Rincón Chileno — Restaurant in Los Angeles

I visited this place a couple days ago following the good reviews. I'm actually from Chile, and I am a cook, so trust me, I know my country's flavors. This place was good in some things, and off in others. First of all, the pan amasado they serve you complimentary is really good, nothing to say about it; same as the empanadas de pino (carne). The Pebre didn't taste Chilean, but more Mexican. The humitas had way too much basil, the texture was off, too runny, and the corn wasn't correctly ground, giving it a texture that not even my one-year-old liked (and he can eat any food you put in his mouth). My fried fish and ensalada chilena was good, though. On the other hand, my second friend ordered a choripan and it was way off! Not at all like a choripan. She was nauseated after she ate it because of the weird flavor/ smell. It tasted more like a sautéed pork sausage plated as a sandwich, instead of a grilled, yummy longaniza served on a crunchy, toasty warm bun (that's how a basic choripan should be anyway). And the pastel de choclo didn't get eaten by my third friend either (also Chilean), because it was off. The waiter was upset that we only wanted water (which tasted like tap water), and then he looked upset that we wanted 3 separate checks. I ended up spending $35 bucks on fish, tomatoes with onions, one empanada and one humita... I would say it's a rip off for the quality food served. My conclusion is that they do have a pretty decent baker, since the bread and empanadas tasted fine, which was reflected by the larger amount of people buying from the deli section instead of eating in the restaurant. In my opinion, the other foods we ordered were not their strength since none of them had a wow factor.

We are never going back again. My friend who tried the choripan was actually from Colombia. She had tried my Chilean food before and she loved it. Now she wanted to try something new and she ended up getting a horrible impression of what this restaurant claims as chilean food. I promised to make her a real choripan so she can erase the horrible memory from this LA dining experience at El Rincón Chileno....

It was terrible - the empanadas are no longer what they used to be - they have a lot of onions big of pieces - they are made out of ground beef instead of chopped beef, there where no pieces of eggs, and they just tasted terrible I was coming from far away to buy them and the taste of those empanadas were terrible and I was unable to eat them. We ended up throwing them away. The only good thing there was the more con huesillos. Sorry Ricardo you have to get rid off the lady helping the people in the front she has no people skills and she is not even Chilean she told me she was Salvadorian. You need someone that can really cook there. Another thing you guys did not open at the time it said it was to be opened. Another thing the empanadas were old you just warmed my up, y no estaba fresca ni tostadora...

The empanadas from this place are really good! As a matter of fact, everything I had was good! Contrary to some of the reviews, the service I got was pretty good. The place is a little run down, but not too bad considering the waiter told us that it's been around for 45 years. The age of the restaurant is a testament to the quality of the food. It's one of those places where you are full but can't stop eating. I ordered and got a fresh empanada within 5 minutes. To be fair, the restaurant wasn't too crowded at the time. The empanada I ate wasn't greasy and wasn't dry, but it was certainly delicious. I walked out of the restaurant with a satisfied feeling in my stomach and feeling a little sleepy. That's how you know it's...