Local food truck serves traditional Central American cuisine to go

Margarita Sanchez stations her truck in the parking lot of a Gulf gas station at 4 p.m. every weekday.

Sanchez then lifts the concession window and opens for business—ready to take orders of traditional Mexican and Salvadorian cuisine.  

Sanchez is the owner of Pupuseria y Taquiera La Guadalupana, the only food truck along Riverdale Road in Riverdale Park, Md.

It’s a cultural tradition to open food establishments, said Sanchez, who is of Mexican descent.  She purchased her first food truck in 2003.  Since her first purchase, Sanchez bought two other food trucks, which are strategically located in Montgomery County near construction sites, she said.

The truck’s menu is handwritten in thick black ink on poster board in neon shades of green and orange, adding a homey feel, which several customers appreciate, said Sanchez.

“My customers feel comfortable here,” said Sanchez. “When they don’t like something they complain, and I fix it.”

Sanchez’s food truck sits adjacent to an apartment complex, where the majority of her customers live, she said.

Less than a mile away from the food truck is El Rey Taqueria, a sit-down restaurant with similar dishes, but Sanchez said she doesn’t compete with other Central American restaurants in the area.

“I focus on my preparation and not the competition,” said Sanchez. “I try to not make mistakes and listen to my customers.”

The preparation of chicken tacos, a staple of the menu, is fast, said Abraham Beyene, 27 of Riverdale.  “I usually wait 5 to 10 minutes,” said Beyene.

Beyene said the prices of the food truck are much lower than restaurant prices.  Beyene pays $2 dollars for a chicken taco, he said.

On opening day, Sanchez had nearly 300 customers, but now her business draws more than 500 customers a day.

“Things have gone well for me,” said Sanchez, who paid for her first food truck through installments.

Though business is booming, Sanchez said she plans to sell her food truck and purchase a restaurant to offer her customers a safe place to share a meal with their families.

Patrons of the food truck often wait outside or sit in their cars, said Sanchez.

Jorge Lucero Mendez, for instance, ordered three pupusas from Sanchez’s food truck and waited 15 minutes in his car for the pupusas to cook.

But Lucero Mendez doesn’t mind waiting in his car for a quality meal, he said.

“Restaurant food doesn’t taste the same,” he said. “It tastes much better from the food truck.”

Sanchez said her food tastes better because it’s fresh, unlike restaurant food that can be frozen and defrosted.