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Topacio, the Salvadoran restaurant that East Boston knew on Meridian Street, is open again at 88 Chelsea Street in East Boston. Its old building near Central Square was badly damaged by a three-alarm fire on June 27, 2023; today its Google business listing shows it operating at the Chelsea Street address with the same phone number, (617) 567-9523, serving pupusas and other Salvadoran dishes for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Earlier versions of this page described the Meridian Street restaurant as if nothing had changed, and a later review flagged it as destroyed. Both were out of date. Here is what happened, how to find Topacio now, and where else to eat Salvadoran food in East Boston.
What happened to Topacio on Meridian Street?
In the early hours of June 27, 2023, fire broke out in the basement of a three-story building on Meridian Street in East Boston. The Boston Globe reported a three-alarm fire, a ground-floor restaurant that had been in the neighborhood for about 30 years, vacant upper floors and no injuries. Topacio's address before the fire was 120 Meridian Street, near the entrance to the Sumner Tunnel, as Boston’s Hidden Restaurants recorded in its review. After the fire, the immigrant-rights group NUBE Cosecha ran a fundraiser for Topacio's workers.
Where is Topacio now?
Topacio now trades at 88 Chelsea Street, East Boston, MA 02128, according to its Google business listing, which shows it open with more than 400 reviews and the same 617-567-9523 number it used on Meridian Street. The restaurant's Instagram profile gives the Chelsea Street address too. It is a block from Santarpio’s, the pizza-and-barbecue institution at 111 Chelsea Street, and about a quarter mile in a straight line from Maverick station on the Blue Line. Topacio does not run its own website, so call before a special trip to confirm the day's hours.
What to order at a Salvadoran restaurant
Google describes Topacio as a relaxed restaurant serving pupusas and other Salvadoran dishes from breakfast through dinner. The pupusa is the thing to try first: a thick, hand-patted corn tortilla stuffed before griddling, usually with cheese, refried beans, chicharrón (seasoned ground pork) or loroco, an edible flower bud with a green, slightly bitter taste. They come with curtido, a vinegary cabbage slaw, and a thin tomato salsa. Before the fire, Boston’s Hidden Restaurants singled out Topacio’s bean-and-cheese and cheese-and-loroco pupusas and its vinegar-marinated carne asada, and noted breakfasts of eggs, plantains and tamales. We have not seen a current menu from the Chelsea Street location, so treat those as a guide rather than a promise.
More Salvadoran food in East Boston
Topacio has Salvadoran neighbors worth knowing. Pueblo Viejo, at 170 Marion Street with a second location at 309 Bennington Street, serves Salvadoran and Mexican food; its owners, Mirta and Marvin, came from El Salvador, and Mirta started out selling pupusas from her East Boston home on weekends. Tu Metapan at 295 Bennington Street lists pupusas de chicharrón con queso alongside tacos, burritos and a big Salvadoran-style breakfast. Rinconcito Salvadoreño, at 313 Meridian Street, is another option a few blocks from Topacio’s old address.
Planning a meal in East Boston
East Boston is part of the City of Boston, across the harbor from downtown and home to Logan Airport, which makes it an easy first or last meal of a trip. Maverick is the first Blue Line stop after the train crosses under the harbor from Aquarium station downtown. For a wider list of restaurants across the neighborhood, see our guide to East Boston restaurants, and for things to do before a flight, our guide to attractions near Logan Airport.