JAVI’S COOKING "Empanadas Argentinas" — Restaurant in Oakland

It's been a few years since I spent a month and a half in Buenos Aires, but the camaraderie of the parrillas (neighborhood steakhouses) and the taste for the food have not left me.

Luckily Javi's Eats offers a glimpse into the joy of Argentine good right here in the East Bay. We headed over on a sunny, temperate February weekend for the parklet seating.

Eating our way across the menu, we had both savory and sweet empanadas:

carne (ground beef, red peppers, hard boiled eggs, green olives, yellow onions), champinones (mushrooms, pepper Jack cheese, caramelized onions) chorizo (mild Italian sausage, scrambled eggs, cheddar cheese, potatoes) jamon (ham, Mozzarella, Fontina) Dulce (dulce de leche, banana, walnuts)

All were delightful, especially when split in half and shared with my sweetie. The only surprise was that the chorizo was milder than I expected; no punch of spice.

We also split two sandwiches:

Milanesa (deep-fried breaded steak on a deli roll with lettuce, tomato and mayo) Choripan (mild pork sausage on a French roll with chimichurri and sauteed onions and peppers)

The milanesa was my favorite, by far. It's crunchy, savory, and the chimichurri just brings out all the notes that I remember from Argentina .

The choripan, if you're unfamiliar with it, is the Wiley popular sidewalk food of Argentina. Just as hot dogs from carts in New York City litter the landscape, it's choripan in Buenos Aires.

The choripan was my sweetie's favorite. She really liked how the mild sausage worked with the multicolored peppers. It's got a great mouthfeel and it has the potential to make some people homesick :-)

Without reservation, this is added on the mellow weekend rotation list. Staff was great, passersby were fun to watch, and the food was both relaxing...

Excited to see the Empanadas Argentinas sign as we were driving by so I had to check it out. I was served by Javi himself ~ very charming :). Tried the empanada champiñones con salsita chimichurri pequeña ($1 for the sauce). Contrary to complaints noted, it only took five minutes or so to heat up (I expect to wait for proper oven heating!) -- and yes, mine was perfectly hot hot all the way through (very important!). I was hoping for more robust spiciness and perhaps sauciness of the mushroom-onion-cheese filling, but it was clearly fresh and nicely made. The baked dough is beautiful...perhaps just the tiniest bit underdone in the thickest part, but the exterior is beautiful, flaky, golden, and the edge is an extra yummy bit of bread after the fact (think edge crust on a pizza, the after-meal). The chimichurri is most impressive due to its TON of minced fresh herbs -- I'm seeing rosemary right off the bat, just a beautiful herb mixture. I'd love a stronger heat and lemon kick, but I'm an over-the-top flavor person. Still, the empanada y salsita are impressively beautiful to look at and feel healthful, real home cooking. I wish your business continued success,...

The Venezuelan woman working at the counter was rude, extremely unfriendly, she seemed to be hating her job. They close at 5 pm, I arrived at 4 pm and she told me that she could not do any sandwiches, she couldn't make any coffee either, one hour before closing!! She said all this while seeming to be exasperated that she had to talk to me. There was only outside seating, no heater so seating there was no option, it was freezing, I ordered 4 sweet and 2 savory empanadas to go thinking that they would redeem my negative experience with the woman at the counter. The empanadas were poorly shaped, not a professional job, varying in size and shape and with no definition or decoration. Still I was hopping that the flavors and texture would make the experience worth it. The dough was too thick, not crispy at all like an empanada should be, and the fillings both sweet and savory were flavorless and too sweet and too salty respectively. I only gave this place a star because I did not have the option of giving none. There is nothing Argentinian about this place either. A total rip off, stay away from...