Makus Empanadas
★★★★☆ 3.9 (275) • $
"Makus Empanadas was excellent. Five stars all around. They checked all the boxes for me: food, service, and value with nice touches sprinkled throughout. This is a quick, convenient, and delicious food option.Makus is pronounced "make us" as in "make us empanadas." I believe this location in Durham, in the Hope Valley Commons shopping center with Harris Teeter, was the first of what's now three locations. This original location opened in 2015 with the Morgan Street Food Hall (Raleigh, 2018) and Duke University Hospital locations coming after.This is a fast-casual restaurant with a polished look and sleek marketing/branding/design. The restaurant isn't very big and the menu is streamlined. During my visit, on the menu, there were 10 different kinds of empanadas ($2.75 each), chipa (Latin American cheese rolls, $3.25), a small handful of sides (most $1.75 each), two sauces, an "empadog" (hot dog wrapped in empanada dough, $2.95), sweets such as cochitos (dulce de leche and coconut cookie, $1.95 each), craft beer ($5 per serving) and wine ($6), and self-serve fountain drinks and tea.They also offered combo meals, party packs, and daily specials such as:* Monday and Friday: buy a dozen empanadas, get 3 free* Wednesday: 50% off all bottles of wine* Monday-Thursday 3-5pm (happy hour): get 2 empanadas + 1 sauce for $5* Every day: get 4 empanadas + 1 bottle of wine for $21.95Finally, they sold frozen empanadas and frozen chipa which you could bake at home. 12 frozen empanadas for $33 and 15 pieces of frozen chipa for $8.95. I think they started selling these bake-at-home alternatives because of COVID.The decision of what to order was easy. I went with Makus' Family Meal (appropriate for 2-3 adults, in my opinion) which came with 10 empanadas, 4 sides, and 2 sauces for $28.50. Since this was our first time having Makus, this allowed us (my wife and me) to try one of every empanada on the menu as well as all of the housemade sides and sauces. Here's what we got:10 empanadas* Beef* Chicken* Pork Chimichurri* Pepperoni* Bacon & Cheese* Ham & Cheese* Onion & Cheese* Sweet Corn* Spinach* Veggie (zucchini, leek, onion, rice, spices)4 Sides* Black beans and white rice (2)* Cole slaw* Spinach salad2 Sauces* Chimichurri* Red HotEach and every empanada tasted terrific. My wife and I independently concluded that all of the empanadas were equally enjoyable. Some flavors were more memorable than others, but that didn't diminish the quality nor satisfaction of the "less memorable" ones. For example, the empanadas that stick out in my mind were the pork chimichurri, ham & cheese, onion & cheese, and sweet corn, but empanadas like the beef, chicken, and spinach were just as tasty and gratifying.If I had to pick a least favorite empanada here, it'd be the pepperoni. It reminded me of a pizza-flavored Hot Pocket, which isn't a bad thing. The problem was there wasn't enough pepperoni/pepperoni flavor for me. Maybe it was just the particular empanada I had. The spinach empanada was like eating spanokopita (Greek spinach pie).At the end of the day, I don't think you can go wrong with any of the empanada choices on Makus' menu. They were all great. The ones with cheese (bacon, ham, onion) were rich and succulent. The beef, chicken, and pork chimichurri were meaty, tender, moist, and savory. The sweet corn and veggie packed more of a flavorful punch than I expected. The crispy, flaky dough wrappings were baked to perfection and generally, each empanada had the right proportions of ingredients (just take a look at my cross section pics).The empanadas were yummy enough on their own that no sauce was needed. In fact, I think the two sauces - both the chimichurri and the red hot - can overpower the flavors of the fillings inside each empanada. The sauces were very good though. The chimichurri was strong and garlicky while the red hot tasted like straight-up Tabasco.As for the sides, the black beans and white rice were money. It's basic Latin comfort food and Makus does it well. Their rice and beans also contain a little bit of peas, carrots, and corn. The cole slaw and spinach salad were more par for the course, but still, not bad. The slaw had coarsely-shredded green and red cabbage and carrots and was light on the mayo. The spinach salad contained dried cranberries, chopped walnuts, and what I believe was a strawberry vinaigrette salad dressing. Everything was fresh.I ordered and paid online using my phone, following the link on Makus' website. They used ChowNow for their online ordering platform. The entire process was easy and straightforward. My order was ready in less than 15 minutes. When I arrived at the restaurant, the server finalized assembly of my order, ensuring maximum freshness.The edges of Makus' empanadas are stamped with letters, distinguishing the different empanada types. Ingenious.Get the Makus Empanada app and use code GET15 to get 15% off your first order."
"Even the veggies were good! And those Caribbean wings were jamming. My coworkers picked up tacos and beef stew and they were also raving. I can't wait to go back and try some other dishes. The service was excellent and it's a really cool space. I did spot Blantons and Bookers behind the bar for those whiskey lovers."
"I like this place because it's authentic, not American-ized food.I'm the only non-hispanic in the place. I ordered shrimp, chicken, and carnitas tacos. 3.99 for 4 small shrimp is a bit pricey for that taco, and the corn tortillas not doubled up. So eating with a fork as it tore immediately from the sauces.Shrimp was OK, chicken better, but the flavor was in the carnitas. They offer a salsa toppings bar but not self-service. Add lettuce, tomatoes, onion, and cilantro. Other toppings as cheese, sour cream, salsa, for a price. A lime piece for each one adds nice citrus touch. I'm glad it's local, so I don't have to drive to Raleigh for authentic Latin American/ Hispanic food.Saw other items on the menu I'd like to try."
