Irene's and Irene's Pupusas, Three Maryland Locations - A Wheaton Location Has Closed

[deangold]

Took out our staff to Irene's last night (well actually mostly the kitchen & bus staff, waiters were out partying). With 25 folk in attendance, most of the menu was sampled. This place is seriously good cheap eats!

Pupusas are about as grease free as a pupusa can be. Mixtos con todos are a sloppy mess but delicious. Very strongly flavored curtado spiked with an unknown to me black herb/seed. The breakdown on the pupusas were the latino folk averaged 2 pupusa's per person plus an entree, the gringos about 1/2 a pupusa.

Baliadas are huge tortillas folded over good fillings. I have had chorizo & cheese in the past. I did not sample last night's, but it looked just as good.

Deschilada - shredded beef with scrambled egg was simply superb. Just the right balance of egg and spice.

Carne Asada as really good this time, nicely crusty, thin slice of NY steak. A little tough but flavorful.

I had stewed tongue as my main and it was incredible. Very rich, nicely chewy accompanied by heavenly beans (filled with lard no doubt) and good rice.

Lomo Saltado was also very good with a good spice mix and very nicely caremelized onions.

The Tamal di Pollo was just OK. I do highly recommend the tamel d'elote as superb every time we have had it.

Also ordered by not sampled was an OK looking plate of grilled shrimp.

Lots of beer, a few margaritas, lots of the various drinks and the total with tip came to a tad over $30 a person. Did I say lots of beer? Good eating!

[xcanuck]

We grabbed some take out from Irene's Papusas III. Given there was just the two of us, we didn't get a chance to try a lot of different things. We only had the pork papusas, the loroco papusas, and beef tongue tacos. They were packaged up with some chili sauce, cole slaw, and some red sauce that tasted like weak clamato juice.

Everything we had was lacking flavour. Now, I've only had papusas a couple of times before, so maybe this is the real deal. But the beef tongue taco pales in comparison to what we've had at Oyamel, or even hole-in-the-wall tacquerias up and down the coast of California.

The restaurant itself is really quite nice so I'm still tempted to give them another shot. Maybe I'll sit at the bar, watch some of the Euro Cup, and go for some of the entrees (and they have tripe soup on weekends!). I can't believe a place that Dean gives props to would turn out bland food on a regular basis.

[Walrus]

Does anyone here know anything about Irene's Restaurant in Laurel?

[Pool Boy]

I think it is related to a small chain of mexican/salvadoran food joints. Mango Grill, is practically right next to it and pretty good. Never tried Irene's yet. Please report back if you hit it.

[Toogs]

I think it is related to a small chain of mexican/salvadoran food joints. Mango Grill, is practically right next to it and pretty good. Never tried Irene's yet. Please report back if you hit it.

Delicious. Inexpensive like you would expect, it's related to the multi-location Irene's Pupuseria. The stars on the menu are the baliadas and the pupusas. I've never seen baliadas anywhere else, but it's a huge puffy tortilla, grilled a bit on the outside. I go for baliadas con todo which have beef, beans, eggs, avocado, and maybe some other mysteries.

The pupusas are well-done but similar to every other pupusa I have ever had.

Oh and I almost forgot the lengua taco. I am a big fan of tongue and see it very rarely here. The stewed lengua there is great-cooked just enough so that it's not horribly chewy but the unique taste of tongue still shines through. Not for everyone, but I am happy they serve it.

[Pool Boy]

Delicious. Inexpensive like you would expect, it's related to the multi-location Irene's Pupuseria. The stars on the menu are the baliadas and the pupusas. I've never seen baliadas anywhere else, but it's a huge puffy tortilla, grilled a bit on the outside. I go for baliadas con todo which have beef, beans, eggs, avocado, and maybe some other mysteries.

The pupusas are well-done but similar to every other pupusa I have ever had.

Oh and I almost forgot the lengua taco. I am a big fan of tongue and see it very rarely here. The stewed lengua there is great-cooked just enough so that it's not horribly chewy but the unique taste of tongue still shines through. Not for everyone, but I am happy they serve it.

Good to know, thanks. I love tongue. We found a taco truck up closer to Jessup on Rt 1 this past weekend that ROCKED. Tried to hit it again during the week, but it must be there only during the daytime. Hit Tacqueria Veracruzana, on Cherry Lane, instead. Not as good, but still tasty.

[Toogs]

Went to Irene's again last night. Got mostly the same stuff I got above. Still great. a buddy got the plantains and beans dish, best sweet plantain I have had. Pupusa was hot and fresh and amazing too. The price/quality ratio is ridiculous here--5 dudes stuffed to the gills for like 45 bucks.

[Pool Boy]

We hit the Irene's closest to Max's in Wheaton this weekend and sampled two of their pupusas and also got their fried plantains. The 'everything' pupusa was good, very good even. But the pork and cheese one was superb.

Yet both of these paled in comparison to the fried plantains which were ridiculously good.

I will have to remember that the Irene's in Laurel is related and must make sure to go there and see if the Laurel shop is as good as the Wheaton one.

[Toogs]

I will have to remember that the Irene's in Laurel is related and must make sure to go there and see if the Laurel shop is as good as the Wheaton one.

Yeah you do, because if Wheaton is better, I need to get to Wheaton!

[deangold]

We hit the Irene's closest to Max's in Wheaton this weekend and sampled two of their pupusas and also got their fried plantains. The 'everything' pupusa was good, very good even. But the pork and cheese one was superb.

Yet both of these paled in comparison to the fried plantains which were ridiculously good.

I will have to remember that the Irene's in Laurel is related and must make sure to go there and see if the Laurel shop is as good as the Wheaton one.

Wheaton has good tacos de lengua, andtheir soups are darned good too. They make a Honduran tack which seems to me to have chicken in a crispy crust with some very wet veggie topping and grated dry cheese making it a race between crispy goodness and wet sloppy goopiness, both of which have their charms when spiked with sharp cheese!

[deangold]

Drove past the Wheaton Georgia Avenue location late Friday night and it looks like they were evicted. The place had turned into mostly a bar and the music was too loud for dining so we had not been in a while, but they did have some damn good food.

[xcanuck]

Yup - I went there yesterday morning to get some pupusas and sopa de mondongo and there are signs instructing locksmiths not to open the doors. DIsappointing.

Dean - what's your suggestion for an alternative in area? Got to have good lengua and mondongo.

[DonRocks]

Dean - what's your suggestion for an alternative in area? Got to have good lengua and mondongo.

I'm not Dean, but my one meal at Sergio's was a very pleasant surprise.

[deangold]

There is a place, Juanita's kitchen, I think, in the stop mall with El Pollo Kiki Rikki. Its in a grocery store with a big window full of signs for drinks, liquados, cafe con leche etc. Superb pupusas, great sopa. Lengua tocaos woould have been petter as a plate of lengua al guisado. Baliades hectos par monos were too rich for words. The black beans taste amazing and are probably full of lard. Expect to spend a loong time waiting for he food, they make it a plate or two at a time. Dirt cheap.

Haven't been to Sergio's for ages but it used to be a regular in our rotation.

[Toogs]

That sucks, especially since the Laurel spot is about to be demolished and who knows when/if they will relocate.

[deangold]

Irenes has relocated to Glenmont plaza in the space formerly occupied by the truly terrible Chinese buffet.

Not ready for prime time {service and blandness} based on our second night visit. We had long since let Irenes drop from rotation, due to the ear splitting music levels at the old place. Can't tell if the atomic powered soud system is going to be installed here. No beer or booze. No indication of they are applying. Will give it a few weeks before trying again.

Le Restaraunt {or Juanita's Kitchen or the place in the Latio Market next to Kiki Ricki or wahtever other way to identify it} remians our pupusa/Salvadoran choice right now.

[Pool Boy]

That sucks, especially since the Laurel spot is about to be demolished and who knows when/if they will relocate.

I don't think the demolition has happened (as of late last week), but it is closed and the area fenced off and demolition is imminent. I wonder if the Mango's folks found a place to move to.

[Toogs]

I don't think the demolition has happened (as of late last week), but it is closed and the area fenced off and demolition is imminent. I wonder if the Mango's folks found a place to move to.

Demo has happened. I read they were moving to the spot currently housing and Indian place on the corner of rt 1 and cherry lane, but I dont know if that happened.