Cheap Eats – Washington, DC Street Food at Julia’s Empanadas

The stuffed-dough Spanish turnover called the empanada dates back to an ancient Arab dish, first created around the 8th-century.

The delicious baked or deep-fried pockets are filled with savory meats and vegetables, or with sweetened fruit and served as a dessert. Fillings vary as much as the cultures that eat them, ranging from plantains to lobster, papaya to hard-boiled eggs.

Similar turnovers are found around the world, with the “empanada” traditionally found in Spain and Central and South America. But you find them called calzones in Italy, the patty or pate in the Caribbean Islands, the Eastern European call them perogi, and don’t forget the classic Yiddish knish.  Even the Upper Peninsula of Michigan has its own meet and potato version, called the pasty pie.

For great tasting and really, really cheap authentic South American-influenced empanadas, check out one of the three Julia’s Empanadas locations in Washington, DC.

The Chilean-born owner, Julia, still bakes her famous empanadas daily from scratch, using only fresh ingredients.  She opened her first location in the early 1990s and sold empanadas for just $1.75.  Today, it’s still one of DC’s most affordable meals, and doesn’t involve ordering through a drive-thru microphone.

Some of the tasty and savory empanadas include:

• Bolivian chicken Salteñas, blending peas, raisins, potatoes, hard-cooked eggs and olives.
• Chilean beef with raisins, eggs, onions and olives.  
• Spicy Jamaican curry beef, with onions and potatoes (my favorite).
• Classic chorizo sausage with black beans and rice.
• Spinach with creamy ricotta and mozzarella cheese.  
• Tumeric spiced turkey with jalapeno, green onion, and a touch of cilantro.

They also offer a vegetable (vegan) empanada which changes every week.

Finish your meal with a sweet dessert empanada, such as their pear and marzipan, peach and guava or the cinnamon apple empanada, each dusted with powdered sugar.

The restaurants are tiny with very limited seating (as in just a couple seats), and at times, the line extends out the front door. So take your wax paper bag with your warm empanadas with you and find somewhere outside to relax and eat, or do as many do, dine on the run.

Talk about CHEAP… savory empanadas are just $3.75 each, and only $2.25 for fruit-filled dessert empanadas.  For an even better deal, try their meal deal with one savory and one fruit empanada, with a soft drink for under $5.50.  If you’re really hungry, get two, plus a dessert for under $10.

Being open till the wee hours of the morning, Julia’s is also a popular place with the post-party crowd, looking for something healthier than a jumbo slice of pizza or a fast-food burger.  They’re so popular that they’re commonly called the “DC‘s ultimate drunk food”.

Julia’s sells several thousand of their delicious empanadas each day to hungry Washingtonians. So join the line and have a small taste of South America.

Julia’s Empanadas – More Information
Multiple Washington, DC locations:

• Adams Morgan – 2452 18th Street, NW
• Columbia Heights – 14th St & Park Road, NW
• Dupont Circle – 1221 Connecticut Avenue, NW

Hours – Hours vary by location, generally open 10:00 a.m. until 3:00 or 4:00 a.m.

Images – Flickr – Dupont Circle location, empanada, empanadas with menu

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