República Empanada Restaurant — Restaurant in Mesa

I recently had the pleasure of dining at República Empanada in Mesa, Arizona, and it left a memorable impression—both for its ambiance and its food!

Atmosphere & Decor: From the moment we walked in, we were struck by the colorful murals adorning both the interior and exterior of the restaurant. The lively artwork creates a vibrant atmosphere that’s both welcoming and inspiring. One of the coolest features is the long high-top communal table running the length of the restaurant’s center. It’s a brilliant setup that invites strangers to sit together, sparking conversations and making the dining experience feel fun. While they do have a patio that’s perfect for warmer days, on our chilly winter day we chose the cozy interior.

Lunch Experience: For lunch, we sampled a couple of empanadas: • El Capitan: This empanada was filled with seasoned ground beef, potato, boiled egg, green olive, and golden raisin, all tied together with a delicious house-made sauce. • Pernil: Featuring slow-roasted, specially seasoned pork, this empanada was equally delightful, also served with the house-made sauce.

To round off the meal, we also had the Maduros—ripe sweet plantains served with a side of Crema.

Everything was absolutely delicious, making for a standout lunch that left us eager to return later in the day.

Dinner Experience: Later that evening, we had plans to catch a show at the Mesa Arts Center and were looking for a great place for dinner, but ran out of time, so we thought we’d go back to República Empanada as it was nearby. Although it was busy and we didn’t have a reservation, the staff managed to squeeze us in, which we really appreciated given that a line quickly began to form behind us. The service was really slow—after about 20 minutes we werw starting to worry—but once our order was finally taken our drinks and finally food, did not take long at all. I enjoyed a beer while my partner had a house-made cocktail (a special for the night that was quite good, even though I can’t recall its name).

For dinner, we tried a couple of different empanadas: • Cubana: Packed with pernil, ham, mozzarella, and dill pickle. • Jalapeño Ham Popper: Filled with grilled seeded jalapeños, cream cheese, and salted ham.

While both were tasty, they didn’t quite hit the mark compared to the lunch empanadas. We also ordered the Arroz Colombiano, a hearty dish featuring a blend of shrimp, sausage, and rice cooked in the restaurant’s tomato blend with achiote, celery, onions, red bell peppers, carrots, and cilantro. It was a flavorful dish, though I was a bit disappointed to find only four shrimp in the mix. Lastly, the yucca fries were served, but they were cut too large and the seasoning and dressing didn’t really do them justice.

Final Thoughts: Overall, my experience at República Empanada was a mixed bag—lunch was a hit with amazing flavors and a wonderful atmosphere, while dinner, though good, didn’t quite live up to the expectation set at lunch. Despite the slight hiccups during dinner service, the restaurant’s ambiance (with its inspiring murals and unique communal table) makes it a great spot to try, especially if you can time your visit for when it’s less hectic. I’d definitely recommend it for a casual, art-filled dining experience in...

A couple ahead of me had been standing in the front for 8 to 10 minutes when I walked in. They expressed their frustration by telling me the amount of time they had been waiting for the waitress to even acknowledge them. 2 minutes later a waitress came from the kitchen and as she passed right by us, out the front door to give someone sitting in their car their food.. She asked the couple if they were dining in they said no, they only wanted to place an order "to-go". The waitress said she'd be right back. Another 5 minutes later she came back inside and had a the couple go back by the kitchen to place their order. At that point, I had now been standing there for about 8 to 10 minutes and had yet to be acknowledged myself. The couple walked passed me, out of the front door and jokingly said "good luck". No one came back to greet me, I just figured they were really busy. In any other instance I would have just left, but I had called my order in by phone. I was just coming to pay and pick up my food. After standing in front for another few minutes, I became frustrated and went in to go look for someone to help me. I noticed there were 2 couples sitting inside and 2 outside.. A total of 4 tables dining in. Not really my idea of "busy". And really no excuse to leave a customer upfront without any acknowledgement. Finally after another 5-7 minutes of walking around looking for someone, the waitress came from the outside door. I said "hi I've been waiting for like 15 minutes, I just want to pick up my phone order".. She immediately got annoyed and said I'm really busy, and I'm doing everything.. I told her that I was sorry that she was frustrated with her job, but I was frustrated as well since I had now been waiting for 15 minutes to find someone to help me with a phone order I had placed 20 minutes earlier. She didn't care, she basically ignored me and just handed me my order after walking back and forth a few times. She was super rude. As far as the food, I have only eaten there one time, when they first opened and I didn't really like it. Portions are really small. The empanadas are good, I have ordered them to-go 3 other times previously. Maybe it was a bad night, but I definitely think they either need more waitresses or just one that has better...

First time visiting, with a couple of friends. Overall the food was good, not great - portion sizes are pretty small for what they are charging. The one exception was the papas locas - those were delicious, we had ours with the pernil. The cocktails were also good, but insanely overpriced.

The service definitely needs work. Usually when you order a cocktail, an establishment would also just bring water for everyone at the table (or at least offer to). This was not the case and it took us several times of asking and then waiting probably at least 45 minutes before we got waters, and they were never refilled after that. When ordering our food, they asked if we would like separate checks and we said yes, if that wasn't too much trouble. We should have just said no - the waitress had an incredibly difficult time trying to figure out which check to put what food on, despite us being very patient and reiterating it several times. Whenever she repeated it back to us, it was still wrong so we just gave up and decided we would figure it out later. There were three of us at the table and we started with a single plate and a single fork. After our food was served, we asked for additional silverware - the waitress rushed by and dropped one additional fork, so we had to share two forks amongst the three of us and eat our empanadas off the paper bags they came in. I don't recall anyone asking us how the food was, but it was alright. We did have to ask repeatedly for items that were forgotten.

When it came time to pay the check, our original waitress was joined by another much friendlier and more competent waitress. Once she took over, it went more smoothly but there still seemed to be so much confusion over whose tab was whose (and we really didn't order that much food to make it as confusing as it seemed to be).

I might return to give it a second chance if the prices were more reasonable, but given all the other issues I...