Javi’s Cooking Opens With Argentine Empanadas in West Oakland | Eater SF

"I learned Javi’s Cooking opened yesterday at 3446 Market Street, bringing Javier Sandes’s first brick-and-mortar after operating out of East Bay commercial kitchens since 2011 and selling his baked goods at events like Oakland First Fridays and Oakland Coliseum games. The small, takeout-oriented Argentine empanada bakery—now in a space given a fresh coat of blue paint instead of Locol’s black-and-white aesthetic—offers flaky baked empanadas (about $4 each) filled with spiced ground beef with peppers and boiled eggs; mushrooms with caramelized onions and cheese; and pulled pork with jalapeno and pineapple. Javi’s also serves coffee, yerba mate, jars of chimichurri, and alfajores, the Argentine sandwich cookie oozing with dulce de leche; you can pre-order those cookies and empanadas by the dozen online and pick them up in West Oakland. Given its affordability and years of success without a retail storefront, it already seems like a good fit for the neighborhood." - Janelle Bitker