Bebas

Best empanadas ever! My mother in law brought me my first beef empanadas after the birth of my first daughter, I still drive 80 miles to devour these incredible, delicious empanadas!

Home cooking ala Bolivia. Come with an appetite, the food is very satiating and mega tasty.
Feels like a take out place in the front, but didn’t have a chance to sit in the back area.
Nice decour on the inside, boarderline chaotic, but certainly authentic.
The outside appearance could use some work.
Definitely will try again!

Never experienced such great Saltenas, first time. Picked up 18 and thought I’d take some home, all gone. Have to go back to stock up. Staff friendly, wasn’t so busy when we got there but got crowded while waiting for them to finish baking, very fresh. Parking isn’t so good BUT there is a drive way on the right which leads back to some parking spaces if lucky. Low key, casual, great food.

It’s a restaurant specialized in Bolivian dishes. If you are from Bolivia or like bolivian food, then you’ll probably enjoy the food. I had their famous saltenas which is highly recommended by LA food critics. It’s a an empanada like pastry filled with chicken or beef stew, Bolivian stew that is, so the flavor is very original. So as far as the food is concerned it’s tasty. It’s not a pretty restaurant. The décor and layout needs much work, but the good food makes it passable.

Ummmm yummy! I dropped in for some beef salteñas. They were $ 2.75 each and an order of six took 20 minutes. I agree with some other reviewers to wait at least 20 minutes before trying to bite into these empanadas. They are extremely juicy inside! Almost stew like. I think I prefer the Argentinian version of criolla filling with ground meat, carrots, egg, onion, garlic, olives, and raisins. These salteñas contained similar ingredients but with potatoes. Also the dough was slightly sweet which contrasted nicely with the savory filling. They also reheated nicely wrapped in foil in the oven! Breakfast for days… yay! One star off for lack of parking plus they were pricey for the size.

This happened twice to me. I ordered for pick up a month ago for a party and arrived about 10 late. They claimed that they sold all of my order because they thought I wasn’t coming. I felt that was unusual and slightly hard to believe but it’s at least plausible so I was okay with it. I left without ordering because I didn’t have time to wait for another order.
I called again this week and ordered again. I arrived 3 minutes late. I wear an atomic watch which is inarguably perfect. After arriving 3 minutes late and telling the worker my name he pretends to check the oven and then tells me that they sold my order because I was late.
This was unreasonable. They had zero customers when I arrived, and I am hard pressed to believe that other customers came in and ordered my exact order within 3 minutes.
I am a restaurant owner myself and I understand the importance of protecting yourself from customers who order food and do not end up picking up their order. However this is unreasonable and I believe I was lied to twice. If they have a problem taking to-​go orders and people flaking, then have customers pay over the phone first. Or at least get a phone number.
I failed to bring this food for two separate events because this. Threes minutes is not a reasonable time to decide to sell someone’s order. They obviously don’t make your food until they know you’re there and that I a bad policy.
I drive from far away to get here on a friend’s recommendation.
Unfortunatsly, I will not return.

Absolutely amazing!!! I’m half Bolivian so it was always a family treat to have Saltenas (spelling) durning special occasions as I grew up. After my grand parents passed away the tradition was lost. So with the help of Unilocal I found an amazing place where I can relive my childhood. For some reason it just felt right inside even though it’s small and tiny, who cares.
I ended up with 2 Saltenas and a Lomo Montado — steak, rice, fries, planteens, salad. So so so so fricken good! Washed it all down with an Inca Cola, which by the way just became my favorite soda.
So for a drive from downtown LA it was so worth it! I wonder if they have soccer games, if love to see some live games while I eat

I’m Bolivian and my mother is from Cochabamba were all the best Cuisine comes from. So Im sorry but I am a tough critic. If you are away from home and are craving an authentic dish you are better off watching YouTube and trying to make it at home. Their are certain things to get here… salteñas and Inca kola just about it. I believe their cook is from La Paz, not good. Very expensive and very mediocre.

As a native bolivian i can tell you this place is worth a visit!
I haven’t tried much but their SALTEÑAS, but i can tell you that most their food is very simple and homey in a bolivian style.
Their salteñas, an authentic bake filled with juicy chicken or beef (resembles empanandas) that can only be found in Bolivia, are very authentic and are made fresh in a special oven a few times a day. It’s better to call ahead to make sure they have the flavor and quantity you’d like, as it takes some time to make them fresh.
The price per salteña is about 1.75 $ and an average guy will be filled by ¾ pieces.
They also have batones– a chocolate every kid rajsed in Bolivia knows and ESTEVIA– a healthy sugar supplement that mu husband loves because it’s good for diabetics.

It definitely isn’t the best place to eat authentic bolivian food. I do go for the saltenas though!!! Its the only place i know they have it.

The tortas are a great bite (Chicken, Beef or Ham). Service is unstable but once the order is in, it’s brought out well made. Beba and her husband also bake most of their bread there, which is very good.

The salteñas here are so good. They are wonderful little pies filled with the tastiest beef stew. I like to take home a dozen and eat them all weekend.

I almost don’t want to post this review because I selfishly wanna keep this place a secret… but I simply have to write about their food! I am a BIG, BIG fan of the Saltenas at Bebas. I have not found another spot in Los Angeles that has these delicious meat pockets (yes other places have empanadas, but not like these). This our go to place whenever we have to attend a potluck… just bring a couple dozen Saltenas and everyone is Happy Happy. So Shhhhh, let this just be our little secret okay? ;-P enjoy!

This place is a staple of the neighborhood for us. You don’t need to be a Latin cuisine aficionado to get obsessed with their food, but all the better if you are! The BF and I get their chicken milanesa tortas once a week and never get tired of them. Their salsa is fresh and delicious. It seems like a simple tomato and chili salsa but it tastes completely different than a similar looking Mexican style salsa.
If you get one thing, get the salteñas. They are the best empanadas you will ever eat. They are large so 2 or 3 is a meal. Please use a plate, knife, and fork if you’ve never had one before because they are piping hot and stewy inside. They never vary in quality or taste; they are always perfect. You can also buy them frozen and make them in the oven at home. If I were to find out tomorrow that this place was going to close, I would run over there immediately and buy a paycheck’s worth to stockpile.
Speaking of which, I am constantly worried that Beba’s will close because it is so small and never full. After reading some of the reviews, I am now also worried that they will close because crazy people seem to expect 5-​star service from a tiny family business squeezed between two car repair places. Everything is made to order, and not in the way a Subway sandwich is made to order. One person does everything from start to finish, the way your mom would make you fresh food at home. In other words, give yourself time if you’re planning on eating here, and please don’t take out your frustration on the business just because you’re in a hurry. And just so you know, the feisty, Spanish-​speaking, slightly asymmetrical chef is Doña Beba herself, so have some respect please!
One last tip: Don’t waste time trying to park in their tiny lot (unless you have a smart car like me!). There is usually ample parking on the side street just across Hazeltine.

I love their Beef Saltenas aka Bolivian Empanadas! Tried the Chicken but I think the Beef is more falvorfull. Tip, right straight from their oven the Saltenas will be a bit watery so be careful biting to it and it will burn your lips/​tongue like no other! Best way to eat it, let it sit for a few hrs or even a day. Their dough though is perfection! Coming back for more one of these days!

It’s a hole in the wall and they don’t serve beer at this location!
No free water, No beer and slow service but the food was good.

BO-​LI-​VI-​A!!!
Not many Bolivian restaurants in the area so this place is a great find!
The Saltenas are by far the winner at this place. The other dishes like the chicken and beef tongue were pretty good too.
The saltenas are the best empanada style food! Better than Argentinas empinadas. The dough is sweet and the meat is nice and spicy inside. The waitress warned us that they were making it from scratch and that it would take 20 minutes. I am all down to wait for food if that means it will come out fresh. I appreciated that they communicated expectations with customers! A big plus for that!
The chicken and beef lengue were ok. The rice and potato were cooked to perfection.
I also ordered a peachy fruit drink and that was sweet, peachy, and awesome! Really like that drink.
Definitely would like to grab a Cosco pack of Bebas’ Saltenas if I could from this place.

My Girlfriend is half mexican and half bolivian and she was very eager to bring me here to try-​out Bolivian food.
After my experience at this place, I must say, I’m a fan of Bolivia! Bolivia thank you for your beautiful women, and your delicious food!
I had the piqué a lo macho, and it was definitely something different, I loved it and I had to take the left-​overs to go. I would have probably finished the dish by myself, but my gf also insisted that we each had a Saltena before, and let me say… If you believe in God, believe me, these saltenas are surely from heaven and a gift from God (If you don’t believe in God, they are a gift from the universe or nothingness… but still very very delicious and addicting).
I gave 4 stars instead of 5 because it did take a while to get our food, and because I felt it was a little pricey for just the two of us.
I will be back soon, Prepare the Saltenas!

4 stars for the SALTENAS only!
I was hoping to get the chicken saltenas but they were out of them so I opted for the beef instead. On the menu, there’s BEEF, CHICKEN, VEGGIE, RAISIN, EGG, and OLIVE.
HEAVENLY PURSE OF FLAVOR is all I can say. The PASTRY skin is not too thick and not too thin and it’s BUTTERY (to the taste and smell). The fillings are everything you’d want in a HEARTY SOUP – tender and flavorful meat, potato bits, peas, etc. It’s hard to eat it while trying not to let the soup leak out. The soup was DELICIOUS. This over xlb’s any day haha.
Nothing else on the menu was attention grabbing so I only ate the saltenas but I can say for sure that I’ll be back JUST FOR THE SALTENAS.

I had high hopes for Bebas but it fell flat when I tasted the Picante mixto (chicken and lengua in yellow sauce). It was quite bland. There is no taste whatsoever. My mother in law’s version of it is far better. I also didn’t like the chicharon I ordered. If you look at it there’s really nothing special about it. It’s just fried pork with no seasoning at all. Somehow they served the entrée first before the pièce de résistance, salteña. I figured maybe it takes longer to prepare the salteña. I didn’t finish my «sad looking chicharon» to make room for the salteña. Being a rookie, I forgot that the inside part of the salteña is hot! So u can just imagine what happened to me when I bite into it. Did I like it? Hmmm… it was just an ok salteña. I’ve had way better salteñas than Bebas.