktail program I feel very comfortable with a lot of the ingredients and flavors I’m trying to convey.

My hope is to try and keep pushing Salvadoran cocktails and flavors to new places and to more people.”

We’re incredibly lucky to have Ed on the team, the energy, creativity and positivity he brings is unmatched.

The next time you’re at the bar, make sure to say hi 👋

Meet the Tamal de Calabasa 🧡 Our current tamal on the menu is filled with milk braised squash, butter, seeds, relajo, and pickled pear.

Make a reservation, enjoy Old Oakland and a delicious meal full of intention, depth and amor.

2024 is only days away, can y’all believe it?! We made it through and we’re throwing a party to celebrate 🎉

Gift someone or yourself (😉) a delicious salvi meal that tastebuds won’t forget, a night full of immaculate vibes, and a glass of NYE champagne to ring in 2024 ✨

Swipe through to see the NYE menu. Vegetarian option available, and all dairy options can be made vegan.

You in?

Tickets available via link in bio above 👆🏽

Introducing the Pollo “Campero—grande two piece chicken wings, lime, panela, hot sauce made en casa and escabeche. Swing thru and enjoy before we close for the holidays!

We will be closed December 24th, 25th and 26th. We’ll be open and back to normal service starting December 27th.

Estilo (noun): meaning ‘style’, ‘design’, or ‘way of doing things’.

Have you noticed that we offer Estilo Popoca for parties of 2 or more?

Estilo Popoca is a menu curated with sharing in mind. The selection combines the kitchen’s favorite dishes from each section of the menu to create a full experience.

A culinary journey we make sure you won’t forget ❤️

Do you have plans to bring in 2024? We’re throwing a party y’all, and we’d love for you to come and celebrate with us. 🎉

From 8pm til’ the clock strikes midnight, it’s going to be a night to remember—champagne, a 5 course meal and incredible vibes.

You in? Snag your ticket via the link above before it sells out ✌️

Ok fam, this one means a lot to us ❤️

We’re holding a tamal fundraiser for Gaza this Sunday, December 10th (12/10) from 11-noon 🫔

Our Tamal Pisques, a tamal wrapped in a banana leaf with relajo spice, and refried black beans will be $6 each. 100% of proceeds will go directly to the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund.

Pick up ONLY, no pre-orders available. Cash and/or Venmo accepted.

Hope to see you there 🙏

Meet a few of our latest intentionally crafted cocktails, created for this fall/winter season 🙌

Pictured first, the Loroco: loroco infused gin, papaya, carrot, lemon, and tonic ✨

Elote: masa infused Rittenhouse Rye, Nixta Corn Licor, orange juice, atol de elote clarified milk punch 🌽

Cafe con Leche: coffee rum, vodka, proyecto diaz cold brew, panela, sweetened cinnamon cream ☕️

"We didn’t know dough and cheese could taste this...healthful, nourishing. Salguero uses freshly ground masa for his pupusas, which gives them a mild toastiness and blistered crunch."

Jessica Yadegaran, The Mercury News

What do you think about our pupusas? Do you have a favorite? Drop it below 👇

We will be closed from November 23rd-26th in order to take time out to spend it with family, friends, and fill up our cups with what helps us stay grounded.

We will be back to our regular hours November 29th 🙌