When you pull into the dark parking lot of Las Palmas Pupuseria and Carniceria, just off Stockton Boulevard in South Sacramento, your first reaction might be that they are closed.

The parking lot was very dark; illuminated only from the restaurant’s well-lit interior and to a lesser extent from it’s neighboring store’s window signs. Probably not the safest lot to park in at night, but I was on assignment.

As we walked in, our server immediately greeted us with a huge smile and sat us in a booth toward the back of the restaurant. He dropped off a couple menus and promised to be right back to take our order. Flipping through the menu, I noticed that it was written entirely in Spanish. Using my three years of high school Spanish, I surmise that there is a Salvadoran side and a Mexican side.

This place is known for their pupusas, a traditional Salvadoran dish made of cornmeal dough and flattened into a thick, handmade mini tortilla. Then, they are usually stuffed with different combinations of beans, meats and cheeses, and are pan-fried until golden brown.

We asked our server to bring us out a pair of each of the most popular pupusas, for a total of six. He chose for us three kinds: jalapeño y queso, revueltas, and queso con frijol y loroco. About 15 minutes later, our server drops off a steaming hot plate.

The pupusas come out looking like a cross between a pancake and a thick tortilla round, definitely something I want to eat with my hands. It comes with a big bowl of a fermented cabbage slaw called “curtido.” I wasn’t entirely sure how to eat them so I ended up making little slaw-filled tacos with mine and they were delicious.

All of the pupusas we ordered were tasty, but the jalapeño pupusas were my hands-down favorite. The cheese almost reminded me of nacho cheese, and the peppers were nice and hot. The pancakes were slightly crispy and surprisingly not that oily. I was expecting them to drip oil after each bite. The slaw served as a perfect accompaniment to this dish.

The tacos were what I was waiting for. Ask any of my friends what I remember best about my vacation to Mexico a couple years ago, and they will tell you tacos. I love them. It’s my favorite meal.

Las Palmas has a variety of taco meats, including my favorite, al pastor. I usually order beef street tacos by the half dozen when I go to various spots around town because I haven’t seen the tacos al pastor around before.

Traditionally, the pork used for these tacos is marinated and slow roasted on a big vertical rotisserie for hours and then chipped off into thin strips, a process that is almost impossible to replicate at home. These were the closest I’ve had to those vacation tacos that I dream of — they were that good.

Las Palmas is a nice little business. It appears to be family owned and operated and has a market on one half of the restaurant, separated by a long, loadbearing wall. There was a lot of menu that I didn’t get to try yet, but I’ll be back because vacation tacos are hard to find.

Steven Senn can be reached at [email protected]