Empanada Express

Not sure what the deal was at this place. First time here and my last. Took FOREVER to get served. An hour for lunch and only three other tables. I had an arepa which wasn’t bad but I really disliked my side of black beans and the nice hair that I found in it! Come on man! Get your shit together.

I’ve had good experiences and bad experiences. I keep ordering the same thing and my plate has a different assortment of things every time. Maybe they are working out the kinks. Anyway, the food is tasty, the restaurant is awkward, and the service might kind of suck. If you’re in the mood for empanadas, you may as well give it a shot.

I dropped by today and it seems as if this location has CLOSED and is out of business. Check out the locations in Denver, it’s well worth the trip!

Tried to go to the Golden location for lunch yesterday at 11:30, but the door was locked.

They are now under new ownership, and are no longer affiliated with the Denver locations. This is apparently a recent change. It will be interesting to see if it lives up to the past.

Wow. I truly wish I’d had the kind of experience everyone here is reporting, but I was pretty appalled by this place.
We were the only ones in the restaurant, yet service took forever. We ordered our margs and our entrees, and this is where it gets weird. After what seemed like an eternity, our waitress brought out the margs, then returned to the kitchen where the three ladies running the joint remained the entire time. We had maybe gotten one sip into our drinks, when this other chick walks out of the back, and somewhat jokingly asks us (over the blaring Mexican music), «Do you like your margaritas?»
«Yes,» we replied.
Then she looks at this other girl who had come out of the back and they shared a good laugh over our reply. It was – disturbing.
«It’s Ericka’s recipe!» They laughed some more, then she walked out the front door and left. (I could be wrong about that name, but it was something similar to that.)
I have no idea what that was about, but it weirded me out enough to keep me from drinking my margarita. Not sure I want to find out what «Ericka’s recipe» entails.
We stuck around to get our food, which was heavy, messy and uninspired. Maybe this is the kind of place that you should only get takeout from, but I most certainly won’t be returning. Worst dining out experience I’ve had in a long time.

This is the perfect place to hit after spending some early morning time at the Golden Railroad Museum (as long as your little one is Adventurous)
I found the food to be awesome, these great tasty fried Empanada’s in a pretty casual sit down atmosphere. The Juice selection was fun (Guava was particularly refreshing). They had a great beer special ($ 2.50 or so).
The only issue, and why this isn’t a four-​star, is the smell. Seriously, the nail polish chemical smell (the place next door is a nail salon) was way tooo much. Before I got used to it everything tasted like nail polish.
That sounds pretty disgusting, I know. Maybe this a better «to go» than eat in place?

In the words of previous reviewer Chaunce S., «NOM NOM NOM»! This place is a fantastic little hole-​in-​the-​wall with simple atmosphere and very friendly service. If you don’t know what to order, try the taste of Venezuela plate which comes with a variety of foods that will delight you. The fried plaintains were amazing as well as the guanabana juice. I can’t wait to go back and try more!

Mmmm… So good! If you aren’t familiar with Venezuelan food go to Empanada Express!!! You’ll be glad you did! You can thank me later :-D
It was little hard to find but I’m glad we did! It’s a small place but there is plenty of seating. Park in the parking lot where the Domino’s and nail salon is and walk around the corner by the nail salon. It’ll be right there!
The BF and I split the Taste of Venezuela Plate ($ 14.99) — empanada, arepa, tequenos, cachapas & fried plantains. Empanadas are crispy fried corn turnovers. Arepas are delicious pockets of corn cakes. You have your choice of fillings — meat or veg with cheese. The chicken salad and beef were tasty. Tequenos are a lot like mozzarella sticks. Cachapas were very tasty little sweet corn pancakes. The fried plantains were delish. The plate was definitely enough food for the two of us to share. We also ordered the coconut milkshake ($ 3.50) — Really, really tasty. I wish it came with free refills! Service was good and I found out there are two other locations in Denver!

omg — sooooo good!
I’m a dang good cook that loves well thought out food. My green chili chicken takes hours but its amazing. And I make a mean Italian (even though I’m Ukrainian). So when I find a restaurant with someone at the helm who’s a DAMN GOOD COOK I am sooooo freakin’ happy! (all that good food and no dirty dishes to clean!!)
So far I’ve tried the chicken, shredded beef and the ground beef/​potato empanada. So good (I’ve put them in order of preference btw). The fillings are slow cooked and are delicious! The pocket is a corn/​flour mixture — fried crisp and light. I coulda ate 6 of them (but my tummy wouldn’t let me! augh!). Next time I tried the pork arepa. Amazing shredded pork filling, light corn pancake pocket. I rate the pork even-​Steven with the shredded chicken filling. Can’t decide which one I like best — the empanada or the arepa?
I have to mention the two sauces to go with your order. One is a sour cream/​cilantro sauce — salty and creamy. The other was a many-​layered cream chili sauce. yuuuum. Lots of flavor on the tongue and then — bam! hot hits you like a truck!
Oh, can’t forget the sopapillas. Best I’ve ever had — simple, delicious delicate fried doughnuts (not greasy) with a sugar syrup and whipped cream. Gonna have dreams about those yummy guys.
They serve beer (which I think would go great with the empanadas), ice tea with lime, some Mexican sodas and real fruit smoothies. Also, I think a special coffee, but don’t quote me on that.
Prices are really reasonable. The daily special was the Empanada Columbias (3 smaller empanadas) for $ 6.50. Arepas are $ 4.50.
Hours are great. This is a family-​owned business but they’re open until 8pm every night of the week.
btw, I went to the Golden location. It was a little hard to find since there is no sign at the parking lot. The restaurant is a little pie-​slice place that’s around to the side of the building. Apparently this is their first restaurant. Same family runs two other locations in Denver. I’m hooked!
P. S. Sorry to mention this, and maybe I’m in a crabby mood (I don’t know how after that great arepa) but the «err/​hubs» girl is annoying the crap out of me. I’ve come across several of her posts looking for great food in the Denver area and, well, inaccurate ratings along with impossible to read reviews. Am I being too crabby?

Mmmmm tostones! Nicely cooked thin crisp chips served with a chicken potato salad and a mild hot sauce. We had several empanadas including the pabellon criollo (shredded beef, black beans, plantain, and cheese), the reina repeada (chicken salad, avocada, and cheese), shredded beef, chicken, and a beef and potato as well as fried yucca (think of them as killer fries!). Everything was tasty! The pabellon, and reina dough was a lot thicker than the others which were on special (and the pabellon and reina were slightly fluffy which I’m not used to but still enjoyed). I liked the pabellon the best. I definitely want to try their arepas on the next visit and believe me, there will be a next visit!

Err, when we drove to this area, Hubs told me, didnt we ever driven here before. Ooohh, YES, of course we did coz we had dinner at 2 doors away from this establishment, silly.
Was here with Hubs on Wednesday afternoon October 26^th 2011 after running some errands in this part of neighborhood. Time: 15:00hrs While we enter this establishment, there was another couple just about finishing their meal.
Is this a good sign? Err, well, since we were there, we opt to dine in and the waitstaff who happens to run the whole establishment was the waitress, the cook or I would say prepare the food for us. If I could recall correctly :
Hubs choice were :
* Molida Empanada (Minced Beef With Potatoes) ($ 3.00)
* Chile Relleno Empanada (Chile Relleno, with extra white cheese) ($ 4.25)
* Pollo Empanada (Shredded Chicken, marinated with spices) ($ 3.50)
with Coffee ($ 1.50) as his beverage.
While I opt for these :
* Machaca Arepas (Shredded beef with eggs) ($ 4.50)
* Molida Empanada (Minced Beef With Potatoes) ($ 3.00)
* Seafood Empanada ($ 4.25)
I like the Arepas the most. The portion of one Empanada is big for some. It can be very filling to what we had ordered. I did not fancy the Seafood Empanadas coz one I think its too fishy even though most of the items they put was just mini baby squids and some kind of sauce. What makes the items filling was I guess due to the dough. Its huge portion compared to the filling they put inside their empanadas.
Hubs rate this establishment 3.5 stars while I give 3 stars in total. We do not mind returning. While we were there, the service was efficient and since I guess we were the only patrons dining in, and it was ONLY us, the food came out fast…

This is not fast food, in any sense of the word. Be prepared to wait for, well, everything. This is labor-​intensive food, and making everything to order is part of what makes Empanada Grill special.
Everything on the menu is delicious, filling, and affordable. I found the myriad filling options a bit overwhelming at first to be honest, but have enjoyed trying something different each visit.

What a delightful surprise! This is another those hole in a wall kind of tiny authentic eateries, oftentimes, offer big flavors. In Empanada Express case, it offers some tasty staple food of Venezuela.
The baked arepas sandwiches here are as delicious and filling as you can get (around $ 4.5 a piece). I ordered the one with Spanish herbs seasoned shredded beef and mozzarella, loved it.
Also, yucca fries, fried plantain chips, and tamales were some awesome appetizers to try as well.

Ina and I went all they way to golden to try this place for the arepas, which
I have to say were OK, but their empanadas were the best I have ever had.
There is one opening in the highlands, hopefully the service is better than the one in golden.

Definitely look for the domino’s, faces Johnson st, Venezualan empanadas are not like Puerto Rican or Argentinian, but stil yummy!
We popped in here after a hike due to all the good reviews and the desire to eat something different.
We shared a beef and potato empanada, a carnitas empanada, fried plantains, and taquinos
The carnitas were a bit tasteless, the beef and potato had a good flavor, the fried plantains were a bit too fried and not enough carmelization for me, the taquinos were dough with cheese (hubby liked those)
The staff was very friendly, and fluent in spanish if you needed that!
The red sauce was delicious!
If we go on another hike i’ll be stopping by for more!

After a nice hike, who doesn’t want empenada! We found this little treasure while driving around Golden after a hike. Glad we did.
So tasty! They carnitas, skip. The Ground beef and potato, DO NOT skip. Very yummy.
The empenada are big too, bigger than I’ve ever seen. My wife and I split 2 and were full.

I think this has to be one of the best values in Golden, or well, in a lot of the Denver area. I went there for the first time today, despite the fact that this business has been here for at least a year I think?
I’ve kind of seen differing opinions of whether these are a deal or not, which correlates to whether they are super huge/​filling or not. Well, put me in the filling value category. I went in today and there was no one else to be seen. It was a little early, 11:30, and the staff was quick to greet me. I ended up ordering two empanadas and an arepa to go; la Buena (arepa), pollo (empanada) and chile relleno (empanada). I figured I could eat one, my husband could eat two, or maybe we’d split the second. The buena arepa had carnitas, cheese and avocado, the pollo empanada was seasoned chicken and cheese, and the chile relleno was egg-​surrounded chile, and cheese.
It took about 10 mins, but considering that all these considered a specific set of tasks, and obviously they’re all made when you order, that’s not too bad. When the cook came out and gave me my food I suddenly realized I had made a mistake in ordering so many– the bag was heavy. Amazingly heavy. I got to the car and took out my arepa– even though the arepa itself was probably 3.5 inches in diameter, it was being dwarfed by the errupting carnitas, cheese and wedges of avocado. My husband’s empanadas were each about six inches long.
We got to eating, and I found that the tomato-​garlic-​y sauce they serve is really crucial to the flavors. I loved my arepa but it did need that extra something. It was very good– really well seasoned meat, that was really tender and not at all dry. Husband really liked his chicken, and the chile relleno had great chile flavor but wasn’t over-​the-​top.
I think the most expensive one I ordered was $ 4.75 and boy that was a meal. I went from starving to stuffed in 15 mins. I will definitely be back. They used to do coupons, but have now switched to punch cards. However it’s only 5 punches, not 10, so you can earn free ones quicker than usual.

Many, including yours truly, were deeply sad when El Trapiche, the fabulous Venezuelan-​Colombian hybrid in Aurora, closed its doors a couple years ago. Well, calm down already, won’t you? ‘Cos there’s a new game in town.
Empanada Express is a neat little Venezuelan-​owned spot in Golden that has evolved from mobile vendor to fully-​fledged foodshop. Not too long ago, I visited and pigged out, sampling a great chunk of the menu, because nothing is too good for you, dear readers.
I couldn’t get enough of the Tequeños — sticks of white cheese simply oozing out of a wheat dough. The Cachapas were similarly cheesy and buttery pancakes made from sugar-​sweet corn. And I was impressed also by their Hallacas — a Christmas favorite which lifts your basic tamale into the stratosphere, with potato and egg hiding amongst the meat.
And then there are those corncakes called Arepas (standouts include the black-​bean-​and-​cheese Domino and the eggy-​cheesy-​plantainy Golden, perhaps fitting when you consider where you are). Last but not least, don’t forget the Empanadas — after all, isn’t that why you came? The Rajas, with gently assertive poblano pepper and cheese, is a winner, and the Pabellon Criollo, which takes Venezuela’s national beef-​and-​black-​bean dish and stuffs it in a pastry shell, is a keeper too.
So don’t cry! El Trapiche may be dead, but long live Empanada Express!

So, I had an extended lunch and decided to drive out to Golden for a meal. Unfortunately, the Coors brewery tour is closed on Tuesday and Wednesdays so that was out of the question.
I Unilocaled restaurants in Golden and saw this place with it’s empanadas and arepas. I eat emapanadas at home all the time since my fiancé is Puerto Rican, but arepas I only had once in NYC before.
The restaurant atmosphere is what you would expect from a place with the word express in its name, but service was very friendly. We ordered the Taste of Venezuela, which had an empenanada, arepa, cheese stick, Venezuelan tamale (kinda like a Puerto Rican pastele) and fried plantains. For about $ 11 it was a deliciously crazzy filling meal.