"Eat Beautiful. Feel Beautiful."That's the message on the cover of Empanada Joe's new brochure. Empanada Joe's has two (and soon to be three) locations in New York City, and brings a traditional Mexican favorite to mainstream culture.
How mainstream? Well, you can get a Mediterranean Caprese empanada stuffed wth mozzerella, tomatoes, and basil. If that's any indication.
At $3.21 each, the empandas are large; about four inches wide. One isn't enough for a meal, but they have a number of deals involving two or three empanadas with side dishes. They also have pina colada dessert empanadas. Pina colada empanadas!
Now, the way I learned it, empanadas are deep-fried corn masa and not the healthiest thing in the world. According to empanadajoes.com, each empanada is stuffed with the most wholesome of ingredients...and the nutritional information isn't available yet.
When I ordered, they told me "two and a half minutes!" with a smile. Four or five minutes later, I had an empanada which was frankly a bit weak. They flaky pocket tasted more like English pastry than like traditional Mexican fare. The tomatoes seemed old, or preserved; very pale in color. Still, for fast food, I got what I expected. And it was under $4.
Empanada Joe's locations are currently at 8th Avenue and 43rd Street and Broadway and 111th Street in NYC.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-12-2008 @ 6:04PM
Albert said...
FYI empanadas probably came from Spain, come in many styles, not just deep-fried corn dough, and are found in many places, not just Mexico. I know they gotta have something for vegetarians, but I prefer the more flavorful meat-filled ones at Empanada Joe's.
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12-15-2008 @ 8:02AM
Foodie said...
I was coerced by my coworkers to go to the grand opening of one of these last week. WRONG DECISION! It was staffed by a bunch of idiots who lost a whole bunch of order/receipts, so they just didn't make those meals! There was about 20-30 people at any time waiting for their food, it took us 45 minutes to get ours! Unbelievable. AND the empanadas were bland, the sides undercooked and tasteless. I would never go back to this DUMP and recommend everyone else to go elsewere, unless you want to spend a lot of time wating for slow, tasteless 'fastfood'.
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