Ruben’s Empanadas

Spicy chicken empanada is delicious. I pop in pretty regularly for one. Not sure why the reviews so low.

How can you fuck up beans and rice? It’s hard to do, but you have to hand it to Ruben. Beans were just… wet? Rice is fine I guess. The «chorizo,» atop them, however, bears no resemblance to either the Spanish or Mexican definition of chorizo. The empanada itself is bland as fuck (while being spicy… again, how, Ruben??) and overly doughy. Why Ruben why?

Speciality in empanadas? I think not! Go next door to Sophie’s
The best ting about the empanadas was the flavored meat. The texture of the empanada is questionable. But I guess that’s how they are in Argentina.

Very good lunch deals and the empanadas are good. They aren’t greasy which is a plus for me and they are generously sized and filled. Overall, good lunch spot for a warm filling meal.

I’m surprised at the overall low ratings I see here. I usually grab a corn empanada almost everyday. I wish they had 100% vegan choices though. I’m sure there’s egg in that dough somewhere. Anyhow, I only eat the corn empanada and now and then I’ll get a lentil soup which is kind of heavy on the salt :(.
People complain that the turnovers are microwaved but I’m not going to complain about that because how else can you keep these things warm ALL day, it’s almost impossible. Who is really going to wait 10 minutes for their empanada to be heated in an old fashioned oven? –_​– Especially when you have to get back to work. I think $ 4.50 for one empanada is too much though considering it will not fill you. They sure are tasty though. Over the years the price keeps increasing but that is expected. As long as the corn empanadas are on the market I will always buy it! Yum.

I may have had some stale one but the flavor and taste has gone down significantly over the over the year. The Argentina empenada was a poor quality of meat. I tasted not pork or sausage
The breakfast sausage is really tasteless.
I felt like i wasted my money
I also had the guave empenada. It had to teaspoons of guava wrapped in Pastry puff. It was a waste of effort.

Came here for a quick bite. Tiny place-​only a handful of small tables so our group did have to sit separately.
I got the spicy chicken & it was packed with chicken breast and pretty tasty. This was my first empanada so I don’t know what the standard is, but I was happy that the crust wasn’t thick or doughy. Not bad at all.

So disappointing… I’ve always wanted to try this place, and since it’s called Ruden’s EMPANADAS, you’d think the empanadas would be amazing. The casing of the empanada looked and tasted like it was made from pizza dough, and even in some areas it wasn’t even cooked all the way thru, leaving it raw. Needless to say I didn’t eat the outside of it, which leaves me to talk about the inside ingredients… the cheese empanada tasted horrible, and the corn empanada was just bland with no flavor.
Silver lining was that the rice and beans were some what tolerable to eat, but that’s not saying much. It seems to me that this place isn’t authentic in anyway and it shows in their food.
I won’t be ordering from here again.

Spicy chicken is the way to go. The hot sauce kicks up the rice and beans. Great lunch spot with solid service, Seinfeld playing in the restaurant… I’m thinkin’ to myself… Hey, I like this Ruben guy.

Great taste at a good price. I always walk out full and happy :)

the rice and beans, with chorizo was pretty damn good. empanada was 6 out of 10. This place is real small and subtle. unique in its own way. Although alot of the empanadas werent available. half of the selection to be exact.
the customer service was really good.

Still worst empanada/“rice and beans” I’ve ever had. Was craving one today and decided to give this place a second try. it was bad the first time though. They also gave me the wrong order the first time. Today I got the veggie chilli and it’s bland, plus whatever taste it does have is bad. They give you one empanada and a huge container of tasteless rice and beans. The $ 8 deal isn’t a deal at all because the food is so bad. Better off find a food truck… seriously. There’s an empanada food truck that stops in the area sometimes that is 100 times better and cheaper.

Like most of us I’m often crushed under the pressure of planning a first date. What scent should I use, how viscus should my hair be, what kind of blazer should I wear, how many breasts should said blazer be? It’s a bit of a mine field. The one thing I’ll never have to worry about is location, when a girl asks where should I meet you I’ll always confidently answer Ruben’s Empanadas. They say clothing doesn’t make the man, but what they should say is Ruben makes the Man, a lady killer. It’s the closest you can get to a romantic Parisian experience. The combination of ambiguous Latin pastry and florescence lighting tantalizes all the bells and whistles in they’re mysterious lady flap boxes. Bravo Ruben, I don’t know where you are, but have my eternal gratitude.

Close by for if I have a serious empanada craving… I got the beef one which had raisins in it (yummy). The filling was good however the edge of the empanada was so thick and then the filling-​crust ratio was too high for me… I would have appreciated each per bite instead of one or the other. May try this famous sausage one next.

Ummm okay… Where do I begin
I always walk by this place and I was very excited to try it. Turns out the emapanads are HORRIBLE! The dough they use taste disgusting the chicken inside of it was disgusting and the rice and beans it came with were disgusting!!! Im completely disappointed by this place. Being that its called «Rubens Empanadas» youd think empanadas were they’re specialty!!! Think again because its not. I actually did not even finish my lunch I ended up just throwing the food in the garbage! I would not suggest this place for anyone for anything! Yuck!

This Ruben’s gets a bad rap and it’s not all that terrible. I get the Argentine sausage empanada and beyond that I don’t need to sample the entire menu. Their chili is pretty good. The reason I keep coming back here is because the owner always listens to and sings Madonna. So if you’re having a rough morning and by 11 AM you need an empanada with hot sauce, you can rock out to Borderline as an added bonus. Really it could be worse — it’s the only empanada spot in the area.

Argentine empanadas are different than your regular thin skinned empanadas. Their dough is thick and bready… reminiscent of something Indonesian my mom used to make when I was little (Panada filled with tuna).
The Argentine sausage empanada was good, and I liked it based on its simplicity. But, I can see the need for hot sauce on it. The potato one was carby and though it said there was supposed to be cheese in there, I didn’t find it. This was something else that would also benefit from their hot sauce. It’s also baked, not fried like the usual empanadas so I can see why people hate on it.
It’s good for a snack, and maybe I’m biased because I like the nostalgic feeling it gave me for my mom’s bready turnovers, but not as bad as people have said… and I’m sorta sad that I DIDN’T get one with raisins in it! :)

Very tiny location but the chicken empanada is okay & filling for me. Service has been friendly enough when I’ve gone. Good place to go if you’re just looking for something small to eat that you can take back to the office. Plus, they’re a grade A oasis in a sea of not so great food options in the area w/​grades to match.

They are large!
So large they had trouble closing the container.
Our office had a big takeout order from Ruben’s .
I tried the chicken & corn Empanadas with order of sides (rice & bean).
The filling was not flavoured well and tasted bland. The hot sauce is nothing special.
The other Empanadas I sampled were just average.

I like the place for a few reasons…
1. For quick eats, it’s an alternative to the burger/​chain places and the steam table/​pizza slice spots that dominate the area.
2. Grab and go… near Fulton station, I’ve taken them home for dinner.
3. The pastry isn’t too thick, which often mars dough-​encased foods.
Taste-​wise, I think it depends on what you order. I had chicken, for example, and it was simply decent — but nothing special. But the spicy beef with beans/​peppers had a nice little kick.
It might not be as good or cheap as you get from the donkey-​led food cart vendor on the way to Machu Picchu, but for downtown NY, it’s not bad.