Second Helping: Tacos Acapulco

I was out in Stapleton last night when I found myself with a late-night craving for pupusas, the El Salvadoran staple that looks like a fat corn tortilla stuffed with cheese, pork or vegetables. And since it wasn't practical to drive up to Boulder to Pupusas Sabor Hispano, our pick for Best Pupusa in Best of Denver 2011, I stopped by Tacos Acapulco near Colfax and Yosemite.

The carry-out window in a dilapidated building sees an eclectic crowd, who all come for a menu of tacos, tortas and burritos -- in addition to classic El Salvadoran pupusas.

The eatery offers the most traditional versions of the dish, made from any combination of cheese, refried beans, chicharron (which, in this case, is like braised pork cooked into a fine paste) and loroco, a vine flower bud native to El Salvador in addition to cakes stuffed with chicken or zucchini. And the staff makes every single one to order, folding together the dough made from masa de maiz, stuffing it full of your choice of ingredients and griddling it.

I liked the loroco and cheese, which packed a bitter note and paired particularly well with the accompanying curtido, cabbage mixed with chilies to form a slaw, and hot green salsa. But better still was the chicharron and cheese, juicy pork interspersed throughout the entire round, tangling with strings of molten cheese and exploding out the sides.

The late-night snack more than smacked my craving away. These were some of the best pupusas I've had in the city. And the best part? It's open late. Really late. Though we're not sure how late, since the place doesn't post hours.