The students are gone for the summer which is my favorite time of year to visit Green Street restaurants. No shade to the students, but it is much more manageable when the 30,000 of them are on break. Related, I easily found a parking spot on Fourth Street.
The Empanadas House restaurant was bit confusing to find at first because The Empanada House was not technically its own storefront. Jurassic Grill sells The Empanada House empanadas. It was easy enough to figure out as they have a large sign in the front window facing Green Street.
The Empanada House doesn’t have a deep menu. The only other menu item besides empanadas is a horchata. All the business’ empanadas come deep fried and cost $3 each. I liked that the pastry was fully cooked with a nice, flaky texture without being too messy. Frying the empanadas didn’t make them overly oily which I appreciated.
We ordered six different empanadas.
The spicy chicken ($3) had shredded chicken with peppers and onions in a spicy seasoning. It was good, but I would not call it spicy. I should have gotten a regular chicken to compare the two chicken empanadas. This spicy one would be a good choice for anyone who wants more seasoning but doesn’t want to have to worry about heat.
The spicy beef ($3) had the same ingredients as the spicy chicken but made with sautéed ground beef. My partner really enjoyed this one.
The Bombay empanada ($3) was a combination of sautéed vegetables with curry flavoring. I really enjoyed the flavor of this one, and it wasn’t very hot in terms of spiciness. Honestly, I wouldn’t mind walking around campus with a couple in my bag.
The ham and cheese ($3) was an empanada spin on the classic ham-and-cheese. It had cubes of ham in a nice creamy cheese sauce. It really gave nostalgia lunchtime feels.
The spinach feta empanada ($3) was simple with just sautéed spinach and feta cheese. I think it was a great vegetarian option. I love the combination of spinach and feta, and in an empanada form, it was a lovely treat.
For dessert, we had the cheesecake empanada ($3). The cheesecake one had vanilla cheesecake filling inside of an empanada. The fired dough with the warm creamy cheesecake filling was the perfect dessert.
The Empanadas House empanadas were easy to eat and mess free, so along with the price-point, it makes them a great on-the-go lunch or snack. The menu also includes a few other flavors that we didn’t try: barbecue chicken, barbecue pork, regular chicken, and not-spicy beef empanadas. I think anyone would be happy if you showed up with an assortment of flavors to a party.
The Empanadas House
404 E Green St
Champaign
11 a.m. to 11:45 p.m., daily