The Mmoon Empanadas

Post closing restaurant eulogy #5: Mmoon Downtown SJ
Sometimes we don’t know for what reason or why restaurants close. But in this case, we can definitely surmise the cause (hint…it starts with «San» and ends with «Market»). Before all that got started, the Mmoon was something different than the usual burritos, sandwiches, and burgers. It was a specialty shop with different empanada fillings. It was filling without being too hard to eat either. At least they are not entirely closed… their whole business is now based in Los Gatos. Best of luck to you…
Best idea for the new location: what about something like a corner market that offers sandwiches, soups, and a purchase by-​the-​pound salad bar? The Financial District has plenty of these on every corner and yet there’s no place in downtown SJ that has something like that.

I came here expecting a hole in the wall, but this place was super spacious. Found a new place to catch sports games since they have a bunch of TVs hanging on the walls and a nice, clean interior.
Tried the mushroom, corn, and chicken empanadas. They were out of the chicken tikka masala which I wanted to try, as well as the dessert empanada =(However, the ones were ordered were really tasty. My favorite was the mushroom (packed full of flavor!) followed by the chicken, and then the corn (not as good as I was hoping). Their empanadas are baked not fried so the texture is not as crispy but it’s healthier I guess?
Stop by if you get a chance, you won’t be disappointed. And at around $ 2.50 an empanada, your wallet won’t be complaining either.

I remember while I was in class at SJSU, their owner decided to stop by and pitch his business to us… and all I remember thinking was, «what in gods name is an empanada?!»
Well, it took me about another year before I really decided to check it out. The Mmoon, what it’s called… is a goddamn amazing place to eat.
Their restaurant is located at the heart of downtown San Jose, the hustle and bustle, walking distance from the sharks tank. yeah, this place is freaking bomb. Upon walking in, you’ll be greeted by very friendly staff. Their menu is located on the wall to the right, and they also have a paper menu for you as well. Their menu isn’t extensive or anything, but it boasts a great amount of products that are ALL worth trying.
My personal favorite is their chicken… you’ve got to do it, and do it good. Anyways, if you all have an opportunity to eat here, definitely take the chance. My only wish is that they would charge just a BIT less than what they do. You will typically need to order around… 3 – 6 to really get you full. And at $ 2.20 (Last I checked), that’ll bring it to about a $ 10 – 16 dollar meal. But the meal does come with this bombtastical sauce too. take advantage of it!
Happy eating!

+ Empanadas themselves taste good
+ I like the imported bottled beer
— Empandas are on the small side for $ 2.20 each
— The place itself doesn’t quite «match-​up» (more in review)
I’ll give you the bottom line first:
Empanadas at this place taste pretty good. I like them and will probably continue to eat here when I get the fancy to do so.
Kind of feel like they are trying to be the McDonald’s of Empanadas. I don’t love that concept. While they make ordering easy and relate-​able for a large audience… I kind of feel that this place has a lost charm. La Victoria is smaller, has a distinct feel to it and offers a reasonable menu selection that has value. Mmoon Empanadas is kind of pricey in comparison.
I do think you should give this place a try though. The Mac & Cheese one is an especially good choice!

I’ve eaten at The Mmoon shop in San Jose. They now have some newer flavors for empanadas:
chicken tikka masala — I found it kinda dry, not spicy either
mac ham & cheese — mac & cheese plus ham inside the empanada — liked it better
This one is an old flavor: spinach — spinach, onion, & I think some cheese. I liked it.
Now they sell Cachafaz Alfajores from Argentina. I should have tried one at $ 2 ea before buying a box of 12. I found the cookies very soft & crumbly, dulce de leche thick w/​coconut on the middle outside. Overall, just ok. Chocolate one a Lot better!
Their new 2^nd store is in Los Gatos:
81 W. Main St, Los Gatos
408−884−8268

I brought my Genuine Argentinian Boyfriend™ with me here recently and we had ourselves a little empananda tasting adventure. Between two of us we sampled almost the entire menu (splitting them all in half) and a salad. The verdict? Not like mom used to make but a fun, fusion-​y California take on the original.
We tried the beef, chicken tikka masala, ham/mac&cheese, cheese and onion, mushroom, spinach, vegetable and sausage. Favorites were beef, the chicken tikka masala, the vegetable and the sausage. Kids would definitely be all over the sausage and the mac n cheese. And they do have calorie content listed on the menu for those watching their intake. Always a plus. Be aware that they are very small bites that fit in the palm of your hand and they are a little pricey for what they are. There’s a pretty good ratio of filling to wrapper but you’re going to need a few in order to feel satisfied.
The «churri» sauce was tomato based and while not authentic, it was a very nice interpretation of the original and we liked it very much. Tangy and a little spicy. I did feel like it was not complimentary on some things though, like the mushroom empanada for example. It just didn’t play well with the earthy flavor of the mushrooms and the thyme. It didn’t quite work with the tikka empanada either… covering up rather than enhancing the curry flavor. But it was delightful with the beef and vegetable and I’d love it on a taco or a burrito too! It’s quite tasty. Look out La Vic. Your orange sauce has competition.
We got a salad to share, too, in order to feel a bit better about ourselves. ;-) The pre-​packaged salads are fresh but not particularly interesting. I’m not sure if they are made in house but I would love to see them improve upon that somehow. Less lettuce, more good stuff would be a great start. More dressing options also. (At the time we were only offered raspberry vinaigrette, ranch or caesar) Beer and wine is good but limited as well.
Customer service was wonderful though. It was really busy since there was a live band playing but the staff was on top of their game. Friendly, fast and professional. Great space, too… big, clean, and a huge outdoor patio with heatlamps. That’s a huge plus.
We’ll certainly be back, and we look forward to their Los Gatos location opening as well.

My first time having an empanada… or 5! Hehe :)
Empanadas are pretty much snack-​sized hand pockets with a Latin flare to em. So if I were you, I’d go for their combo menu rather than order each empanada individually.
I ordered my mcfatty fit-​foodie self the 4 empanada combo that comes with a bag of chips and a soda (chips for me, diet soda for the SBBF since I only drink water or tea). I chose 1 beef, 1 chicken tikka masala, 1 sweet corn and 1 spinach empanada (their beef and spinach are 2 of the most popular ones).
We sat outside in their huge open patio since it was such a gorgeous summer day last Saturday.
My order came out and I ended up with 5 empanadas instead of 4. How did this happen you ask? Well the waiter said the cook normally weighs out the filling to be the exact amount for each empanada but apparently he skimped a bit on one of the beef ones so he threw in a freebie beef one for me. I ain’t complaining. ;) And my belly sure wasn’t either. :P
Beef: BEST one out of the bunch for sure! The meat seemed to be soaked in some kind of spicy marinara sauce. This one definitely had my foodie heart. So glad I got to enjoy 2 of em.
Chicken Tikka Masala: I didn’t taste any tikka or masala… but there was chicken. This was a «meh» rated empanada.
Spinach: Second best out of the bunch. Spinach had great flavor mixed in with some kind of creamy white sauce.
Sweet corn: I’m a huge corn lover and this one wasn’t a winner in my book either. The corn seemed to be overcooked, but whatever sauce it’s cooked in tasted delicious, nice little spice to it.
All the empanadas were A-​OK and delicious in my opinion because of the texture, flavor of the pastry that they use to make each little pocket of joy.
Bonus tip: Use their chimichurri sauce to dip these babies into or just dip your fingers into the sauce and lick em up, it’s that good! :)
I’d come back here for sure, and yes next time I’ll get myself the 10 order combo since I can outeat any huge foodie so far. :)

The Mmoon offers Argentinean empanadas, and as others have noted, they’re smaller than what many people are used to. Indeed, they’re almost like Hot Pockets in size, but they’re fresh, have a nice pastry shell, and are packed with a variety of fun, mouthwatering fillings.
Each empanada costs $ 2.20, and my favorites are the chicken tikka masala, banapple, and breakfast sausage & egg. They’re bursting with tasty goodness far exceeding their small size. I could easily stuff myself with 4 or 5 in one sitting, although 3 should be enough to fill most appetites. They offer a variety of combos ranging from 2 – 5 empanadas with a choice of chips, salad, and/​or soda.
The space is large and modern inside, and there’s plenty of patio seating outside too. I’ve been here several times, once with a bunch of friends from out of town who really enjoyed it. Service was also genuinely warm and friendly, and I appreciate the fact that they sometimes stay open later than usual for special events downtown and at HP Pavilion. Indeed, as Heather K. mentioned, these tasty treats would be great for a quick late-​night, after-​bar bite, if they were open that late. They’d also be perfect for a food truck if they’ve ever considered one. Definitely a welcome addition to downtown San Jose.

I really wanted to like this place, and I love empanadas too much to stay away from this place, so I would come back. Last time I tried these was because my fellow Unilocaler Rita V graciously picked some up for me. I really liked the veggie one, and the chicken came in as a close second. Pumpkin pie was just okay.
This time, I decided to choose a few for myself. Sausage was really delicious, though a tad bit oily, I also picked the chicken again to eat. Unfortunately, I was not really a fan of the ham and cheese, the mushroom, nor the banapple. The savory ones were a little too cheesy for me, and I couldn’t pinpoint what more I wanted out of the banapple. I couldn’t taste any banana for one, when normally bananacan be extremely overpowering. And it’s too bad no one was actually sitting at the restaurant to enjoy the food. They had such a big open space inside and outside, would be great for big gatherings/​parties.
Service was really good here though, and I was lucky enough to pick the «free empanada» out of the fish bowl to make this a $ 10 meal for 5 empanadas.

uhm, simply stated… for $ 2ish they are def not worth it.
1. they are puny!
2. flavors inside aren’t even that great.
you know hot pockets are bigger and cheaper, right? not to mention probably even tastier!
FAIL! I’ve had way better.

As other reviewers have said these little empanadas are tiny.
Shared so we could try a few different flavors. The mushroom and cheese one was the best and the most flavorful. I would have liked them to be a little bigger, if your starving you’ll need to order a dozen. And I don’t know about anyone else, but I don’t want to order and eat a dozen of anything… I’d feel like a glutton.
This place is good if you’re looking for a snack. It would actually be better for a late night — after bar — get a snack place, but unfortunately, they aren’t open that late.

Wow, I had no idea that empanadas were so… hot-​pocket-​like, especially the pizza flavored one. Nonetheless, I enjoyed having a lunch date with my lovely BFF here. I have to agree with the other Unilocalers – the empanadas are a little on the small side, but they have these cool lottery tickets at the register for 15% off your meal or a free empanada. I got to try most of the different empanadas, and I must say my favorites were the Sausage Empanada and the Corn Empanada. Everything else was ok and sometimes rather dry (must eat with the orange sauce!), but I definitely recommend Sausage and Corn! The Pumpkin Empanada was yummy too, but too bad it’s seasonal.
The owner and his employees are extremely nice. Will definitely come back! I just wish the décor was a little less plain, and a little more ethnic…

Cute little empanadas… yeah, I used the adjective cute; they just were, not too big, not to small… We split 5 so we could try as many as possible… the chicken and beef empanadas are bland without the churri sauce. The only empanada that packed a lot of flavor without the sauce was the mushroom and cheese one… Spinach was good too. Definitely a good snack/​light lunch and would go great with a beer!
Service was quite good and the empanadas came out swiftly. A good little spot that I would try again.

Came by for lunch the other day and I was pleasantly surprised. The looks from the outside are deceiving. Inside, the interior is brand new and very clean.
Came on a Wednesday and took advantage of the «Buy 3, Get 1 Free» promo. Ordered a Beef, Sausage, Ham & Cheese, along with a Banana Apple empanada.
It was my first time having an empanada and it merely appears to be a mini-​pizza pocket that is oven-​baked. It is fresh so it doesn’t have any freezer taste to it. My favorite was the beef, although both the sausage as well as ham and cheese were tasty too.
The Banana apple was supposed to have powdered sugar on it… For some reason, the jokers messed up and put powdered sugar on my ham and cheese and labelled it a banana apple…
The Mmoon is part of 5 stars so you do get a free empanada after purchasing 10. The beef, ham & cheese, along with the sausage empanadas were all $ 2.3 each and the banana apple was slightly less, $ 1.80, I think.
They accept credit cards and the employee circled «BOGO Wednesdays» (isn’t that buy 1 get 1 free?!?)
…they also have 30% off Mondays, $ 1.75 Tuesdays, and mystery special Thursdays…
.their restroom is accessed through the patio and requires an employee to let you in. It too is very clean.

Came with my girlfriend to try it out for lunch. We had a good selection since we got an extra one from the raffle thing they had. Cool! My favorite were the chicken and corn ones. I loved the crispiness of the outside and it was thoroughly warmed up. All of the other ones we tried were just alright. The pizza one just kind of tastes like a Hot Pocket. The sauce was a nice compliment to the empanadas. The empanadas were pretty small, but 7 of them filled us up. They in no means made us feel stuffed, but we were filled enough.
Sucks that their computers were down the whole time we were there. We tried to pay but the owner said don’t worry about it. What great service, and a nice guy! We were both ecstatic to get a free lunch, but sad that we couldn’t pay for it. So therefore, we will be back again! Thank you so much The Mmoon!

Was deserted last night at 8:45? Is It always like this? Almost walked by it. Nobody was there except the staff!
That obeservation aside the empanada was soo good and fresh. Tried their Pumpkin and Apple one.
The apple empanada was fresh and crunchy. It was like eating an apple pie in a tiny form. It was good!
I will be back for sure! Although the empanada sure was tiny.

This place serves a nicer, crispier, more delicate version of a hot pocket. If you’re splitting the meal, get the 6 empanada and drink combo because when they say the empanadas are tiny, they are very tiny. They each pack decent taste but you need the tangy sauce they serve with it for the full kick.
The service here is really nice and relaxing. They also have a patio area with a water fountain. There is a consistent flow of customers that go here.
Don’t get the banapple empanada. It’s even smaller than the usual empanada and I could hardly taste it the fruit. Get the pizza empanada. That was my favorite one! If you’re vegetarian, the next best one was the corn empanada.

Here’s another place I found on the «Hot on Unilocal» list!
Before our nail polish adventure, my friend and I came here to fuel up. =P
We ordered the 6 pack for $ 12.80. Here’s what we got:
2 Beef Tri Tip — This was better than expected. The filling is very juicy and the flavors compliment each other very well. I like that all the ingredients are consistent in size. This means you won’t struggle to eat huge chunks of meat with teeny tiny pieces of vegetables.
2 Corn — I would take the advice of my friend and eat this first before any other empanada. If you don’t, it might end up tasting bland compared to the strong flavors of the meat filled empanadas.
1 Sausage — My friend ordered this one and said she could really taste the sausage. It was like a sausage pizza for her
1 Pizza — This one didn’t exactly taste like pizza. I think if it had marinara sauce instead of tomatoes it would have been more like pizza. It was still good.
Overall, I liked Mmoon but I wasn’t blown away. I think this would be a great place to go if I was hungry but wanted something light to eat. After eating 3 I was full but didn’t feel stuffed to the point where I wanted to unbutton my pants lol.

These empanadas are lovely! Lightly baked (not fried) with puffy, fluffy and flaky shells. Good combination of fillings that are tasty yet not overly cheesy or greasy.
The empanadas are much smaller than what I expect. It was rather hard to gauge how much to order. At the end I had about five of those delicious little pockets. I wasn’t hungry but certainly have room for more food. I think about half a dozen per person would be a decent light meal.
I have tried everything they have on the menu except for the veggie one which they ran out. I like the sausage, beef tri tip, corn and cheese and onions the most. Oh yeah, the sweet banapple as a dessert was excellent as well.
The empandadas are baked to order so they are always fresh of the oven. Pretty good joint to eat if you happen to be in downtown SJ.
Trubates is still running the $ 10 for $ 20 deal for this place as of today. Be sure to pick up your coupon if you plan to eat here.

What a great find in Downtown SJ! It’s only been here about 4 months (used to be a salsa club) and it is absolutely awesome.
HUGE Props for A) Being SO clean and B) Inexpensive and delicious.
My friends and ordered an assortment of empanadas from the tri tip (ok) to the sausage and cheese (yumm!) and also the pizza one was super yummy. I think we pretty much tried them all. My overall favorites were the corn and cheese, pizza and sausage and cheese. We each enjoyed about 3 – 4 and this filled us up plenty.
We ordered up the banana empanadas to go and they were sooooo good! We heated them up a bit in the little over and enjoyed with some ice cream at home.
The place is super clean and has a handful of flat screens along the wall. Avoid parking on the street nearby, just pay the $ 3 at the San Pedro garage.