September 15 to October 15 is Hispanic Heritage Month, but pupusas are something we enjoy all year long. 

Centinela Pupusas has just what you’re looking for. 

Located on the sidewalk in front of the Vons on Centinela, Centinela Pupusas offers a variety of different types of pupusas ranging from jalapeno and cheese to mixed pork. 

Owners Rosa Jara and Mario Peña set up their business Thursday through Saturday from 4 p.m to 8 p.m. 

Centinela Pupusas makes the pupusas right in front of the customers and provides an assortment of different salsa to add more flavor, such as a tomato salsa, a smaller, spicier red salsa, and a bag of pickled vegetables (curtido) to complete the savoriness of the pupusas. 

Prior to opening their business in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, both Jara and her husband had been working in the hotel industry.

“We had lost our jobs and we had to find a way to pay our rent and our bills,” she said. “That’s what motivated us to start this business.”

Originally, Jara began her business in her front yard, but after the city had notified them they could not do that, Jara started selling her pupusas on Lincoln in the mornings and at Centinela during the “lunch rush.” That’s how their name came to be Centinela Pupusas. 

Jara, who is Mexican, began learning how to make pupusas from her sister-in-law. She said her sister-in-law was a part of her and her husband’s inspiration to open their business. 

“She taught me how to prepare the ingredients and give each pupusas a good seasoning,” Jara said. 

When making their most popular pupusas, the mixed pork, Jara said the key is to mix the beans, cheese, and mixed pork in order to give the pupusas that extra flavor, something she said distinguishes their pupusas from other pupusas. 

Since opening their business four years ago, Jara and her husband have been building their clientele who mostly come from their Instagram page.

“For us all of our clients are important and we try to give them the best service we can,” she said. 

Some of these clients include staff members here at Venice High. Lorena Santos, Jara’s niece and Title 1 Coordinator at Venice High has been helping expand their business further by taking orders from staff members at Venice High on Thursday. Santos could not have expected such demand for pupusas from staffers. 

“It started with maybe one or two people ordering, and I would pick them up at my lunch,” she said. 

Nowadays, Santos orders up to 50 pupusas not only because of how much the staff are enjoying them, but because “they also want to support community business and family businesses,” she said.