Decided to take a stroll from the office back home and stumbled across Javi's Empanadas…read more The carne empanada and alfajores took me back to the empanadas and alfajores my colleague at a previous company used to make during the holidays once upon a time. The lady working was the sweetest thing, she was super friendly and approachable. Oh man, the salted caramel in the alfajores is legendary. I can eat like a dozen of those in one sitting. The carne empanada was true to its roots -- the filling was savory and the size of the empanada is generous. The great thing is they have pre-made empanadas in bulk to take home! This would be perfect for the next family gathering or potluck! I look forward to my next empanada craving!

If you want to start your day with delicious breakfast?! Javi's got you covered. Amazing…read moreempanadas! I only tried beef and champions (mushrooms ) but it was a breakfast of champions for sure. Pair it with quality tea Numi of course and excellent customer service by Lionel and it's beginning of a delicious day! It also helped that Carolina (the owner) was in as well. She is super friendly! My absolute favorite breakfast spot in the neighborhood. Now I have to try them for lunch as well. The desert options looked scrumptious...

The empanadas are great and the salads wonderful, too. I…read morehave served the empanadas at my Christmas Day get-together and they are very, very popular!

Only discovered this place recently as I was searching for some Empanadas. I tried the steak,…read moreJamaican beef and chicken and all were excellent. The Jamaican beef was my favorite of the 3 although I did enjoy all 3. They have some scotch bonnet in the Jamaican beef which gives it a nice bit of kick although I would say it's not too hot, just a little bit of kick. They have several other flavors so I will definitely come back to try some of the others. Chimichurri was very good as well. Location is on Claremont right by Telegraph so it's very close to the whole foods near 51st and Telegraph.

Still a solid place to get a quick but tasty lunch. Staff…read morewas friendly and quick to help. This time I ordered a ham and cheese and a peach empanada along with a Reishi Mocha. It was nice outside so I sat at the two tables in front to enjoy the food.

This establishment now goes by Does Corazones Cafe. I'm a huge empanada fan and came here this…read moremorning for some coffee and empanadas early this morning so it was empty except for one person having coffee, so the service was quick. I had a cafe con leche and 2 chorizo empanadas. The cafe was great, but the empanadas were lacking in flavor and just plain. I would likely stop by for cafe again but not the empanadas.

We wanted a quick, casual bite at the awkward late Saturday afternoon time. We'd always wanted to…read moretry this spot. We stopped by -- and it was spectacular. It packed the flavor punch of homestlye cooking and would rival more expensive sit-down restaurants. What a gem! We ordered the Venezuelan arepa, birria empanada, mushroom empanada, side Macondo salad, and passion fruit juice. Every dish was fantastic, and I'd easily recommend any of the above. Venezuelan arepa -- the was ridiculously yummy. The perfect balance of creamy, rich avocado sauce with chicken. It was hearty, balanced, and perfectly seasoned. Birria empanada -- this was delicious, rich, and perfect for the particularly chilly late afternoon. Birria on point. If you're craving birria in a delectable, crispy empanada format, you'll be quite happy. Mushroom empanada -- yummy. We love mushroom empanadas and they executed this one well. Macondo side salad -- surprisingly fantastic! Did not expect it to be so tasty. It was only a side dish for the combo, but it held its own among the baked goods. That's how yummy it was. Passion fruit juice -- sweet and relatively thick. They definitely didn't water it down! If you're a fan of passion fruit juice, you'll must try this one. Environment was fast casual. Only drawback was althe comfort level of a few of the dining chairs, which sloped backwards in an awkward way. The bench actually felt more comfortable, so we opted for that. Take out seems easy and common here, so we'll like try that as well in the future. Located on a busy street, but you can almost always find free parking down one of the perpendicular side streets. Looking forward to coming back for a delicious, casual bite!

It was my first time ordering from here, so I was excited and decided to get a little bit of…read moreeverything for our family to try. We ordered the Venezuelan, Colombian, and Pulled Pork BBQ arepas, the birria empanadas, pandebono with dulce de leche, and the chocolo arepa. Unfortunately, we couldn't finish most of the food. The birria empanadas and all three arepas were way too salty. I'm not sure if they went a little overboard with the salt today, but it was overwhelming and made it hard to enjoy anything. The pandebono with dulce de leche was also disappointing. It's described as being filled with dulce de leche, but it was actually just a plain pandebono with a small side of dulce de leche. The texture was also a bit too chewy for my liking. The only item I truly enjoyed and was able to eat was the chocolo arepa that one was actually decent. Overall, I was pretty disappointed because I really enjoy arepas and was excited to find a new spot. I may give them another try in the future in case it was just an off day, but this first experience didn't live up to my expectations.

Overall subpar flavors and absolutely not worth the long wait…read more I came across this vendor through a festival unfortunately they are not equipped to meet the demands of event goers. Hopefully their catering is better. Waited over an hour for empanadas, rice and plantains. The food was sadly overcooked, skimpy and not worth the cost. I do think with some operational improvements they may be able to overcome their current obstacles.

I tried empanadas from Dona Aida's at the Latin Food Festival in San Jose. My personal opinion is…read morethat it provides the best experience when you use them for catering and a reasonable experience when you try them at an event like a festival. I ordered both the crab and Cuban empanadas when I visited them at the San Jose Latin Food Festival. Their empanadas are made-to-order, which is great in theory as you know they are fresh but also resulted in waiting almost 30-45 minutes. The empanadas were definitely tasty but not necessarily worth the long wait. Now I should mention that the festival itself was a complete flop (if I could write a review, it would be two stars)... besides this place, there was literally one other taco truck and a Puerto Rican food stall. There were quite a few people in attendance at this festival that were literally all split in terms of waiting in line between these three places. I'll give Dona Aida's the benefit of the doubt and that they may have just been overwhelmed with the crowd hence the long wait time. However, I should note that I also caught a glimpse of this place at the Latin Food Festival in Oakland (much more successfully put together than the festival in San Jose) and they seemed to be backed up there as well. Once again, the empanadas from here were delicious and had I picked up my order immediately, I would have given a five star review, but it does seem like they are best used for pre-orders/catering rather than made-to-order at an event.

This cute coffee shop has such yummy coffee and also empanadas. The employees are so friendly and…read morewelcoming! This was my first time having the empanadas and the chimichurri sauce and they did not disappoint. I got the chicken empanada and the peach empanada. The chicken empanada had shredded chicken and some pieces of onion in it. And the peach empanada had whole sliced peaches, both paired with the chimichurri sauce. For coffee, I got one of the valentines specials (I forgot the name of it..) but it tasted a lot liked raspberry and it was super good and creamy!

I was in the neighborhood to do some Holiday errands and needed a late afternoon caffeine boost. I…read morehad been to the Berkeley area frequently and wanted to try out this little Cafe iI had always passed. Yesterday presented itself to try it out. It was a small , quaint little cafe and had a neighborhood ambiance feel. It had a display case with Savory and sweet selections of empanadas. I had ordered a Mocha with almond milk and a Chorizo empanada. I also bought a Peach empanada, as well. I had ordered them to go and the staff were very friendly. Mocha was really delicious and the Chorizo empanada was ok. I really liked the Peach empanada, though. Definitely will go and try more of their empanada next time.

Really nice cozy cafe with yummy vegan empanada options! My daughter and I specifically liked the…read morekale one.

Just an excellent place to be!…read more A friend had heard rave reviews about their authentic Argentinian empanadas and we were so happy to come and try it out on a Saturday afternoon. Parking was busy (the lot is shared with Trader Joe's) but we managed to find a spot and head into the busy but not packed cafe. There is a large assortment of empanadas, from meat options like chorizo and chicken, to vegetarian like corn and onion, to sweet options too like apples. The menu also boasts lots of great drinks including mate tea! Lucky us, the empanadas we ordered weren't in stock so we had to wait ~10 for freshly baked ones. They came out buttery and piping hot, even with little hand-stamped letters on them so you know what you're eating, and it was so delicious. Most are about $5.50 each. Add oregano chimichurri for a bit extra if you want or pair with a tea, but these empanadas really hit the snacky spot. Lots of wooden tables with fresh flowers make Pampas a great space to chat with friends or to sit and do some work. The most standout feature was the friendly and efficient staff who seem to build connections with everybody who walks in the door. Worth a drive to Castro Valley! Especially if you bring cash for a 10% discount off a dozen :)

Why 5 stars? Because despite a few non-ideal circumstances, it was very worth the visit…read more --- --- --- After eating lunch nearby, I had one final stop to make here for coffee and dessert, before I headed to SFO. The issue is that I was definitely pushing it on time if I planned on making my flight. As I was driving here, I had the thought that if there was an annoying parking situation or a line, I would just have to pivot and forego patronizing. But as it turns out, there was one spot available right next to the front door and no one inside. But then when I requested a nitro, the owner (I assume?) was extremely apologetic that their coffee machine broke. I asked for a few alternate types of coffee, but it turned out said machine controlled it all. So we shifted to the pastries. I read on the website that they had something with guava, so I asked for two of those: one for me, one for the wife. He even offered to heat mine up, which I will say yes to 100% of the time. I then jumped back in the car and was back into "don't' miss your flight mode." Of course, when you're in a hurry, you manage to hit every red light along the way, so I was doing a lot of yelling at electricity and God. But then I figured I might as well take the time to try the pastry that I'd originally planned on eating on the plane. As it turns out, it brought me into a nearly immersive experience of zen. The only bad thing is that I devoured it within seconds and then it was merely a thing of the past. My wife is fortunate that I have the amount of integrity that I do because I am sitting on the plane as I write this and I could easily inhale that 2nd pastry with her being none the wiser. If you're reading this, wife, remember that you hit the spousal lottery.

Great empanadas! They toast them up to a temp that results in a perfectly hot n toasted, fresh…read moretasting empanada! I tried their beef as well as mushroom. Both are repeats for me! Don't forget to ask for their chimichurri sauce. I also love the vibes of the spot. Felt like I traveled to Argentina for a brief moment.