Maria Luisa Empanadas

We didn’t think empanadas in Seattle could make us feel like the protagonist in a romance novel, until we cracked open the ones at Maria Luisa in Ballard. These tender little pastries are filled with a wide variety of meats, cheeses, and/or vegetables, served with zesty chimichurri we’d like to have handy at all times in packet form. Takeout is easy (even if you need to feed a big family) and their garage-like space has high-top tables that should work well for quick dine-in lunches.

Don’t make us choose one single empanada, but if we had to give the edge to any, it’d be the one stuffed with steakhouse-quality creamed spinach. Or the one loaded with tangy chorizo. Or the nutmeg-y bechamel with rogue corn kernels. Look, we said this isn’t easy.

Food Rundown

photo credit: Brooke Fitts

Boca

The boca embodies what a classic empanada should strive to be—you know, if empanadas had hopes and dreams. With moist ground beef and a saute of onions and peppers, there’s an herbaceous zing, a hint of sweet caramelization, and plenty of savory notes to go around.

photo credit: Brooke Fitts

Soldati

Salty chorizo crumbles provide spice while imparting precisely enough oily pork fat along the pastry’s walls. It’s the best meat-based empanada of the group.

photo credit: Brooke Fitts

Lugano

Bright green spinach and sticky mozzarella are as in sync as the leads in a buddy cop flick. We talk a big game about not having a favorite empanada at Maria Luisa, but we’ll be real—it’s this one. Don’t tell the chorizo.

photo credit: Brooke Fitts

Humitas

While we wish the corn pronounced itself more in this empanada, we’re very much into the kernel-studded bechamel that makes for a heavier snack.

photo credit: Brooke Fitts

Alfajores

You might be tempted to spring for a banana-filled empanada for dessert, but you can skip that. Instead, grab a chocolate-dipped alfajores. In fact, grab a dozen and bring them to a cookie swap.