Alex B.
Yelp
TL;DR Selling point: Fantastic crunchy pastry shell and delicious fillings.
I am absolutely over the moon that my friend helped me to discover this place! This little shop in this Mountain Crossroads shopping plaza is a definite gem, and it is my new, fave spot. I'm a big fan of empanadas and this place serves some of the best empanadas I have ever had. I'm actually craving more of them as I write this review.
Service: The service is great. Both cashiers I had were quite friendly and polite.
Interior décor: The inside of the shop is quite cozy. There's a little shelf of glass pots and other trinkets on sale towards the middle wall of the shop (and the menu is hung above that). In the back area, there are some refrigerators that contain the drinks as well as some of their cakes and other dessert items. I love the little trinkets, posters, and other things they have on the wall and cash register. Bonus points for the Heihei from Moana xD.
Food: The empanadas are absolutely a must-have at this place! They offer two versions of their empanadas - baked and fried. With all of my orders today, I got the fried version. I really liked that crunchier and flaky bite that you get with the fried version. The pastry shell has a great homemade quality to it. For each order, I waited about 5-10 minutes, but it is WELL worth it because those pastry pies of goodness came out tasty and piping hot. Each empanada is about $2.69 (as of 2/7/2021) and they are about palm sized. No worries, though, these things are packed full. I would say for an average hungry eater, you're going to want about 2-3 of these.
I decided to get a sampling of a sweet and a savory empanada.
For sweet, I ordered their Apple (Manzana) Empanada. Again, that wonderful crunchy exterior was well complimented with the light, snowy covering of frosted sugar. The inside was filled with fragrant chunks of apple mixed with that wonderful cinnamon and cloves. It's like a superb version of an apple turnover (but I like this exterior much more).
I absolutely endorse trying the Spicy Beef Empanada, which was my savory choice for this trip (also a high recommendation from my buddy). This thing is packed with juicy morsels of ground beef that are leveled up by some nice heat from their spicy seasonings, egg, onions, and olives. What I like is that the spice is not the burning kind but instead the type that adds to the overall flavors.
I liked this place so much that I immediately went back inside to order some to take home and share with my family members. I am definitely looking forward to trying the other empanadas on their menu (though I think I'm going to stick with the savory side of it).