Orange: Patagonia Empanadas 

This tiny Argentine cafe used to be in the back of a liquor store. Now, it is located across from the Orange mall, two doors to the left of TikiYaki, off Tustin Avenue / 55 freeway. The young man who helped me said they just opened back in April, so not quite two months. Before that it used to be a crepe place.

The place is tiny, with about 6 or 8 tables inside, and a few patio tables outside.  The food is made to order, and we were told about 15 minutes for our empanadas to arrive.

Karen and I split 5 empanadas, as we were told 2 empanadas were quite filling.

#1 Beef: Ground beef, onions, peppers, hard boiled egg, green olives, and Argentine spices
#2 Chicken: Ground chicken, onions, peppers, and Argentine spices
#4 Ham and cheese: Ham, cheese, hard boiled egg
#9 Arab / Fatayer: Ground beef, onions, red bell peppers, plum tomatoes, and simmer in lemon overnight
#16 Sun-dried tomatoes: Tomato, cheese, sun-dried tomato, basil, black olives

The empanadas came out on a plate, with a serving of chimichurri sauce.. a must have sauce made with parsley, garlic, olive oil and spices.  Most of the empanadas were stamped with the number for easy identification.  The ham and cheese, and the Arab were not stamped, but easy to distinguish. They were generous sized empanadas, and were baked, not fried like what I’m used to. They were not greasy, and it wasn’t completely doughy.

Karen and I really liked the chicken, and I also liked the beef and the Arab.

I was not fond of the sun-dried tomatoes, probably because they use black olives. (I’m not a fan of black olives), and would have also preferred if they had used more basil.  By the time we got to the last empanada, the ham and cheese, we were both too full to really appreciate the last empanada.

I did end up taking 2 empanadas home (the chicken and the Arab) so Stephen could try. So seven empanadas and two drinks came to $24 before tip.  I’d gladly come back to try the spicy empanadas, or even the steak.  Sonia (one of the owners?) was eating the steak with onions, and it looked SO good!!

Thumbs up to this mom n pop place.  Call ahead if you’re in a hurry.  I think that you can also place your order on line.