Empanada Man - Lake Forest

At first glance it was delicious, a little chewing, but I thought it was just the melted cheese. My order was a three cheese mix with tomatoes and basil. The person who took my order was super friendly and suggested several types as I was overwhelmed with their menu. Waiting time was 10min and I thought that was pretty fast for Empanadas. After my first time, I had to leave since my car was finished. The sauce was amazing! Once more time I had tried to eat a second, just to find out that the dough was RAW. I was disgusting and didn't feel good. I wanted to go back and show them, but at this point I didn't want to go out again to get a second meal I probably wouldn't have liked. To sum up 13$ for three underlying Empanadas. Not my cup of tea, maybe it was just a hurry order? Or maybe the dough should be so raw. In any case, it wouldn't go back for a while.

I had no high expectations going to Empanada Man Pizzeria, but after her empanadas, Empanada Man is now one of my Go tos for Argentine empanadas. As a pizzeria, I thought that her empanadas would be just a small calzone (thick dough). The dough was perfectly thin and fluffy. The fillings were also well seasoned and tasteful. I ordered the beef, chicken and salteñas flavors. The order came with a page of wicy mayo and chimichurri. The beef was tender and well paired with the Chimichurri sauce. The chicken was tender and had a slight kick. It was well paired with the spicy Mayo sauce. But the star was the Salteñas. The taste was complex. Sweet from raisins, saltiness from green olives and paired with proteins, it was delicious. It could not be for everyone, but it was a guard for us.

We tried almost all veggie empanadas and liked them a lot. They bake them to order. We could buy them cold and bake home. They have wine, soup, sandwiches, pizza.

Out of 4 empanada fillings we had (chicken, Hawaiian, beef, Spanish+cheese) I only really liked the chicken one. They seem to have mastered doing the crust since I enjoyed the empanada crust as well as the pizza crust. At $2+ for each empanada, it makes for a pricy meal.

Ordered carryout and was pleasantly surprised with each item. Choripan, side of meatballs, #1 combo, and a medium pizza. The chimichurri is more like a thick sauce, I'm used to chunkier chimi but the flavor is robust with just enough garlic that it is not overpowering. The pink sauce is a spicy mayo and I really enjoyed it. Pizza crust was eaten by my non-crust eating son so it must have been good. Carryout server was friendly and my order was packed accurately and safely as nothing spilled in the car. Overall, we will be back again and I can't wait to try other flavors and support this local business. They also cater and I can see myself ordering from them for large parties.