Empa Mundo

One of the best places I’ve been for empanadas. Customer service is quick and the owner of the place is very friendly.

For what it is, it is amazing. Think of it like an ice cream shop, only it is an empanata shop. Still, really good food and really nice workers who seem to deeply care about if you like their food or not.

Not recommended if you’ve tasted Peruvian empanadas before. These are fried (not baked) and the filling too sour. I wonder if these empanadas are eaten in Argentina with the sauce they give you here (oil with spices)… What was that, chimichurri… really?. I ordered the criolla and I wouldn’t bother to try the rest. Left disappointed. Probably the best for Argentinians or someone who never tried a real empanada in his life. The place is so bad in need of an update and deep cleaning. I don’t know what was all the hype about this place in the reviews :/

My husband and tried it for a quick lunch and we were pleasantly surprised. The tuna was great. Cheese and mushroom was a bit too cheesy but just my preference. Sweet potato was amazing. I am really glad we tried it!

The «brisket» empanadas were good. Basically it’s a beef empanada with potatoes. The «guava and cheese» empanadas were DELICIOUS! I also tried the «alfajores» it’s basically a cookie, it was good. Service was kind and quick. We ordered TO GO, but the atmosphere was calm. My husband 2 empanadas and was FULL, I had 1 an was FULL. Size wise, they are packed with meat! Good Portion. I don’t give it 5 stars because the menu is limited, I was expecting a dish. But it’s basically all about empanadas. Enjoy!

Went yesterday for the first time. These are fried empanadas not oven baked. Good quality and friendly service. It was 5pm on a Saturday and pretty busy. Tried criolla, tuna and cheesestake, all 3 were good. The alfajor was OK, had better at the Peruvian bakery in Richardson.
Overall, you will not be dissappointed.

If you’re here for the first time or you come every week you feel like a regular. The owners are extremely friendly and welcoming, and there is delicious food to seal the deal. One of those places that gets you in a good mood just thinking about it.

Loved sharing one of my favorites places, Empamundo with my husband and his friend. I love the Humita (cheese and corn) empanadas and the pineapple cookies. My husbands favorite was the brisket. His friends favorite was also the brisket with the corn and cheese as a close second. He also highly recommended the pineapple cookies. Don’t want to forget to share that the empanadas heat up well in the oven at home, so of course I had to order several extras to go.

Several friends had visited this hole in the wall joint and raved about it. Also considering the amount of reviews we felt obligated to at least try it out.
The empanadas are super tasty! I had the brisket, Hawaiian ham and cheese, and the guava and cheese. My boyfriend had the spinach and cheese, humita, criolla, ham and blue cheese. Then for kicks we shared the banana nutella.
The best ones were: humita, ham and blue cheese, guava and cheese, and banana Nutella! These were the kind of delicious you encourage people to visit for. Made to order and hot out of the oil. They were indulgent and sinful almost.
I can’t say much about authenticity of these, but the price, friendly staff, and tastiness earn it a 4 stars for me. It did not receive a 5 stars because the drink selection really sucked. It’s a small refrigerated case with bottled water, cans of soda, and Jumex. I felt that there should be at least a soda fountain and other beverage options. Lemonade? Iced tea?
In any case! I will absolutely be returning.

World, oh dear world, you think you’ve lived; you think you’ve experienced a satisfied belly, but oh my friends, if your taste buds have yet to experience the deliciously affordable empanadas from Empa Mundo, you are mistaken.
For my fellow hangry Unilocalers, be warned: meals are made to order, but your patience will be rewarded. All empanadas are homemade and sold for a low price of $ 2.50/piece. Pro tip: check out the small board behind the counter for specials not listed on the menu. Here you’ll find my personal favorites: pulled pork and banana/​nutella. The empandas may look small, but be fooled not: they are packed to the max. Three was more than enough for me.
Double pro tip: just when you think this place couldn’t get any better, these empanads make for great left overs. The shell looses a bit of it’s crispiness, but the flavor and quality are almost magically maintained.

I’m not sure why this place decided to open up so close to the Argentine bakery when these two are touted as Argentine places in the DFW area (and there’s no other, to this date). And I’m not sure which came first. But regardless, here’s what I’ve got to say:
PROS:
1) Authentic menu — they had the humitas (corn and cheese but added onions? sure, why not), the onion and cheese (but added mushrooms? sure, why not), they had the traditional beef with egg, etc, and the same version with chicken, spinach, they have the Cuban-​styled guava and cream cheese, and they have some Texan-​style empanadas. The variety of the empanadas are the best I’ve seen in DFW so far. SEE BELOW.
2) They really really pack in these empanadas! Very much appreciated.
3) Fried fresh to order. These almost ALWAYS end up tasting better. The other Argentine place nearby does not do this (maybe because theirs are baked and that takes longer to prepare).
CONS:
1) Alfajores cookies look a little on the sad side compared to the other Argentine bakery
2) Empanadas were a hit and a miss — SEE BELOW.
EMPANADAS:
I tried SIX different empanadas — the ground beef w/​egg (criollo), chicken w/​egg, spinach, guava & cream cheese, onion, and humita. Numbered in order from MOST FAVORITE TO LEAST FAVORITE.
1) The ground BEEF (aka CRIOLLA) was the best, I would definitely come back for this one again and again. Best empanada I’ve had out of the two Argentine places in the area.
2) The CHICKEN is also almost equally as good. I say almost because I thought the chicken was a little too dried out — but the flavor was still great and almost matched the beef.
3) The SPINACH was good — if you like creamed spinach.
4) The Cuban-​styled GUAVA and cream cheese was just ok — the guava shells (cascos) would be better than the block of guava paste used (mermelada) so the syrup could get mixed in better with the cream cheese. While this is the only place I’ve found to have this empanada in the DFW area, I’ve had many many better ones in Miami and this one falls noticeably short.
5) ONION and cheese were good — but I tasted cream and not so much cheese, and the addition of mushroom was different — not traditional. Overall eh.
6) HUMITA (CORN) is traditionally made with cheese — and oddly enough, I tasted béchamel sauce (listed as white sauce here), and the addition of onion is noted — but oddly tasting with the béchamel. Too much bechamel white sauce made it taste more starchy (since it’s made with flour) than it should have been. I didn’t like this one as much as I expected to.
So… just stick with the beef and the chicken. And you’ll leave thinking the place is amazing. But as far as I see it, there’s still room for competition for a better empanada place in the DFW.

Tried Empamundo out for lunch today and the empanadas were fantastic!
I had a Beef Brisket, Philly Cheese Steak, Ham & Blue Cheese and Chorizo Empanada.
They were all really good and you can’t beat the price of $ 2.50 per empanada.
If I had to rate the ones I had it would probably be:
1. Chorizo
2. Philly
3. Beef Brisket
4 Ham & Blue cheese
Don’t get me wrong they were all delicious, this is just how I preferred them.

I really enjoyed this place. First off, the customer service was TOP NOTCH! I was made to feel extremely welcome and was helped along the way during the ordering process. I ordered:
cheesesteak: good
onion & cheese w/​mushroom: good
tuna: very good
But my favorite, the guava and cheese! SO GOOD. Yea I’m going back next weekend for more of these!!!
And the chimichurri sauce REALLY taste great on the savory empanadas. On all of them. Get extra, you’ll want it!

I am trying to understand why anyone would not give this 5 stars. Delicious
The cheesesteak is the best!!! Love the sauce on the tables, don’t skip that!

Great hole in the wall place. My coworker and I were in dire need of a change of pace for dinner in the area and found this gem. All the empanadas are delicious. When i went here there I order the Humita (cheese, corn, white sauce), Camote (sweet potato), and Brisket (it’s brisket). I had the camote first as it was a good lead in to the more heartier items ahead of me. It was great, oozing out the sweet potato filling from the first bite, but I didn’t mind, it was delicious. The humita, I’m told, is a rather common food in Argentina and this did not disappoint with gooey cheese and the chimichurri sauce. That sauce was quite nice accompaniment to the humita’s cheese filling as it had a bite at the end of it with some chili flakes. Different from the chimichurri I have experienced before. The brisket is no slouch too, but you probably already know that.
Also as everyone here mentions, it looks to be family owned as when we entered it was just the lady at the counter doing it all from register work to frying the empanadas. She also mentioned she made the chimichurri sauce. Great to see such hard work towards a great tasting product and business generally.
Definite must come back location while I’m in the Las Colinas/​Irving area.

I came back again and have to say the empanadas are top notch! I’d definitely recommend the chorizo, brisket, ricotta and cheese, and the guava and cheese empanadas. I had a few other ones as well which were pretty good but they weren’t stellar compared to the ones I mentioned above. I would definitely come back over and over again!

This place is AWESOME! First, I’m not too huge of a fan of Empanada’s but the ones here will def. have you craving more!
Firstly, this place is located in a small little strip mall, and isn’t all big and fancy — with just one sign that says empanada on it. Firstly, we came in 10 minutes before closing, but the lady working was still extremely nice and helpful, she says shes stayed open later when people come and is always accommodating.
They have so many choices here, but my favorite had to be the Criolla. But I had so many to try from, we had brisket, chicken, chorizo, spinach and cheese… and there was also some flavors of the week which this week was pulled pork.
For the price of only $ 2.50 for one, this is a great buy! So delicious, and 3 more than filled me up. I’m so glad I tried this place out — now I know of new lunch spot. love love love this place.

Oh man, how did I not ever stop by here on my way to or from DFW airport?
Empa Mundo makes *literally* the most delicious empanadas that you could make. Not all the flavors will please every palate, but I doubt they don’t have a flavor you’ll love. Their crust is super consistent in thickness, doneness and flavor, and that’s a big part of evaluating whether an empanada place is good or great.
My favorite of their offerings is the tuna — which is weird — I was not expecting that! The mushroom onion cheese is sort of like cream of mushroom soup. The corn cheese one has less of a sauce based consistency and more of a stretchy cheese based consistency. The spinach and cheese is mostly spinach, but also still great. Dump the spice oil into your bite hole and experience the glory that is eating at Empa Mundo.
I also like the little menu ordering system with wax pencils and the pretty wide assortment of canned beverages (for example, for diet drinkers they don’t just offer diet coke, but diet mountain dew, diet canada dry, and diet 7-​up). They also have coco rico and regular sweetened sodas.
No central AC but they did get a portable unit so it’s not oppressive in the dining area. Only $ 2.50 per empanada, so you can absolutely stuff yourself and a friend with two drinks for under $ 25.

Empa Mundo is pretty straight forward. It’s a small place and you pick a menu or have a seat and the lady will bring you a menu. She will explain what to do if this is your first time. You get a marker and a menu and you mark the quantity of how many empanadas you want. They are only $ 2.50 each.
I got the guava and cheese, the cheese steak, and chilipanziga. My husband got the cheese steak, criolla, and the chilipanziga. Kids got the cheese steak. My favorite was the cheese steak. The guava and cheese was good, but I don’t think there is enough guava. The chilipanziga says it has ham, onions, and peppers. Peppers I thought like bell peppers. No, be warned this one is really spicy y’all. I mean it does have the word chili in it, duh Krista. The criolla was pretty good too! The owners are real nice. I will return!

Food (⁵⁄₅)
Buttery crust. Delicious filling. It’s all you could ever want in an empanada, right? Well, that’s what Empa Mundo delivers. I stopped by for a Friday lunch with a coworker and ordered the cheesesteak, chorizo, and the chilipazinga. All three were packed full of flavor and were very generous in filling, but my favorite by far was the cheesesteak. Gooey cheese and chunks of beef paired with that buttery crust… it’s what dreams are made of. Additionally, the dining area has an open view into the kitchen, and I was able to see that the staff are actually frying the empanadas as they’re ordered, which makes for very freshly fried empanadas.
Pro tip: People order 3 – 4 empanadas for their whole order, but I have a smaller appetite in general so 2 would have been enough. They have specials on dessert flavors (banana, Nutella, marshmallow), and the price is extremely reasonable as well ($ 2.50 each)! Delicious and cheap earn high marks in my book :)
Service (4.5÷5)
Empa Mundo looks like a mom and pop shop. On a busy Friday lunch hour, there were only two people working: an old man working the counter and a lady in the back frying the empanadas. They also take reservations as I noticed they had blocked off a few tables for a party of 11 that came in later. For this large party, the old man had already set their food out and it was ready for the guests to eat when they arrived. It was a sweet gesture, and I think it’s a testament to how much they value their customers.
To order your food, you are given a menu and a crayon to mark up what you wish to order. Afterwards, you give the menu and crayon back to the old man and wait for your delicious empanadas to be done frying. Since we came in around the popular lunch time around noon, it took a little longer than expected (about 30 minutes) for our food to come out. However, for only 2 people running the store who are also trying to accommodate a large 11-​person reservation, I was impressed, so I will only dock 0.5 stars for the service since it was a bit slow, but it was also my fault for coming in during the popular lunch hour. At the end, you go to the counter to ring up your final total. Based on this experience, I’ll definitely make note to come during off-​peak hours.
Atmosphere (⁴⁄₅)
Very small space with table seating. There’s a cute map on the wall asking where people are from, so it’s got the mom and pop charm to the store. The whole store probably seats 20 – 25 people max, so do expect to share a table with other people during their busy hours. Normally, I would give this kind of restaurant atmosphere 3 stars, but I think the spirit of the restaurant is to channel the mom and pop feel which Empa Mundo truly embodies.
Bottom Line
The best empanadas I have ever had. They are crazy busy during peak lunch times, so I would recommend coming during off-​peak hours. Very sweet staff who do everything they can to ensure you enjoy your empanada eating experience :)