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| - Literally just getting back from the East Coast and eating Julia's Empanadas (Washington, DC) and Ruben's Empanadas (NYC), I was fiending for some more when I landed in Phoenix. A quick Yelp search turned up Eliana's and since it was on my way home from the airport, I decided to stop in to get my fix. Initially, I only planned on getting the combo platter and ensalada drink. Then I started thinking back on my fond memories of pupaserias (sp?) in the Mission district of SF so I flagged down the waiter to have that added on to my order.
My ensalada drink arrived w/ a little cup of chicken & potato soup which instantly made my stomach do a little churn. I'm not sure if it was because the ensalada drink looked like a liquid highlighter or the fact that an ice cold beverage was served with a hot soup, but being the starving beast that I was, I took a sip of the glow-stick and devoured the tasty chicken soup. I couldn't really figure out if the drink tasted like anything other than sweet water w/ a few pieces of fruits & carrot, but it was interesting to order nonetheless.
Not sure what to say about the pupusa and combo platter other than, it was very MOIST. I'm sure you're thinking, "WTH how could she describe a pupusa, empanada, pasteles and tamale as moist?," but trust me, it was a lot odder for me to taste these unexpectedly moist items. I'm not sure it was moist from the meat juices or grease but I ate a few bites of each item and left the rest. Feeling rather unfulfilled from everything, I decided to order the quesadilla dessert. As the other reviewers have already mentioned, it's not the quesadilla that most of us are accustomed to. I'd describe it as corn bread (minus the gritty corn texture) with a cream cheese flavor. Kinda strange.. not my thang.
So 3 stars to Eliana's for the MOIST items. I'd give it an extra .5 star for the soup, but unfortunately that's not an option and I didn't think it'd merit a whole extra star on its own.
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