Warm, freshly made pupusas are filling but not heavy.Pulling into the parking lot of a mini-mall to a restaurant with a green cartoon parrot for a mascot may sound like a recipe for greasy fast food. But inside Tiko Riko, at 10410 Greenwood Ave. N., orange and lime-green walls and wooden tables begin to diminish the fast-food vibe. And once you spot the woman in the back kitchen rolling white balls of dough for tortillas, any lingering anxiety of heat-lamp-melted cheese goes out the window.Tiko Riko may have just opened at the end of March, but partial owner Marcos Delcadena has been acquainted with the restaurant scene for years. He started at Cocina Esperanza in Ballard nine years ago, but is careful to ensure that the menu at Tiko Riko is distinct from Esperanza’s. “Here we serve Salvadorian, Ecuadorian, some Peruvian, different from the Mexican at Esperanza,” says Delcaneda.Menu items are overwhelmingly inexpensive (1.75 for a taco, 6.99 for a burrito), and Delacadena will gladly offer suggestions to indecisive customers, recommending the pupusas, a Salvadorian specialty.”The pork ones are good, and people really like the zucchini,” he says. “My favorite are the spinach and cheese.” Pupusas can be ordered individually for 2.25 each, or in combo plates that come with three, four, or five pupusas and a drink that start at 8.25.What is a pupusa. you ask? A 10-minute wait delivers the answer in the form of warm plates of freshly stuffed and grilled corn patties that look like medium-sized pancakes. The pupusas are accompanied by curtido, a slightly fermented cabbage slaw with vinegar and red chile. Two squeeze bottles of homemade sauces–one a liquidy tomato-based sauce with a hint of spice and the other a white cream-based sauce–provide extra zest to the mild patties.Although they are cooked on a griddle, there was not a trace of lingering oil or grease on the pupusas. The thick corn tortilla was slightly crispy on the outside and softer toward the center. All three fillings, from the smoky pork to the subtle spinach and curiously addictive zucchini, were smooth and contrasted well with the earthy taste of the grainier corn dough. The smooth, melted cheese in all three was almost imperceptible, just enough to add a pleasing flavor to the zucchini, but not so much that the pork or spinach were overpowered.Three pupusas are filling without being heavy, and the absence of a leaden feeling in your gut may tempt you to order another . . . or two . . . or three. At least this addiction is cheaper than some of the alternatives from south of the border.Follow Voracious on Twitter and Facebook.