Empa Mundo - World of Empanadas — Restaurant in Irving

If you're not familiar with the food, empanadas are fried pies from South America. At Empa Mundo, as a sign taped to the counter explains, they are cooked to order. They are quite proud of being voted to Yelp's 100 best places to eat in the U.S. - and, well, how can you blame them?

The place is tucked in the middle of strip mall just south of Walnut Hill on Beltline and pretty much defines the word "unassuming". Seating is very limited in this tiny place with just 10 closely knit table tops. Ordering is done via laminated menus and a grease pencil. The staff is kind, but busy. I showed up around 11:15AM and there were already three tables taken and folks strolled in immediately behind me.

If your willing to take your food to go, none of this is a problem as empanadas, like all fried food, travel well. And, that's pretty much all that's on the menu: empanadas and canned cokes in a refrigerator. You might consider this a negative, and that's fair, but try it before you make up your mind. I'm telling you this is seriously good food!

I tried the cheese steak, chicken and brisket. There are cheese and veggie options available as well as variations on classic ingredients and more of the ingredients listed above. I'm a pretty big guy and put down 3, which was a just a bit more than I needed. Because of this I skipped the "sweet" empanadas and cookies also available.

This is basic stuff. You're only going to get empanadas served in a standard fast food basket with a plastic fork and knife. Though, the empanadas are thoughtfully placed in plastic bags with a label identifying the stuffings.

Finally, I am pleased that a tiny specialty restaurant made the hot 100 because that means they're really judging the food and not the frills. Give Empa...

I've lived down the street from this place for almost a year and drove by probably a million times. My boyfriend is a chef at a hotel so he refuses to eat hum-drum food. Everytime we go out to eat he's always dissappointed by food that restaurants put out because of they're lack of quality and appearance. Needless to say when I raised the question of trying Empa Mundo he was a little skeptical but was willing to try it out because of the reviews I told him I read online about the place. The man who owns the place runs and operates alone with his wife and are the nicest, genuion people I've meet in a long time. We were blown away by the flavor combinations and quality that he brings to such a simple dish. We loved it so much that we went back the next day and ordered twice as much as the night before. Also we had brought our 2 yr old daughter with us who the owners wife just fell in love with. She kept her entertained as she's not the most well behaved at restaurants because she's always bouncing around everywhere. Plus she gave us some tiny empanadas just her size to try out which were spinach and ricotta and criola. She devoured them! I highly recommend the brisket ones. Basically if you're looking for a nice friendly atmosphere with some Latin comfort food this is the place to be. They will always have my business no matter how far...

I lived in Argentina, and let me tell you, these are the real deal! These empanadas are huge, delicious, and filling. The dough is light and crispy, and the fillings are flavorful and rich. We hadn't eaten all day, and had just left the airport on our way back towards Houston, so we decided to try most of the empanadas and take some to-go. We had the absolute worst experience in Dallas, until we found this gem of a restaurant! If we ever return to Dallas, it will only be to visit Empa Mundo.

Miming and Raul are the sweetest, most generous people. Raul and I discussed our love of Argentina and our lives, as Miming cooked the empanadas. Her cooking skills are phenomenal, and made me emotional trying the empanadas from beloved Argentina. They are made fresh to order, and come with chimichurri sauce that is out of this world. Miming even packaged some for me to take with me to have in my fridge when I got home.

I cannot say enough good things about this restaurant. You can taste the love that they have for what they do, and it shows in the cooking and in their hospitality. Excellent in every way.

Thank you Raul and Miming for making the end of our trip so wonderful! It was a pleasure meeting you both, and we wish you every success! You deserve it. Hope to visit again in the...