El Porteño Empanadas

I don’t know much about Mexican food — hey, I’m new to California! I stopped by here because it was quick and inexpensive and I was running to a meeting. I ordered the mushroom empanada and it was oh-​so-​yum. The inside was creamy but still had a great, earthy mushroom flavor! The pastry is perfectly warm and crispy. It isn’t huge but makes a good small lunch or large snack and for $ 6, it’s one of the best deals in the Ferry Building!

Checked in on June 4^th, 2016.
Located inside the Ferry Building. Location wise, perfect. It is not a restaurant. You can get delicious empanadas to-​go.
We ordered:
1) Fugazzeta: Savory Empanada with cheese stuffing. It was delicious!
2) Banana Y Dulce De Leche: Sweet Empanada with Banana stuffing. I preferred the Savory one more. Though nothing wrong with this one.
If I visit it again, I would love to try some new flavors.

They are so freaking inconsistent!!! I would rate them 4 stars if it was freaking the same every time I ate it, but unfortunately that is not the case.
Empanadas are yummy! Little pastry pockets filled with goodies on the inside.
Ham & cheese-​this one is my favorite when there are onions and or chives in there. Maybe it’s green onion and onion. I never really know because of the inconsistencies. Sometimes it’s just a glob of cheese and a smidge of ham. That’s when I absolutely don’t like this place. The shape of this also changes all the time. Why??? I don’t get it.
Mushrooms-​one time it was so plain it just didn’t taste good. Another time it was more cohesive and had more ingredients. Do you see what I’m saying?! Inconsistent.
Corn-​I love all things corn. This one is good! I read that it had basil in it. Tasted and saw no basil… Corn was still delicious though.
Pricing is also inconsistent.

This was my first time trying traditional Argentian empanada which was VERY tasty! I ordered the Carne which is the traditionally prepared grass fed ground beef, onions, green olives, raisins and cage free hard-​boiled eggs. I also tried the featured dessert with Black Cherry with Malbec Wine which was deeelicious! Definitely would go back to try the rest of the menu.

Let me tell you how excited I was to see a new place in the Ferry Building, especially when all they served was empanadas!
From classic carne empanadas to gourmet filled empanadas you will be able to get whatever your heart (or stomach) desires. You may have to fight off the crowds of the Ferry Building as you make your way over, but not to feat, the line at El Porteno Empanadas moves quickly!
For me, I went with the classic carne empanada, which tasted pretty good. However, it was oddly sweet and I was more in the mood for something really savory. I am not sure if I just wasn’t in the mood or if there is actually added sugar. My friend had the ham and cheese empanada, which she said she really enjoyed.
The cost of one empanada is pretty steep at $ 6. I’m used to the street food prices and was expecting more of a $ 3 or $ 4 empanada. But given the touristy location I can see why they set the prices so high.
In the end, I’d probably go back if I am really craving an empanada since it’s located right in my back yard, but I think the prices are just a tad too steep.

Lunch review.
Prosciutto empanada — ²⁄₅
Fugazetta — ¹⁄₅ — 7×7
Pathetic amount of filling in their empanadas.
Overall, «I think not.»

Chanced upon this right before I head to the airport. Perfect. I can’t resist empanadas. Got the carne empanada which is pretty good. One of the better ones that I’ve had although it’s slightly salty. At $ 6 a pop it is pretty pricey but considering the location that’s understandable. And it sure beats eating expensive and blah airport food.

Was walking around the ferry terminal market area and stumble by this place. Ordered one beef and one mushroom. Both were fresh and delicious. Definitely try the mushroom. It hit the spot.

SOOOOO GOOODD! The banana y dulce de leche empanada was delicious. :3 haven’t tried the meat or «traditional» ones but I definitely will next time!

For our catered work lunch yesterday, Friday, April 8^th, we decided to celebrate National Empanada Day! Everyone ordered two empanadas and we all shared a salad.
SAVORY EMPANADAS ($ 4.50 each)
*JAMON Y QUESO: Prosciutto with fontina cheese
*CHAMPIÑONES: Local seasonal mushrooms sautéed with shallots, aged parmesan and crème fraiche
ENSALADAS (Serves 10 – 12)
*ENSALADA DE MIXTA ($ 17.50): Organic greens, house vinaigrette, shaved onions and cherry tomatoes
I saw that their beef and chicken empanadas came with raisins so I opted for a prosciutto and a mushroom. (I don’t like raisins at all, but everyone who tried the meat ones said they couldn’t really taste the raisins.) I enjoyed the prosciutto empanada. More cheese than jamon, but I love cheese, so I didn’t mind. The mushroom one was okay. The crust was nice and flaky on both, but I felt like the mushroom one needed more cheese as it just tasted earthy and not much else. It didn’t seem to meld together for me. The salad was perfect as I love greens. Nice and simple and provided a good contrast to the empanadas.
One empanada is good for a snack. Two and some salad make for a nice lunch.

This was the best empanada I’ve ever had. I ordered the mushroom one today and it was delicious.
But…I will probably never go back.
Damn, $ 6.52 for a smallish empanada? Mr foodlover says they pay huge rent in the ferry building and thus the exorbitant prices, and I like to help a place out, but that’s just ridiculous pricing.

One bite of the Carne empanada and I was sold! When it comes to visiting The Ferry Building its a about snacking. There are too many fabulous places to eat to pick just one. Which is why the hand sized empanada that El Porteño Empanadas offers is a great addition to your journey of bursting flavors throughout this market place. If you’re not concerned about shelling out a few more dollars for a small bite, a stop here is definitely worth it. One thing I have noticed, their prices are not always consistent. They had signs up for $ 5/​empanada on my visit, but list their empanadas at $ 4.50 online and some reviews complain of $ 6 prices, if would be in their best interest to nail down a consistent price, but I will tell you that in general, things run a little higher at The Ferry Building. Tip: they also have a food truck, which seems to have better prices, you might skip their «brick & mortar» location and hunt for the truck!

Perks of working close to the Ferry Building — amazing varieties of food to choose from!
El Porteno Empanadas blew me away at the very first bite!
It is loacted to the far end of the Ferry building. It is basically a walk-​up stand with no seating. You stand in line, choose your empananda (s), pay and you are good to enjoy your treat!
I love anything flaky and cheesy and these empanadas are my favorite now. They serve both savory and dessert empanadas. I have tried both and I feel you really can’t go wrong with them.
**Fugazzeta — Aged Cheddar Cheese with Shaved Onions and Oregano. This is more of the cheesy one and this is placed in the top 100 things to eat in SF before you die, according to The Big Eat 2015 :-)
** Champinones — Mushrooms with Shallots, Parmesan and Crème Fraiche. Though I am not a big fan of mushrooms, I loved this. It was loaded with mushrooms!
**Banana dulce de leche — Not overly sweet but melts in your mouth and tastes heavenly.
The only con is it is on the pricier side, $ 6 for savory and $ 3 for the dessert empanandas. But once in a while, I guess it is okay to indulge, since the empanadas make a great afternoon snack.
(Almost) Pro tip:
–Eat it right away. I feel it tastes best when you eat it warm.

I LOVE cheese and I LOVE bread so its a no brainer that I LOVE empanadas. Came here for a quick snack on a Sunday afternoon.
— Jamon Y Queso Empanada — Key word: snack. We ordered one to prevent over stuffing ourselves before dinner but after the first bite, I knew we made a mistake of not ordering two. Loved the warm flaky crust and the cheese. You know it’s good when you have to pull your head back a few inches to let the cheese pull apart on its own.
It’s a little on the pricey side so if I can’t find anything cheaper in the Mission comparable to this one, I might just come back… and purchase 3.

Here’s the down low on this place:
located in Ferry building, family-​owned and its «super fast, fresh, friendly, and authentic.»
I was roaming around the ferry building for a snack, not chips or fruits but something with a little sustenance to hold me over for a few hours. I was pretty excited to see empanadas. Warm, fluffy, flaky, buttery, savory goodness. drool* Sadly, that was not the case here. First off, $ 6 for and empanada the size of my hand. wtf? maybe 2/​$ 6 would be more reasonable. I wish I took a photo of it but really, it wasn’t photo worthy. My first cut into it, it was underwhelming. The pocket was flat and I didn’t find it all too appetizing. Good thing I only bought 1! I found the dough to be alright, slight crunch on the outside but a bit chewy on the inside. The filing was abysmal — bought the Pollo. You’d find more chicken in a McDonald’s chicken nuggets then in the empanada. #sorrybutnotsorry. The flavor profile definitely could have been kicked up a notch.

Whenever I stop at the Ferry building, I try to eat here. Fantastic meat empanadas– Argentine Style! They have other flavors too, but meat is my favorite. The crust is crunchy an not greasy. The meat filling is properly seasoned. Price is also very affordable!

I’ve been fortunate enough to go pay several visits to Buenos Aires over the past few years, but the bittersweetness of it all has been the inability to find authentic and flavorful empanadas stateside. Given the reviews, I was hoping that El Porteno might provide that reprieve, but low and behold, I was a bit let down.
Star 1: How were the service and atmosphere?
El Porteno is one of many stalls within the Ferry Building, and the logistics are pretty simple. You walk up, point out which empanadas you want, they heat them up, and you’re good to go. The selection is pretty standard, but such is the beauty of empanadas. No complaints here. Star Granted.
Star 2: How were the portions relative to the cost?
One of the great things about authentic empanadas is that they’re traditionally so cheap, but that’s not to say that you can’t find double digit empanadas even in BA. I wasn’t sure what to expect here price wise given empanadas aren’t exactly common place, but $ 4.50 per empanada initially struck me as a bit on the expensive side. Having said that, I looked back on what I paid in Los Angeles at Nonna’s (
) and I realized I was paying $ 3.00 per empanada for smaller portions. That being the case, the prices here at El Porteno were reasonable for San Francisco. Star Granted.
Stars 3 and 4: How was the food?
Meh. So here’s the deal, my friends and I opted to get one Carne, one Pollo and one Jamon y Queso to get a feel for the full traditional spread, and we were honestly pretty let down by all three of them. While it may be difficult to tell by the photo below, an initial issue here was that the crust to filling ratio was pretty poorly tilted towards the crust. When we actually go around to the fillings, both the carne and pollo were stuffed with fillers ranging from olives (way, way too many olives) to onions. That’s not always a bad thing, but the proportions here were such that there was a point where I couldn’t honestly tell between the pollo and the carne. The ham and cheese wasn’t much better, but not enough ham and a poor quantity of mediocre cheese. All in all there was a lot of room for improvement here. No Stars Granted.
Star 5: Would you eat here every day if you could?
Good empanadas are hard to find stateside, and given my experience I can’t say that El Porteno is the answer. No Star Granted.

There’s a probably a pre-​SF point in my life when I would have said that $ 5 for an empanada was a little too steep. Nevermind the fact that this is at the Ferry Building in SF. Nevermind the huge range of options. Nevermind that the empanadas are delicious. $ 5 for one empanada. Too steep. Right? …Wrong.
El Porteno makes some damn fine empanadas. I come down to the Ferry Building at lunchtime about once or twice a week when I’m working out of the FiDi. This spot is one of my go-to’s because of the delicious food and the fact that an empanada makes a great light lunch if you want a little something that is tasty but not too filling. Their owner and chef, Joseph Ahearne, emphasizes an approach using locally sourced and excellent quality ingredients. It shows. And, while you can find El Porteno’s empanadas lurking around a lot of locations in town, it is nice to have the stand alone location in one of my favorite spots in SF.
Variety is key. Alright, so is the flaky crust. I like a place that has a lot of good options but no particularly weak link. Here’s a few of the offerings you will find:
*Carne — Prather Ranch Grass-​fed Ground Beef, Onions, Green Olives, Raisins and Hard Boiled Egg. If this doesn’t sound good, ignore what it sounds like. It is wonderful. Very rich and savory flavor. As Thielson D. said, you wouldn’t likely guess that you are eating raisins.
*Champinones — Far West Fungi Mushrooms with Shallots, Parmesan and Crème Fraiche. I love mushrooms, and this didn’t disappoint. Lots of mushroom, and it didn’t turn into a gooey mess with the cheese and Crème Fraiche.
*Jamon y Queso — Pretty good. I like Ham and Cheese, but I would recommend some of the other offerings unless you are really craving the flavors. Of everything here, this is the most likely to be voted «Kicked Up Hot Pocket».
*Fagazzeta — Aged Cheddar Cheese with Shaved Onions and Oregano. Good savory flavor with the Oregano, coupled with the flaky crust is pretty darn tasty.
*Acelga — Local Swiss Chard, Gruyère and Pine Nuts. Yum. Double yum. I love wilted greens when they are well seasoned. I also love gruyère cheese. Good texture — it doesn’t feel like a hot pocket of creamed spinach.
*Camarones — Which is listed as a special. It comes with Shrimp and Basil. I thought the flavors were terrific. I also figured the Shrimp may be like rubber, but not so. I’m not sure how often this is available, but it is worth a try.
Overall, it isn’t super cheap. At the end of the day, $ 5 isn’t bad for lunch if you’re not super hungry. I suppose you could eat two if you were hungry, but part of why I come here is that it isn’t a ton of food. But boy, what it lacks in size it makes up for in flavor. I’m a fan. The more I go, the more I appreciate the flavors. Now I want to try one of the Argentine-​flag decorated Alfajores cookies.

Their empanadas taste better from the food truck. I first tried El Porteno’s empanadas from their food truck awhile back at Off the Grid… they were savory and delicious! I hadn’t seen them around since then… until I walked into the Ferry Building on Sunday. I remembered their delicious empanadas and ordered 2 of their carne empanadas. They took 2 already bagged empanadas out of their heating oven and so, I took them outside to eat.
First, while trying to pull the empanadas out of the bag, they were pretty stuck to the bag, making it hard not to peel off part of the outer layer. It was warm and tasted good, but it wasn’t fresh. I felt like the empanadas I got were made awhile ago and have been sitting in the heating oven for quite some time. They were good, just not very delicious as I remembered from the food truck. The carne empanada has beef, olives, raisins, and hard boiled eggs. The flavors are pretty good and the outer pastry layer had a nice subtle flavor that is perfect with the savory inside. They definitely do have potential to be a little better (possibly if just made), but this time, they were A-​OK.
Overall, not a bad snack to have as you visit the Ferry Building. They cost $ 4.25 for one and have a variety of flavors… both meat and vegetarian. I regret not getting an alfajores (shortbread cookies) as I heard they are the bomb.

Delicious empanadas! My favorites so far have been the mushroom and the shrimp empanadas.
One is perfect as a snack on the run.
Two or three are perfect as a satisfying meal that leaves room for dessert
Friendly and quick customer service.
I try to come here every time I am in the area.

El Porteño Alfajores son los mejores! Absolutely to die for!