Great empanadas (Argentinian pastries with filling) in west Los Angeles.
Want something hearty to eat, easy to eat, and most importantly, delicious to eat? Hard to go wrong with Empanada’s Place right near the 405.
If you’re still wondering what exactly an empanada is, then let Wikipedia (the sole reason a lot of us passed our classes in school) explain:
An empanada is a type of baked or fried turnover consisting of pastry and filling, common in Southern European, Latin American, and the Philippines cultures. The name comes from the Galician verb empanar, and translates as “enbreaded”, that is, wrapped or coated in bread. They are made by folding dough over a filling, which may consist of meat, cheese, tomato, corn, or other ingredients, and then cooking the resulting turnover, either by baking or frying.
Wikipedia
Dang, Wiki has a way with words.
Menu
The empanada selection here is pretty serious. They separate the options into meat options and vegetable options, so we’ll list them out here.
Meat options
Criolla
Ground beef, raisins (trust me, it plays), green onions, eggs, and spices. A little different combination for the American palate, but one that is fun to try and delicious.
Beef
Classic go-to. Potatoes, hard boiled eggs, olives, and spices join the party too.
Chicken
Chicken with peas, carrots, bell peppers, onions, tomatoes, and spices. Just so good. One of the favorites here at Stuff in LA.
Spicy chicken
When regular chicken isn’t good enough, go spicy! This option does not include peas.
Spicy beef
For fans of heat.
Cheesy spicy beef
Add cheese to anything and you’ve got some attention.
Ham and cheese
Ham, mozzarella cheese, and onions. A winning combo.
Pepperoni
Pepperoni, bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, with tons of mozzarella cheese. A really fun empanada.
Vegetable options
Cheese and onions
Mozzarella cheese, white onions, and some spice. They just needed to say “cheese”, to be honest.
Potato and cheese
Russet brown potatoes, onions, tomatoes, cilantro, and mozzarella cheese. A nice hearty mix.
Corn
Sweet cut corn with mozzarella cheese along with some white sauce. Solid.
Spinach, ricotta, eggplant, and picante
These are all separate options; it just goes to show that there are tons of veggie choices!
Parking
Be prepared to street park here. There may be some space in an adjacent lot, but it’s shared with other businesses and is pretty small.