Franchesca's Empanadas Cafe — Restaurant in Baltimore

“Esta empanadera es la reina de todas las empanadas” {This empanada maker is the queen of all empanadas} People keep reviewing this place and they use words like delicious or amazing and that’s accurate but they also keep using the word food. The empanadas and the tamale go beyond that word it’s not food. It’s more I can’t explain it and if you wanna experience it, you have to come. I go to as many places that serve empanadas as I go to coffee shops. And I have never had an empanada worth saying something really good about. You can go and look at my reviews. I don’t even mention half the coffee places I go to. And I’ve never mentioned an empanada. I was looking for some coffee when I saw the sign for Franchesca’s empanadas Café. All I saw on the sign was Café as I approach the shop I realized oh I’m probably not gonna be able to get a cup of coffee here. When I entered, I did see they had a proper espresso machine I ordered a latte which was passable and filled my need, but that’s not what I’m writing this review about I ordered tamale and various empanadas to try them out First, based on the pricing and the area I was expecting to get an empanada smaller than the palm on my hand. You know those places that are all bougie and if the empanada is reasonably priced, then it’s a little tiny thing and you gotta eat like 14 of them Well, that was not Franchesca‘s place. For under five bucks, I got a very large empanada. That for a normal person could be a meal. I started with the pulled pork chipotle it was delicious. I highly recommend the Verde sauce, but the aïoli went well with it. I got the caramel apple and the apple so I could compare It was my intention to just taste these empanadas, but the full flavor explosion that happened in my mouth forced me to devour each one, and the only thing I could think of was how delicious they were. My brain had stopped processing the flavors and the textures, I could not consciously discern the ingredients. I could tell it was delicious- but I had lost the ability to disect what ingredients were used. I am no longer hungry in fact the opposite I ordered way too much stuff and it was still like just a hair bit over 20 bucks. Four normal people could’ve ate on that. Now to add to this experience. They have outdoor seating in the back it’s private and hidden and you don’t have to watch people walking down the street. You can come into this little enclave of peace and relaxation and almost escape the city for a moment and allow your taste buds to take you on a journey someplace far far away exotic place where the music is soft and the people...

I used to LOVE Francesca's. Discovered them sometime last summer and have been patronizing them ever since. Their food is great, but their customer service was even better, which is what kept me coming back. Recently, however, my experiences have become more and more difficult and unpleasant. On my most recent visit, the young lady taking orders was rude, short, and dismissive. She seemed irritated that I asked for replacement sauces after having dropped them once I left the restaurant. Extra sauces come with a charge, something I didn't know but was fine with, but this young lady became defensive about my request as if I were asking for a free meal instead of a $.25 picante sauce. I've placed two orders with them through DoorDash in the last few weeks and it seems to be a consistent thing that my order just will not be right. I don't know what it is about the sauces, but I am never sent what I ask for in my order. Turned off and over it. I will not be back.

Updated 8/12/25: I've been back twice in the last two days as I have been nearby at a training. These visits have been amazing. Customer service on point, the young lady in the register both sweet and kind. The food was amazing (was never a problem) and I got all my sauces each time 😄. My faith may be renewed in Franchesca's. I love supporting local businesses no matter where in the city. I'm pleased with the difference in my experiences this go round.

Also, they have outdoor patio seating now. It's beautiful. Two levels, comfy and colorful seating for small and larger groups, fresh flowers growing as well as beautiful decor with artificial flowers. well. Lighting adds a nice touch as well. Amazing food with even more variety than they had before. The Sangria! Go see...

Just ordered a bunch of their beef empanadas, the classic. Their empanadas are well made. However, some of the empanadas were both extremely greasy AND salty, really salty. Out of 6 empanadas, only two were not greasy and salty. If it weren’t for someone going heavy on the salt these would’ve been great. Also, the sauces were disgusting. Both the red and green sauces had an “off” smell to them, almost a rotten smell, but the white sauce was ok. I would not recommend this place just based on the fact that it’s a hit or miss if you’ll get a salty empanada or not and the sauces that come with it could potentially give you food poisoning

Response: It is very odd, my husband’s batch also only had one empanada out of 6 that weren’t salty/greasy. We could also tell the difference between the empanadas and knew which one wasn’t going to be salty, the normal empanada was lighter in color. We ordered 24 beef empanadas from you; that’s a lot of empanadas, so you most likely had to use a new/different batch for some of the empanadas. We still have 12 empanadas sitting in the fridge because of how salty they were. From your response and how defensive you got, almost blaming our taste buds instead of taking responsibility for the ridiculous amount of salt used made me change it to a 1 star and I wish I could change it to 0. For anyone else reading this, their empanadas are overpriced and the customer service is horrible. Save your money and...