A spot often overlooked en route to Milk Bar or Refuel, La Macarena Pupuseria is a cozy little restaurant that makes patrons feel right at home. With a colorful interior, Latin music, a friendly staff and a BYOB policy, this restaurant doesn’t disappoint and the food is pretty amazing too.

The most popular item is the Pupusa, which is a thick, handmade corn tortilla stuffed with queso, pork and beans but there are endless possibilities including vegetarian options. Other tapas — small plates — they offer provide authentic Latin food.

The best appetizer they offer has to be the Yuca Frita con Chicharron, which is fried yucca with traditional slaw and homemade pork cracklings. Ignoring the calorie count on this dish, it’s one of the best items on the menu. The yuca is fried perfectly, being warm and fluffy on the inside and crunchy on the outside, and who doesn’t love pork cracklings?

For the main course, El Gran Vegetariano is a must-have. It’s a plate with a cheese Pupusa, sweet corn tamale that tastes like a decadent cake, a guacamole enchilada, a side salad, fried plantains, black beans and various dipping sauces, all for $16.95. This will fill up more than Thanksgiving dinner and tastes better than dry turkey and mushy stuffing.

Aside from meatless meals, there are plenty options carnivores will devour.

The grilled chicken topped with garlic shrimp was served on top of warm Cuban bread with saffron rice, plantains, beans and a side salad. The combination of the Latin-spiced chicken and shrimp was full of flavor. When the salsa was poured on top of the surf and turf combo, it stole the show. The refried black beans were different from the traditional pinto beans and added flavor to every part of the dish.

The best part of any meal is dessert and that rings true in this hole-in-the-wall.

A classic that can never fail is traditional flan. Scooping a piece of this caramel custard is the most beautiful sight and the taste is absolutely delicious. The flavors all marry each other well and it isn’t excessively sweet, so no post-flan stomachaches. It’s not a five-star dessert, but sometimes less is more.

La Macarena Pupuseria offers a classic Latin menu with various choices and many opportunities to customize the meal to personal preferences. With it’s reasonable prices (cash only), authentic Latin feel and feel-good food, any passerby should walk inside.