The Empanada Cafe

The Empanada Café is a modest little piece of heaven with flawless food and high principles, family run with great heart by the Serrano’s from Bogata, Columbia.
Where do I start? Should it be with the startling fact that the most expensive thing on the menu is only $ 6? Could it be their thoughtful array of fair trade organic coffees, teas and chocolates and 100% real fruit smoothies? Or should I just go ahead and admit that I’ve been dreaming about seeing a perfect steaming arepa at the end of a fork headed for my mouth?
An arepa is a Columbian corn, queso fresca and honey buttered griddle cake served on weekends for a whopping $ 1.25. No one can eat just one. Try it with a steaming latte cup of rich, organic Columbian coffee. This is no Starbucks and you can taste truly excellent coffee in every drop. Don’t worry. Mercedes can make every kind of Starbuck, Chai and Tea concoction you have ever heard of, the difference is what she starts with.
The most popular meal is the Columbian Sampler ($ 5) and includes an arepa, three empanadas and an almojabana. I used to eat regularly at the Empanada House in Houston years ago, and I’ve never had an empanada as exquisite as Jose’s. He makes every one with corn masa lightly sizzled to perfection in vegetable oil. The beef empanada contains rice, potatoes, scallions and beef, and the chicken is the same recipe except for the beef. The rice and bean vegetarian empanada is made of rice, scallions and pintos. The Almojabana is another Columbian specialty corn and cheese bread. The basket is served with homemade hot sauce. The portions are small, but the offering is flawless!
Daughter Magelly is the brains behind the well-​orchestrated oasis of organic and free trade offerings, and I suspect the nice vibes as well. The smoothies are all fruit and no fill. Most of the very unusual fruits are organics freshly imported from Columbia. A few of them I was familiar with: passion fruit, blackberry, mango, guava — but I’d never heard of luto (naranjilla), banana passion fruit (curuba) or guanabana (soursop). The kids were lining up for them.
The Empanada Café also serves plenty of food you will be familiar with, including breakfast tacos and turkey, ham, chicken and tuna sandwiches. They are charmingly friendly to the young ones and have several kids meals they won’t give you any flap about eating. My favorite was the peanut butter and jelly sandwich on bread cut out with animal cookie cutters, served with pudding, a juice box and two sides for $ 3.99.
A totally tempting array of homemade desserts can be enjoyed with coffee and the free wireless internet. Ponque negro, a traditional Columbian wedding cake made with carmelized cane, wine and walnuts is a specialty.
The Empanada Café invites reading, socializing and small meetings. The interior of the old house has been nicely renovated and several tables and chairs are set out under the big trees.
There has to be a down side. The Empanada Café really is an idyllic family run business and it is only fair that they get to go home sometimes. They are closed Sunday and Monday and are open from 7 a.m. until 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 9 to 6 p.m. Saturday. The café is located on FM 1626 just south of Bliss Spillar, near Marbridge.