Marcela’s Bakery

I was hooked to this place prior to being treated rudely by an aolder lady who works there as a cashier. A few weeks ago, I ordered a birthday cake for my son. I paid it in full and was given the receipt. Well, I accidentally lost the receipt and I called to see what could be done. I go in person with the my picture ID. The elderly cashier immideatly gave me an attitude an asked where my reciept was. I tried explaining that I had lost it and she kept being extremely rude. She called me stupid, and when I asked for my money back, she refused to pay it in full. She ripped me off and continued insulting me. My recommendation… dont lose your reciept. Even with an ID they will deny your payment. If that wasn’t enough, when I asked to see their copy of the reciept, they gave me one that had been redone and where the amount paid by me had been changed. Don’t ever ever order a cake there period, especially if that cashier is there. She is older as I previously stated, and is known by everyone who goes there as being rude and always up for arguing with the customers. Her salesmanship is awful, as is her attitude. DON’t EVER GO THERE FOR A BIG CAKE ORDER… YOU ARE BETTER OFF GOING TO A PLACE BIT MORE EXPENSIVE, BUT WITH GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE SKILLS!!!

I have to say that I was pretty disappointed with the salten~as here. After eagerly driving for 30 minutes this past morning, I arrived at the bakery craving original Bolivian salten~as. The attendant was gracious — so no complaints with service, however the saltenas could not be further from the real thing. The dough was darker and softer. not crunchy like the real saltenas. I felt like it was wrapped around whole wheat sliced bread. The inside was like a chicken stew. not a bolivian saltena. I am glad i only got one. but still it was a huge disappointment. I ended up going another 15 minutes to another place in Arlington which was much much better.

I have only bought their saltenas at the Del Ray farmer’s market, but I do so diligently almost every week. They are delicious but are often mistaken for empanadas. Sonny B describes them correctly. They are savory with a slight sweet after taste, seasoned liberally with black pepper and cilantro. The saltenas are basically a broth stew enclosed in a beautiful pastry, and you have your choice of chicken, beef, or pork. It can be a mess to eat them but I’ve found that putting them in a shallow bowl works well to keep the mess from getting all over my hands! But hey, to each their own.

You cannot go wrong with Marcela’s. The Empanada’s are to die for, I prefer the beef over the chicken but they are both awesome. The bake goods are also delicious!

One of the reasons I love Unilocal: I didn’t even realize Marcela’s had a brick-​and-​mortar storefront until I went to write a review of their farm market goodies. Anyway.
Marcela’s Bakery shows up at area farm markets each week during season with their baked items. A couple years ago it was salteñas (a juicier, liquid-​ier version of an empanada), pure and simple. Chicken or beef, with potatoes and hard-​boiled egg, and sometimes plain cheese. Marcela’s makes pretty good salteñas with a slightly sweet, flaky crust that complements the savory fillings — husband prefers the beef to the chicken (because it seems all parts of the chicken go in, and he’s definitely a white-​meat man). The cheese «salteñas» are more like cheese empanadas and could use a better cheese-​to-​crust ratio.
In the last two farm market seasons, however, Marcela’s has increased their offerings from just salteñas to include more sweet and savory pastries. We love the pineapple or cheese turnover in filo dough, and the miniature dulce de leche cakes. Oh. Em. Gee.
Swing by the storefront — since they have one! — and grab a couple pastries to sample. They’re perfect to have on hand for a fast breakfast or filling lunch.

I ordered the beef enchilada only it wasn’t an enchilada at all. What was served to me were three corn tortillas piled with flank steak, cole slaw, pico de gallo, hard boiled eggs, and avocado slices. It was decent but nothing exciting. I didn’t read any of the reviews of this place and sort of just drove down mount vernon looking for some place new to try out.
I’ll have to come back and try their breakfast menu and their saltenas. Oh also it’s cash only.

The Saltenas are TO DIE FOR. I can’t get enough of them.
That being said, I don’t recommend eating there. Or ordering any entrees. My boyfriend and I tried it. .. and (to us) the food was awful. And we like ethnic food of all types. We felt sick all night, too.
Stick with the Saltenas and the baked goods and you won’t be disappointed.

For over two years, I referred to a vendor as «empanada man» (in my head) and was recently told I was enjoying Salteñas this whole time.
Each weekend morning, I would bike to the Del Ray farmers market for one reason, and that was to scarf down Salteñas. A man known to me as «empanada man» sells these as his sole product. On my last bike ride, he told me that he just started selling «Salteñas», not empanada’s, at his bakery (Marcela’s Bakery) on Mt. Vernon ave. I thought to myself, Salteñas? What the heck are these? So I did some research while drooling over myself.
Salteñas pronounced, «sawl-​TAY-​nyahs», are a sweet, flaky pot-​pie like pastry, filled with peas, egg, potatoes, chicken or beef and are about the size of a Russet potato. These delicious Saltenas are accompanied by llajua which is a bight jalapeño sauce and a laughable spoon.
There is a craft to eating these. I’ve found that the best way is to ditch the spoon, grab the Salteñas by its end, and eat it from the other end, preferably over something that’s worthy of receiving Salteñas drippings.
They cost $ 2.50 each and have made my «last meal on Earth» list!
Note: The vendor also can be found at the Wednesday farmers market in Old Town.