CARTHAGEKITCHEN

By cuisine

Salvadoran catering in Los Angeles.

The comal is the heart of the table: a pupusa assortment with curtido, Salvadoran tamales, carne asada, and pollo guisado. Casamiento rice and beans, yuca frita, and sweet plátanos en miel — a full Salvadoran feast from one zabiha-sourced kitchen.

Salvadoran
SALVADORANPUPUSAS, TAMALES & THE COMAL

At catering scale

Catering Salvadoran, honestly

Salvadoran food is one of Los Angeles's great under-told stories — the pupusa, with its crisp masa shell and molten center, deserves a place at every celebration table. At Carthage we offer both a curated pupusa assortment and a build-your-own pupusa bar that lets guests choose their fillings, all served with the essential curtido and sweet plantains. Beyond the comal the spread deepens: Salvadoran tamales wrapped in banana leaves, carne asada sliced against the grain, pollo guisado in a rich tomato-based stew, and casamiento — that perfect marriage of rice and beans — holding it all together. Every protein is halal, zabiha-sourced from the start.

Because we cook everything in one kitchen, a Salvadoran table doesn't have to stand alone — it can flow into Lebanese mezze, Korean bulgogi, or a Vietnamese pho bar at the same event, all priced together on a single per-guest rate. The menu carries clear dietary tags: pupusas can be filled vegetarian or vegan, casamiento and plantains are naturally gluten-free, and yuca frita brings the crunch that rounds out a plated or buffet service. For dessert, plátanos en miel and quesadilla Salvadoreña — the dense, sweet pound cake nothing like its Mexican namesake — send guests home remembering why this cuisine belongs in the spotlight across LA and Orange County.

Course by course

The Salvadoran menu

Priced per guest and per platter — Salvadoran catering from $26/guest, scaling with your headcount.

Dietary

Dietary accommodations

Every dish on this menu is labeled, and our kitchen is halal · zabiha-sourced. Tell us the table and we engineer around it — see our full dietary catering options.

Salvadoran catering runs about $26$89 per guest for food. Multiplied out, that is what a spread costs at the counts people usually ask about.

Estimated salvadoran catering cost by guest count — food only
GuestsEstimated food costPer guest
25$650 – $2,225$26 – $89
50$1,300 – $4,450$26 – $89
100$2,600 – $8,900$26 – $89
150$3,900 – $13,350$26 – $89

Food only. Staffing, rentals, delivery, setup and breakdown are separate lines, and a mandatory service charge and California sales tax apply on top — so the invoice for a staffed event runs meaningfully above the food figure. Smaller counts sit at the top of the band: setup and delivery cost the same at 25 guests as at 100. Every menu halal · zabiha-sourced.

Questions

Salvadoran catering, answered honestly

What does Salvadoran catering cost in Los Angeles?
Platters, trays and pans run $52–$195. A pupusa assortment with curtido and casamiento sits at the lower end; carne asada and the staffed build-your-own pupusa bar sit at the top. Every platter states how many it serves.
Are the pupusas halal? They are usually filled with chicharrón.
Ours are not. The fillings are cheese, refried bean, and zabiha beef or chicken — no chicharrón and no pork anywhere on the menu. Everything is zabiha-sourced and nothing is cooked with alcohol, so a mixed room eats from one line.
Can you cook pupusas on site?
That is the version worth booking. The build-your-own pupusa bar griddles to order in front of guests, which is both the best way to eat them and the thing people photograph. For drop-off they travel well and reheat cleanly, with curtido and salsa packed separately so nothing goes soft.
Which Salvadoran dishes should anchor our menu?
The pupusa assortment anchors the table and curtido has to be beside it. Carne asada or pollo guisado carries the mains, casamiento and plátanos fill it out, and Salvadoran tamales are the dish that signals somebody actually cooked rather than ordered.
A candlelit table raised in a toast

Commission this menu

Build Salvadoran for your event

Tell us the date and the headcount — we’ll tailor Salvadoran to your event and price it per person, with a menu sketch in your inbox within one business day.

$2M · liability insured1 · business-day reply50+ · events
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