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O'LaLa Empanadas

3.8 (299 reviews)
InexpensivePuerto Rican, Empanadas
Updated over 3 months ago

O'LaLa Empanadas Photos

O'LALA EMPANADAS ATMOSPHERE

What's the vibe?
Quiet
Casual
Good for groups
Good for kids

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Recommended Reviews - O'LaLa Empanadas

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$5 for this little piece of sh*t!! NEVER AGAIN!!
Tatiana T.

Let me start by saying this is my THIRD and last visit. I originally visit this spot when they opened and then I came back last year. This is my first time OVER a year. First of all, the girl at the counter is talking to her boyfriend so damm much she has the phone busy for over 30 minutes. How do I know? She promised to call me when it was ready, I kept calling to see if it was and for 30 minutes the phone was BUSY because they don't have call waiting. When I walked in, she stopped talking and hang up the phone, probably she saw it in my face i was furious. PRICES ARE RIDICULOUS!! Waaaayy over priced for the little amount they give you. Chaufa - which it was only rice and chicken (REAL chaufa has peppers, fried scrambled eggs, green onions) for $8, FIVE TOSTONES for $2.5, and 3 pieces of chicken breast with two pieces of peppers over half a cup of yellow rice and one tablespoon of black beans for $5 I feel insulted. They are VERY quick to close the bag for you and stapled it so you don't see the inside but I paid $17.5 plus tax for something that should had cost $10. SAVE YOUR MONEY AND GO TO A BETTER PLACE. This is BS!! This place should close!! WORTHLESS!!

Mac and cheese empanada
Bloss C.

**** Vegetarian Review**** I had a Queens empanada craving attack recently. This was unfortunate because I haven't lived in Queens since 2002. I remembered O'Lala from the downtown festival this fall so I went with it. Delivery took about 90 mins but I'm 2 miles away and they notified me they were busy so I'm not griping about the wait. I am griping about the vegetarian empanadas. There was not much filling in all three, and I was left wishing I still lived in Queens*. Spinach and cream cheese was not very good and could have used a lot more spinach. Three cheese was very greasy and not very good. The best was the Mac and cheese, which was good and had enough filling not to be overly greasy. Second gripe was I requested all green sauces and received all pink sauces. I even paid extra for different green sauces that were not sent. My dude ordered the Cajun, chicken, and the Cuban. He loved the chicken, but wasn't a fan of the others. I ordered a side of rice that was good and the guava desert empanada that was only ok. Prices are good, and I think this place would probably be fine for a meat eater, but the vegetarian offerings are two star. * I hated living in Queens.

The Mac & Cheese Empanada
Chastity R.

Excellent! Excellent!! Excellent!!! The dough of the empanadas is EVERYTHING! I believe you could put shoe leather in that dough and it'd still taste fantastic! I had the much recommended mac and cheese empanada and it was just as everyone said it would be: fabulous! I also had the beef which was juicy and flavorful. And I had the Mardi Gras empanada which was also quite flavorful & had a wonderful kick to it but it was kind of dry. I recommend using thigh meat instead. The sauces were equally as yummy as the empanadas! I LOVE the chipotle sauce. It's my favorite! The staff is wonderful! I was impressed with the two young guys at the front counter as they were friendly & knowledgeable and genuinely seemed vested in their place of employment. I wish this place was here when I lived here. I'm definitely returning when I'm back in town!

To go order and 2 free empanadas
Latoya L.

I love love love this place. So me and my partner drove 45 mim here. I love empanadas so i was so excited to try this place and it was our anniversary. Arriving we sat at the counter since the booths were full. The black girl was very nice since she knew it was our first time there. She explained the menu thoroughly and gave us recommendations. The owner or manager i believe gave is samples of coquitos which was really good. I ordered one of the value meals that came with 2 traditional empanadas a side and a drink. I got a chicken and beef empanada with tostones. My partner got the grilled chicken with rice and beans with a coquito. Let me tell you the food was delicious and came out in a decent amount of time even though they had a lot of call in orders. I then ordered 2 dessert empanadas, the cheesecake and brownie explosion. They were amazing! I even ordered another value meal to go. Another lady who i believe was the manager also asked me how i heard of the place and i told her yelp. She told me that if i checked in i could redeem a free cheese cake empanada, SO OF COURSE I DID. They even gave us 2 free empanadas, a Philly and a teriyaki one. I will come to this place again. DELICIOUS! Ps- i gave it 4 stars because i found a whole garlic clove in my empanada.

Pizza empanada lacked a decent amount of filling. See my review: http://goo.gl/CITkCz
Josh W.

3 stars because the food was decent. 2 stars for the service. The phone number they give goes to an answering service, so there's no way to contact the restaurant. Food delivery in Jersey City is extremely slow to begin with, so we expected the delivery to take an hour. Estimate given was 60-75 minutes. Food arrived in 100 minutes. Order was also incorrect: One of the drinks we ordered was missing, and the sauces were all completely wrong. We ordered creamy avocado, salsa verde, chimi, and chipotle; only the chipotle was there, along with about 7 other sauces, which seemed to taste like thousand island and ranch. The other complaint is that the empanadas lacked a decent amount of filling.

Garden of Eden, the naples and the greek flavors with the sauces!
Devangi R.

Finally got a chance to try it this place. I work really close this place, dangerous right because the empanadas are really good.. I wanted to different flavors so I ordered a bell peppers and onions, pizza flavor , the greek and also a guava cheese! All the flavors were spot on. I really liked the greek and garden of Eden - one with peppers n onions. The dessert ones are truly amazing! So good.. I placed my order online and picked it up, it was ready by the time I was there. They tasted fresh and were hot. Each comes with a sauce, luckily I tried all three of them. They also have few seatings. I am going to try some other items too. I also got a free cheesecake empanada on checking in on yelp! Thank you I would recommend this place to my friends and family.

Linda K.

We love this place. We ordered a large order for a party a while ago and everybody raved about it. We just picked up an order of 40 empanadas and again they look great. The manager, I believe her name is loli is great as was the staff.

Esme H.

Ugh This place is rough Totally in the ghetto Very cheap. The empanada crust is good but i wasn't crazy about the food at all You can't use the yelp coupon for dine in only online orders. Unbelievable. Nice way to do business buddy. The kid at the counter annoyed me and earned himself a $3 measly tip He easily could have gotten $10 But that free desert empanada rubbed me awful. But whatever. The place has cheap prices, they seem to be busy with people going in and out. But whatever Not for me. Should have went to KFC across the street

Grilled chicken with yellow rice and beans....mmmm
Rona R.

I love, love, love their empanadas! They taste just us good the following day as they did when they were fresh. I have been spreading the word and bragging about O'LaLa since the first day I tried them. I love the variety of flavor they offer. So far I've had: -Classic Cheese -Rhythm & Blues -The Aztec -Bay of Naples -Little Tokyo -Mardi Gras -Freedom Tower -Guava & Cream Cheese -Explosion -Cheescake -White rice -Arroz Chaufa -French fries -Sweet Plantains -Yellow rice with grilled chicken and black beans Their empanadas have just the right amount of filling and are a great size too (not small and skimpy). Anytime you order their empanadas, definitely get the Garlic Aioli sauce...A-Mazing and goes with almost all empanadas that aren't dessert! Really adds some more flavor on top of flavor. Speaking of dessert, they're all GOOD, but sweet so be warned. They also offer (virgin) Coquito and it tastes really good! they even use coconut shavings. You can order it from them and then add your own rum if you like. The customer service is also worth mentioning. Everyone is always so nice anytime I come here, and over the phone too. The restaurant has a great seating area but parking can be a bit of a challenge. O'LaLa Empanadas hasn't let me down thus far! I will continue coming here and recommending them to my friends and family. Until next time, ~~Go grab an empanada, they're just O'LaLa

This is suppose to be the VEGAN BURGER . It's two vegan Sudafed split in half then laid on buns. Chips as side.

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5 years ago

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5 years ago

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12 years ago

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4 years ago

Came here to cater our kids birthday party. Amazing service and delicious empanadas! Will definitely order from them again!

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Idalia B.

Thank you for the review. Happy birthday again! See you soon.

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4 years ago

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3 years ago

I ate my way through Olalas. Amazing empanadas!!! Stone cold amazing food. And the definitely try the deserts. Love this place.

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8 years ago

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8 years ago

Great service, great prices , great customer services , and the empanadas are amazing crunchy

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Ask the Community - O'LaLa Empanadas

Are you open on Thanksgiving Day?

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My go to place for delicious Cuban food. I come here very often with friends and family. This…read morelocation is great because the outdoor seating is pedestrian only and often times I come with my pups. It's located right across the street from a large park and the area is very lively and family oriented. The service is consistently outstanding, the food is also fresh every time. The menu is so expensive there's a little something for everyone. And the drinks are always great. Reservation can be made, but we almost always get a table when walking in. They sing happy birthday to you with instruments, making it a great place for a birthday celebrations. My favorite dishes: - empanadas (chicken or guava/cheese), the hot sauce on the side is SO good - pork tamale - garlic shrimp (comes with soft bread for dipping) - pitcher of white passion fruit sangria (way better than getting individual glasses) - skirt steak/churrasco - chicharron de pollo (crispy, juicy chicken bites)

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They put my food in a microwave in front of me. And the food was disgusting. I took 1 bite and leftread more

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O'LaLa Empanadas - puertorican - Updated October 2026

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