El Mundo De Las Empanadas - Union City

I like to keep a list of bookmarks on the ready. That way, if I ever happen to be in a certain neighborhood/have a specific craving, I can pull out that list. This was one of those times. I was running some errands nearby and I also had a craving for a Cuban sammie. My list showed me that El Artesano was one of the restaurants I wanted to try. Hubby and I stopped in on the Sunday of President’s Day Weekend at around 11 am. The restaurant is set up kind of like a diner. They have diner style counter seating, and they also have two dining rooms. It was packed at that time but luckily, we only waited 5 minutes for a table. They have different specials each day of the week and one of the offerings on Sundays are Ajiaco Criollo, which is a Cuban style stew. This one had potatoes, sweet potato (or maybe some kind of squash? , plantains, and super tender pieces of pork bone meat. It tasted more like a soup than it did a stew, but it was still delicious nonetheless. I ended up dipping my Cuban sammie in the stew, which sounds weird but don’t knock until you’ve tried it. The Cuban was good but I felt like it could have been a bit toastier/hotter. It seems they pre make the sandwiches in the morning and have them ready to be heated up once ordered. Hubby had his go to, the masitas (fried pork chunks . It comes with two sides. I don’t really love this dish because the pork tends to be too dry, but he enjoyed it. For drinks, I had a cortadito and he had a fresh orange/carrot juice and both were a great addition to the meal. Tip parking is a nightmare in that area. I’m not sure if it’s a Sunday thing or an all the time thing. I would recommend parking a bit further and walking over. The time it’ll take you to walk over will be shorter than the time you’ll spend circling looking for a spot.

Sister just moved to NJ. My sister and I decided to cater New Years Eve and our birthday. We wanted Cuban because it’s our heritage. What better place than Union city to find a Cuban restaurant. We decided to try this restaurant before we ordered. Thanks goodness we decided to try it first. We ordered the croquetas. Normally, croquetas are fried. These were probably heated in the air fryer but they forgot to brush it with oil to at least get them crispy. Undercooked. I ordered the pernil, morro and yuca con mojo. The food was cold; it was taken back to the kitchen to be reheated. I guess in a convection oven. The pernil and morro were tasteless. I ate the yuca after adding a little salt and left the rest of the meal. Sister had arroz con pollo which was just yellow rice and 1/2 chicken. We weren’t charged for the pernil. Meal was reasonably priced. I know it hard to find good people to work but there needs to be better management of what comes out of the kitchen. Cuban cuisine uses onions, garlic, oregano etc. Definitely not what I expected. We decided to cook for our birthday.

These empanadas are absolutely delicious and they have a wide variety of flavors! There’s also great customer service. I’ve ordered from here multiple times and plan to go back.

Wonderful delicious food! Staff is very friendly and helpful. I would go again in a heartbeat!

Some of the best empanadas I’ve ever had crispy, light and totally delicious!!