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    O'LaLa Empanadas

    3.8 (300 reviews)
    InexpensivePuerto Rican, Empanadas
    Updated over 3 months ago

    O'LaLa Empanadas Photos

    O'LALA EMPANADAS ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Quiet
    Casual
    Good for groups
    Good for kids

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    Recommended Reviews - O'LaLa Empanadas

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    $5 for this little piece of sh*t!! NEVER AGAIN!!
    Tatiana T.

    Let me start by saying this is my THIRD and last visit. I originally visit this spot when they opened and then I came back last year. This is my first time OVER a year. First of all, the girl at the counter is talking to her boyfriend so damm much she has the phone busy for over 30 minutes. How do I know? She promised to call me when it was ready, I kept calling to see if it was and for 30 minutes the phone was BUSY because they don't have call waiting. When I walked in, she stopped talking and hang up the phone, probably she saw it in my face i was furious. PRICES ARE RIDICULOUS!! Waaaayy over priced for the little amount they give you. Chaufa - which it was only rice and chicken (REAL chaufa has peppers, fried scrambled eggs, green onions) for $8, FIVE TOSTONES for $2.5, and 3 pieces of chicken breast with two pieces of peppers over half a cup of yellow rice and one tablespoon of black beans for $5 I feel insulted. They are VERY quick to close the bag for you and stapled it so you don't see the inside but I paid $17.5 plus tax for something that should had cost $10. SAVE YOUR MONEY AND GO TO A BETTER PLACE. This is BS!! This place should close!! WORTHLESS!!

    Mac and cheese empanada
    Bloss C.

    **** Vegetarian Review**** I had a Queens empanada craving attack recently. This was unfortunate because I haven't lived in Queens since 2002. I remembered O'Lala from the downtown festival this fall so I went with it. Delivery took about 90 mins but I'm 2 miles away and they notified me they were busy so I'm not griping about the wait. I am griping about the vegetarian empanadas. There was not much filling in all three, and I was left wishing I still lived in Queens*. Spinach and cream cheese was not very good and could have used a lot more spinach. Three cheese was very greasy and not very good. The best was the Mac and cheese, which was good and had enough filling not to be overly greasy. Second gripe was I requested all green sauces and received all pink sauces. I even paid extra for different green sauces that were not sent. My dude ordered the Cajun, chicken, and the Cuban. He loved the chicken, but wasn't a fan of the others. I ordered a side of rice that was good and the guava desert empanada that was only ok. Prices are good, and I think this place would probably be fine for a meat eater, but the vegetarian offerings are two star. * I hated living in Queens.

    The Mac & Cheese Empanada
    Chastity R.

    Excellent! Excellent!! Excellent!!! The dough of the empanadas is EVERYTHING! I believe you could put shoe leather in that dough and it'd still taste fantastic! I had the much recommended mac and cheese empanada and it was just as everyone said it would be: fabulous! I also had the beef which was juicy and flavorful. And I had the Mardi Gras empanada which was also quite flavorful & had a wonderful kick to it but it was kind of dry. I recommend using thigh meat instead. The sauces were equally as yummy as the empanadas! I LOVE the chipotle sauce. It's my favorite! The staff is wonderful! I was impressed with the two young guys at the front counter as they were friendly & knowledgeable and genuinely seemed vested in their place of employment. I wish this place was here when I lived here. I'm definitely returning when I'm back in town!

    Linda K.

    We love this place. We ordered a large order for a party a while ago and everybody raved about it. We just picked up an order of 40 empanadas and again they look great. The manager, I believe her name is loli is great as was the staff.

    To go order and 2 free empanadas
    Latoya L.

    I love love love this place. So me and my partner drove 45 mim here. I love empanadas so i was so excited to try this place and it was our anniversary. Arriving we sat at the counter since the booths were full. The black girl was very nice since she knew it was our first time there. She explained the menu thoroughly and gave us recommendations. The owner or manager i believe gave is samples of coquitos which was really good. I ordered one of the value meals that came with 2 traditional empanadas a side and a drink. I got a chicken and beef empanada with tostones. My partner got the grilled chicken with rice and beans with a coquito. Let me tell you the food was delicious and came out in a decent amount of time even though they had a lot of call in orders. I then ordered 2 dessert empanadas, the cheesecake and brownie explosion. They were amazing! I even ordered another value meal to go. Another lady who i believe was the manager also asked me how i heard of the place and i told her yelp. She told me that if i checked in i could redeem a free cheese cake empanada, SO OF COURSE I DID. They even gave us 2 free empanadas, a Philly and a teriyaki one. I will come to this place again. DELICIOUS! Ps- i gave it 4 stars because i found a whole garlic clove in my empanada.

    Esme H.

    Ugh This place is rough Totally in the ghetto Very cheap. The empanada crust is good but i wasn't crazy about the food at all You can't use the yelp coupon for dine in only online orders. Unbelievable. Nice way to do business buddy. The kid at the counter annoyed me and earned himself a $3 measly tip He easily could have gotten $10 But that free desert empanada rubbed me awful. But whatever. The place has cheap prices, they seem to be busy with people going in and out. But whatever Not for me. Should have went to KFC across the street

    Grilled chicken with yellow rice and beans....mmmm
    Rona R.

    I love, love, love their empanadas! They taste just us good the following day as they did when they were fresh. I have been spreading the word and bragging about O'LaLa since the first day I tried them. I love the variety of flavor they offer. So far I've had: -Classic Cheese -Rhythm & Blues -The Aztec -Bay of Naples -Little Tokyo -Mardi Gras -Freedom Tower -Guava & Cream Cheese -Explosion -Cheescake -White rice -Arroz Chaufa -French fries -Sweet Plantains -Yellow rice with grilled chicken and black beans Their empanadas have just the right amount of filling and are a great size too (not small and skimpy). Anytime you order their empanadas, definitely get the Garlic Aioli sauce...A-Mazing and goes with almost all empanadas that aren't dessert! Really adds some more flavor on top of flavor. Speaking of dessert, they're all GOOD, but sweet so be warned. They also offer (virgin) Coquito and it tastes really good! they even use coconut shavings. You can order it from them and then add your own rum if you like. The customer service is also worth mentioning. Everyone is always so nice anytime I come here, and over the phone too. The restaurant has a great seating area but parking can be a bit of a challenge. O'LaLa Empanadas hasn't let me down thus far! I will continue coming here and recommending them to my friends and family. Until next time, ~~Go grab an empanada, they're just O'LaLa

    This is suppose to be the VEGAN BURGER . It's two vegan Sudafed split in half then laid on buns. Chips as side.
    Lu M.

    The food was ok. Beer was hot, but they bring ice upon request. It's a great place for socializing tho.

    Pizza empanada lacked a decent amount of filling. See my review: http://goo.gl/CITkCz
    Josh W.

    3 stars because the food was decent. 2 stars for the service. The phone number they give goes to an answering service, so there's no way to contact the restaurant. Food delivery in Jersey City is extremely slow to begin with, so we expected the delivery to take an hour. Estimate given was 60-75 minutes. Food arrived in 100 minutes. Order was also incorrect: One of the drinks we ordered was missing, and the sauces were all completely wrong. We ordered creamy avocado, salsa verde, chimi, and chipotle; only the chipotle was there, along with about 7 other sauces, which seemed to taste like thousand island and ranch. The other complaint is that the empanadas lacked a decent amount of filling.

    Garden of Eden, the naples and the greek flavors with the sauces!

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    4 years ago

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    Idalia B.

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    3 years ago

    Came here to cater our kids birthday party. Amazing service and delicious empanadas! Will definitely order from them again!

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    Idalia B.

    Thank you for the review. Happy birthday again! See you soon.

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    7 years ago

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    3 years ago

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    Idalia B.

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    2 years ago

    I ate my way through Olalas. Amazing empanadas!!! Stone cold amazing food. And the definitely try the deserts. Love this place.

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    6 years ago

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    12 years ago

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    7 years ago

    Great service, great prices , great customer services , and the empanadas are amazing crunchy

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    7 years ago

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    11 years ago

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    3 years ago

    Cute spot! Tons of options to choose from! The prices are septet reasonable too!! Will be back!

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    8 years ago

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    Page 1 of 8

    Ask the Community - O'LaLa Empanadas

    Are you open on Thanksgiving Day?

    No closed thanksgiving

    View All 3 Questions

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    Disappointed that we made it all the way here to find it closed, no update online, and no vivible…read moresign at the location giving any update. So to make sure it was not just one day that they weren't operating, I came through a second time in the same week. No signs of life. Reporting it closed to Yelp.

    This place has really fallen off. The food used to be tasty, and the portions abundant. I know…read moreeverything is expensive now but what's happening here is absolutely ridiculous. Earlier this year, I overheard the man who I thought could be the owner telling another customer that foot traffic had slowed down since the implementation of congestion pricing, and they weren't sure they were going to keep the place open past the end of May because they weren't making as much money at this location as they had previously. Well, they're still open, but it seems like since the place isn't a moneymaker, it's no longer a priority. I've only been back a handful of times since then because they seem to be taking shortcuts in an effort to save dough. The arroz con gandules is mushy and flavorless; the chicharron are small and dry; the serving of beans is literally two teaspoons of beans and the rest of the (downsized) container is cooking liquid. Every time I go back hoping for a delicious meal, I'm sorely disappointed. Today I found a piece of raw chicken mixed into my vegetables. Turned my stomach immediately. Now I'm just hoping I don't end up with salmonella.

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    O'LaLa Empanadas - puertorican - Updated June 2026

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