La Masa Restaurant — Restaurant in New York

The place specializes in empanadas—as they’re known throughout South America but known as pastelitos in Dominican Republic and pastelillitos in Puerto Rico—which are basically Latin American turnovers usually filled with chicken, beef, or pork.

But La Masa takes it to an even bigger level.

They have over 25 different types of fillings which are made fresh everyday as all the ingredients are including “la masa” which is the “dough” made out of cornmeal.

During my visit to this gem, I ordered 3 different empanadas; eggplant, mixed veggies, and broccoli rabe with sausage along with a side of yucca fries and a fresh pineapple passion fruit smoothie to wash it all down.

Each and every one was delicious with every bite. I decided not to try the traditional ones of chicken or beef since I’ve had so many of those in my lifetime but I’m sure they’re just as amazing.

Besides the food being amazing, the service was impeccable and everyone, whether it’s the many regulars who walked in or newcomers, are treated as friends who just came over for a visit.

Mike, who works in the neighborhood, “for a very long time,” said that he likes La Masa because, “…it’s a different atmosphere, good food, good people, and they’re very adaptive to make changes something and make you something that’s not on the menu.”

“It’s not a problem for them to customize for you, they’re really nice people.” Mike added.

While I was eating at the counter, a customer called in an order and Laura immediately recognized the voice and asked, “Is this Alex?”

Laura mentioned that they like to ask for people’s names not just to make sure the person gets the right order especially of you have certain food allergies of which they are extremely cautious of, but to also get to know their clients.

“I remember the names of our patrons especially what they ordered.” Laura told us.

When Alex, a lifelong resident of Morris Park came in, we also asked him what it is about La Masa that keeps him coming back for more?

Alex said, without any hesitation, “It’s a friendly place with great food and it’s different from the predominantly Italian options you have all over the neighborhood.”

He particularly loves any of the empanadas so far that he’s tried and maduros rellenos de pollo which are sweet plantains stuffed with chicken.

Oh? We didn’t mention that La Masa isn’t just all empanadas? No?

Well they also serve a wide variety of arepas which are a pancake like flatbread made out of cornmeal, and other traditional Colombian treats.

The place is spotless, the food is amazing, and the people are friendly which makes La Masa a winning hit and addition to our borough.

In just 8 months that they’ve been open, they’ve amassed a sort of cult following because of just this and they even have customers asking when are they opening up another location closer to them.

“We’ve had people come up from Brooklyn or who are driving through across The Bronx from out of state and found us on Yelp when looking for Colombian food.” said Laura.

They’re open Mondays-Thursday from 10AM – 9PM and Fridays and Saturdays from 10AM-10PM but it’s not unusual to see them open beyond their set closing times said Laura and Josh.

Originally they opened at 12PM but people were already lining up at the door to get their fix on and folks asked for them to open earlier for breakfast so they complied and now offer a selection of traditional Colombian breakfast dishes. On Sundays they are closed as they have children and do like to have some quality, family time.

So to all our readers near and far, whether you’re a fan of Latin American cuisine or not, give these guys a try and come to this little Colombian oasis in Morris Park and leave a happy camper with a...

I wish I liked the food more because the service was phenomenal and I really like the atmosphere.

This is the second time I have tried their sancocho. The first time was about a year ago. A co-worker introduced the place to me and we were there specifically for sancocho. It was so salty that I just couldn't eat it, and I'm a salt lover!

Fast forward one year later, another co-worker went and picked some up for lunch. It looks great! Honestly, I remembered the flavors through all the salt and being very good.

The following day I went to pick some up for myself thinking that the first time was just a fluke. It was not a fluke. The sancocho was so salty that I was having heart palpitations after three spoonfuls.

It was a Saturday and I was the only person in the office. I actually had to leave the office to go outside in case something happened to me medically. I didn't want to get sick alone inside the office. I have never had high blood pressure in my entire life, but it felt like my blood was just racing through my body. I just don't understand how this soup is so popular. The amount of salt is mind-blowing. And I will reiterate that I like salt. I just don't understand how people eat this.

I also ordered an empanada. The grease had permeated through the bag and had discolored the sleeve that they put the empanada in, then went all the way through to the bag that was holding the empanada in the sleeve. The empanada shell was so greasy it made me the breading that holds the meat a completely different color from what it was originally. You can see a spot here or there where the grease hadn't reached yet. I was shocked! That also went into the garbage..

I also ordered a green salad with tomatoes and avocado. I brought it back to the office, opened it up, and it didn't have any avocado on it. I will say one thing, the greens were fresh and dark green. Even though part of the ingredients weren't in it, the salad was an excellent.

To summarize, after two visits to the same restaurant, most of the food was inedible. As far as the salad greens go, you can get salad greens anywhere. I will not...

My family is Colombian, so I'm always in the search of authentic restos. The food is alright but not worth making a trip to the Boogiedown just to eat there. Here's what we had:

Their website states they have the best Colombian empanadas in NYC. Um no, not quite. We tried one chicken and one traditional beef & potato - both were tasty and perfectly fried, but the beef one had waaaay too much potato.

The mixed salad with the dried cranberries and cilantro vinaigrette, while not authentic, was really good and works as an entree salad for one, or a shared side salad for a few. The maizitos (corn) with chorizo was great, and not something that I find often in restos here in the US.

The mini picada was disappointing. It was served incomplete - no plátanos, no arepa, and the one small piece of chicharrón was all rind and no meat.

The lulo "natural fruit juice" was like a Colombian version of Sunny Delite. Definitely did not do this fruit justice.

The service was the topper on this mediocre experience. There were 4 tables including ours, and 3 waitresses. We waited almost 15 minutes before one finally came around to take our order. Since we were sharing all the food, I asked for a plate for myself. 10 minutes later I had to flag down another waitress - the place is not big, yet they were scarce - to ask again. She walked by me 2 more times before finally bringing one. And this last point is admittedly nit-picky, but whatevs: our main server continually flipped back and forth between Spanish and English although we only addressed her in Spanish. I eat at Latin restaurants often, and that's just odd behavior, which I find worth mentioning because combined with the rest of the experience, makes this place a...