El Porteño

El Porteno opened where Cafe Lambretta was. Seating similiar. New decor. E.P. here goes beyond Argentine Empanadas..Offerings: Empanadas, salads, sauces, drinks, covfefe, alfajores (cookies), daily specials...A fam member picked up an edible here for me..Carne Empanada (7)-certainly pricey. Size nearly as big as my hand so it's worthy. -traveled well. Kept overnight in fridge, warmed in convection oven 10 minutes- as good as fresh..-definitely better than lst impression. This version better than other country's.-savory notes from tender ground beef, onions, raisins, cinnamon, boiled eggs, cinnamon, broth, brown sugar & salt. -fluffy crispy outer texture creates comfort food vibes. oilyness & salty aftertaste only negatives4ish stars. Great as an appetizer or dessert, not as a main...wide variety of fillings

I'm a big fan of El Porteno Empanadas, but this was my first time visiting the location in south beach. Got the camarones, and jamon y queso, though they had a lot of variety in the display case to choose from. The ham and cheese empanada was super melty and gooey with the ultimate cheese stretch (just the way I like it), and the shrimp empanada was not exactly the best one I've had from El Porteno, the buttery crust slightly undercooked and the filling a bit fishy, but I have confidence that this was an off day for them since I've had their products so many times from different locations in SF, Napa, as well as food trucks throughout the bay area, and this was the first time in years that I've had a not-so-great empanada. I wouldn't hesitate to come back to this location, a clean and spacious casual eatery with indoor seating, cheap street parking right out front on a weekday morning, Juneteenth holiday to be exact ($1 for 45 minutes), and instant service with no waits. I've said it before and I'll say it again... El Porteno has the best empanadas in the bay area (and possibly anywhere)!

If like going to Giants games, and you like the crab sandwich, you have to come here for the Camarones empanada before the game.I came here before a Giants day game, expecting it to be crowded, it is just one cross street away from the stadium, but there was no one in line, and just one person sitting down. I'm really into empanadas or any pastry stuffed with meat. I ordered the Espinacas and the Camarones. The Espinacas was filled with spinach and pancetta, it was very tasty and flaky, more like a croissant than an empanada. Then I started eating the Camarones, it was a life changer, easily the best thing I have eaten in the last year. It was stuffed with shrimp, and buttery, just a great way to eat seafood. My son ordered the apple empanada, but it was overcooked and no good.

Honestly, I've had better. I was drawn to this place because it smelled great. The taste was ok, but the service left something to be desired. In particular, the person at the counter was not helpful. I made a point to tell them (the person was male-appearing) that it was my first time and asked for recommendations; I was flippantly told that chicken and carne are most popular. I asked about the lamb because I was thinking about trying it. They said it was good without elaborating. I ordered lamb and chicken empanadas. I enjoyed the lamb more than the chicken. Sometimes, people have off-days, and I get that. If the person were just having a bad day, I would have taken less issue. However, not even one minute later, they were acting friendly and cheerful to the two girls behind me in line. I will say that they were indeed friendly, so I hold nothing against them. However, I listened as they were provided with honest recommendations about what the worker's favorite empanada was. This left a bad taste in my mouth, especially because this information was given (as far as I'm aware) without prompting. My friend also witnessed their interaction with me and held similar sentiments that their tone toward me was not friendly. However, she had walked away before witnessing the worker's interaction with the next group. She also mentioned that it's quite likely that my taste experience of the food was impacted by this experience. Honestly, it would not surprise me. Even though the taste was good enough, it's not sufficient to entice me after this experience, especially because there are so many other delicious and friendly food options nearby.

It's an ok place. The service is a little unprofessional. They helped with everything I asked for but I had to ask for everything. No smiles. They also put the open sign up 40 minutes before they had any food ready. I got a queso y jamón empanada. It was decent. Too salty and the crust tasted more like old crisco than "buttery" as they advertise. Maybe that's how they do it in Argentina? What do I know ‍ The dinning room was quiet and decently furnished.

Empanadas were good. We had the beef and olives. The bread was cooked perfectly. I just thought the olive and beef empanada was very sweet. I wish they had a chorizo one! But it was still tastey. Customer service was pleasant. I would come back! Especially to try a new flavor!

Stop by around 4:30pm on a Monday, and you guessed it CLOSED!. Whomp whomp 2 stars for that. Change your hours , 4 hours is a big time gap.

Holy smokes, these are good. El Porteño had a booth at Bottlerock this year and so we tried the Jamon y Queso and the Carne with (very spicy) chimichurri. They were delicious. Lots of filling, tons of flavor and a tender, buttery, flakey crust. (The folks working the booth were very nice as well)We then discovered that they have a storefront near my boyfriends work in San Francisco, so now we're in trouble. HA.Today we tried the Espinaca (spinach and bacon) and Fugazetta (cheese, onion and oregano) and they are also both outstanding. Again, so full of flavor, plenty of filling, and the pastry is wonderful. We couldn't get away without trying a dessert empanada also. They're a bit smaller but no less flavorful. The manzana is delicious and complex with a rich, deeply caramelized flavor that really sets it apart from just about any other apple dessert I've had in recent memory.I'm quite positive we will be repeat customers.

Amazing empanadas! The ones with dulce de leche and banana are sooo good! Also, the shrimp one and de pollo!!

2 stars at best. Due to all the raving reviews, I was very excited to try the shrimp empanada. Not only was it a bit fishy but the small pieces of shrimp inside was probably the worst I've ever had. It tasted very overcooked, dry, and rubbery. At $7 per empanada- they don't offer ANY free sauces, not even hot sauce which is absolutely unheard of for an empanada place. They have chimichurri for sale but the prices are ridiculous. $1.50 for a small 1 oz size. I would pay 0.75- max $1 for the sauce but $1.50 is too much for that size. With that said, the beef empanada was decent but not good enough to make me want to return.