Pictured here is a receipt from Pollo Robero, as I like to call them, tongue in cheek.
I must admit it is damn good tasting chicken. But I try limiting purchases to either a) special occasions, like this visit to the in-laws to treat them to something nice, or b) there’s nothing else to eat and I’m starvin’.
As an American and person of privileged means in El Salvador, I find it distasteful, pun intended, that numerous fast food and restaurant chains set up shop here and charge nearly the SAME prices as in the U.S.
I do my best to near BOYCOTT them, and here’s why:
1) Food purchased here (chicken, beef, etc.) should be obviously cheaper. If BK is shipping patties here from the U.S. I’ll eat my hat.
2) Labor is R-I-D-C-U-L-O-U-S-L-Y cheap here: $6 a DAY. That’s not a typo. But let’s be generous and say they pay a whopping $7 or $8 a day.
So when I walk up to the counter of a BK, Wendys, Pollo Campero (originated in El Salvador btw), or other international joint, and see the SAME PRICES as I would in the U.S., its enough to make my stomach turn.
Yes, they are providing ‘jobs’ in El Salvador, but are we really beholden to them? I don’t see what grand favor they are doing for the people of El Salvador by paying workers an El Salvador minimum-wage while pocketing the American-priced profits.
You wanna help the Salvadoran People? AVOID American or International Chains whenEVER possible. I know this is hard, especially when traveling and missing “foods from home.” But resist.
Listed below are Alternative Safe Food Options for Where to Eat in El Salvador, that actually help the People HERE, who could really use your money, not the big fat restaurant chain:
– Pupusa Stands
– Small Restaurants that are obviously “local”
– French Fry, Plaintain or Yucca chip stands
– Atol “chucho” stands ( a corn drink made from purple maize – yummy)
– I’ll add more to the list as they come along….
Fruit sold in its own “package” like Oranges, Bananas, Pineapple, Papaya, etc. is safe, once you wash it or peel it.
El Salvador from the Inside 