The cuisine of the Latin American diaspora can be found all over Denver. To taste the differences is to understand how countries, cultures, and immigrants to this nation have taken foods common in the largely Spanish-speaking continent and splintered them into their own special creations.
Take the empanada. There are varieties of it all over the world: meat pies or pasties (pronounced pass-tees) in the UK, salteñas in Bolivia, calzones in Italy. Dare I say even pierogies or fried dumplings are synonymous, with their folded crescent moon shape? What about Mexican gorditas? Usually, they’ve got a delicate finger-pressed seal, but there isn’t much discrimination here: I’m talking about savory pastries you can hold in your hand.
In Chile, where I was born, empanadas are everything. They are not the only thing, but it’s hard for me not to talk about the country’s cuisine without mentioning their ubiquity. You can blame that on a certain homogeneity found up and down the narrow country, and an adherence to tradition that threw off one of the more respected American chefs and culinary diplomats, Anthony Bourdain, when he visited the country for a 2009 episode of No Reservations. (He was not a fan of our hot dogs or pisco sours, which we take pride in.)
My wife and I visited my parents in Santiago, the nation’s capital, in mid-September. It’s a particularly patriotic period as Chileans prep for a weeklong independence celebration known as Fiestas Patrias.
I must’ve eaten more than a dozen empanadas during our 10-day stay there. That’s no small feat: Chilean empanadas, whether purchased from a stand on the side of the road or served at a restaurant, are usually extra-large. The ground beef filling, or pino, includes sauteed onions, black or green olives (occasionally with the pit: biters beware), hard-boiled eggs, and raisins. The baked crust is soft but firm, easily breaking into the steaming goodness within.
You can find Chilean-style empanadas in Denver at the Cachai Chilean Food food truck, usually posted off Alameda Avenue and Cherokee Street on weekday afternoons. But, like I said, the diaspora is alive and well, with empanadas representing other Latin American comforts, available in Denver as well.
Here are 5 recommendations for restaurants specializing in empanadas, from me, your new food reporter at The Denver Post:
Carne
People born in South America make up 6% of the Denver population, according to a 2022 census report; among the bunch, Argentinians are the most entrepreneurial when it comes to making and selling empanadas. Buenos Aires ex-pats Andrea and Leo Tartufoli started The Argentos Empanadas & More in Silverthorne in 2018 and added empanada shops in Keystone, Louisville and Denver. The latter, dubbed Carne, is located at 258 Santa Fe Drive, a hole-in-the-wall, but with an elegantly painted exterior.
The dining room was empty when I stopped by on a recent Monday evening. Whether or not you’re a fan of Messi and Maradona, Argentos has several baked empanada offerings, including mushroom, chicken and steak. The best are the most original: a spicy chorizo empanada with chopped green olives that warmed my cold bones. Get the perfect bite by scooping in some of the criolla or chimichurri sauces made in-house.
Locations in Denver, Silverthorne and Keystone; instagram.com/carnedenver/
Cachai Chilean Food
Mayra Chacon started this food truck with her cousin after moving to Denver from Chile about five years ago and not finding any restaurants that served her native country’s dishes. (She had a point.) Though it travels around town, you’re likely to catch it on weekday afternoons at the northeast corner of Alameda Avenue and Cherokee Street.
Cachai – the Chilean slang equivalent of “you dig?” – offers traditional and popular Chilean street fare, including hot dogs (completos) slathered with avocado and mayo and sliced beef and chicken sandwiches (churrascos), including a prized chacarero with green beans. Their empanadas are hefty and come in two baked varieties (de pino and shrimp and cheese) and two fried varieties (with cheese or with cheese and mechada, or shredded beef). The truck, its cabin plastered with designs of Easter Island heads and the red-white-and-blue Chilean flag, is hard to miss.
Find the food truck on weekdays at 167 W. Alameda Ave. in Denver; instagram.com/cachaichileanfood
Empanadas Express Grill
Empanadas Express sits in a cozy shack with outdoor seating in a strip of small businesses east of the Oriental Theater in Denver. This time it wasn’t fútbol announcers, but salsa music that emanated from behind the counter during lunchtime, along with smells and sounds from the kitchen. Along with Venezuelan dishes that I’ll have to return for, Empanadas Express Grill had two types of empanada platters: a sampler with a dozen mini empanadas or an order of three Colombian empanadas.
What’s the difference between the two? “Everything,” a cook steps out of the kitchen to tell me in Spanish. She made it easy on me: The mini empanadas were made with fried flour dough and the Colombian ones were made with corn dough. I bought an order of mini empanadas for the newsroom. Filled with gooey cheese and either pork, green chiles (they call them rajas, or “strips”), chicken or beef, they made for irresistible midday snacks.
4301 W. 44th Ave., Denver; laempanadaexpress.com
A sampling of the empanadas offered at Lazo Empanadas at 22nd and Larimer in Denver.
Lazo Empanadas
Lazo Empanadas has a downtown location on the main floor of Denver’s historic Burlington building, at 1319 22nd St. Owner Francois Saber moved from Argentina in 2015 to start Lazo with his brother, Christian, the chef and owner of Rincon Argentino in Boulder. Saber imports dough made in his former home for his empanadas, which come in a dozen different flavors. They also make dessert empanadas, including a dreamy Nutella-and-banana combination.
“We had to explain to many people what an empanada was,” Saber said. The business now produces 150,000 empanadas a month – more than double what it was making three years ago – and will open a location in Frisco this winter, he said.
Locations in Denver, Greenwood Village, Edgewater and Silverthorne; lazoempanadas.com
Maria Empanada
Maria Empanada is a Denver institution, not only serving its titular hand pies but a full dinner menu and drinks. Maria’s hasn’t escaped drama during its 13-year history. (What restaurant hasn’t since the pandemic?) Last year, owner Lorena Cantarovici apologized for a dip in quality noticed by customers after she started using machinery to seal empanadas and bring down labor costs.
She has since ditched the machines and returned to her original formula. Maria Empanada is expected to open an East Colfax location this month and a concession at Denver International Airport in the spring.
Locations in Denver and Aurora, including Stanley Marketplace