An empanada is the handheld of the Americas: a pastry folded around beef or cheese or corn, baked or fried, crimped along the edge, eaten by hand. The Argentine version comes off the asado table, the Colombian and Chilean versions carry their own fillings and sauces, and a good one is the tell of a kitchen. It is a dish you can build a visit around, distinct from the broad Latin American and Mexican lists the city already has. Melbourne folds them across the CBD and out to South Melbourne, Windsor, Brunswick, Fitzroy and Footscray. We ranked the inner-city rooms diners name for that pastry by their Curateria Score and what reviewers keep saying on their most recent visits, with chains and far suburbs left out. Here is the order this month.
Top of the list is San Telmo restaurant in the city, the high-volume Argentine parrilla reviewers fill for the charcoal-grilled steaks and the steak tartare, the empanadas and the provoleta as impressive as the grill, a chocotorta and a flan to finish, the kitchen pass a show of its own. Streetdogz Melbourne in South Melbourne follows, the near-top-scoring Colombian street-food room reviewers call a moment more than a meal, the Colombian empanadas beside the loaded hot dogs and the crazy fries, authentic, fresh and friendly.
La Tienda Melbourne in Windsor is the high-scoring Colombian room reviewers rate for a deliciously rich bandeja paisa, the empanadas and the arepas beside a picada, the coastal bandeja costena singled out as muy rica. Two Chiles in Windsor is the Chilean room reviewers say felt for a second like being in Chile, the baked and fried beef empanadas the best, beside a choripan and a barros luco, a tres leches cake to finish. Neruda's Brunswick in Brunswick is the Chilean kitchen whose empanadas reviewers call absolutely amazing, the pastel de choclo and the milanesa napolitana beside them, a pisco sour and the sopaipillas with pebre the order.
Casa Iberica Deli in Fitzroy is the tightly-packed Iberian deli reviewers come to for a warm empanada and a hard-to-find ingredient, the chorizo and the tamales beside them, and Caminito La Boca in Footscray is the Argentine room reviewers call the best Argentine food in Melbourne, the corn-and-cheese empanadas and the asado beside a choripan and a locro stew, the atmosphere and the service excellent. Lulo Spice & Bar in Hawthorn is the South-American-and-Indian room reviewers call obsession-worthy, the Colombian empanadas and the asado Argentino beside a tres leches de Lulo, every dish packed with flavour.
The list closes across the inner ring. Lore's Kitchen is the Colombian room reviewers say feels like mom's food, a bandeja paisa, a bistec a caballo and an ajiaco beside the empanadas, the service wonderful and the portions generous. La Bodega Restaurant/Bar in St Kilda is the room whose empanadas, tostones and braised-chicken-with-rice reviewers rate, the whole menu gluten free and the host generous with intolerances, Mr Latino Cantina in Windsor is the chargrill room reviewers make their go-to for the chorizo-and-prawn empanadas, the steak churrasco roll and the rice bowls, fresh and hearty, and Costenisimo in the city rounds it out, a long-standing room reviewers recommend for the costillas and the solomillo, the beef empanadas a starter beside a Cartagena shrimp and a ceviche.
Every room here carries a Curateria Score built from its full review history, then weighted toward its most recent hundred reviews so the order reflects the room as it runs today, not as it ran two years ago. We hold the cohort to a tight inner-Melbourne radius, roughly 15km of the city, and drop multi-location chains and the national brands that trade on a logo more than a local following, so what is left reads as the genuine local order. We blend that quality score with how often and how recently diners are still talking about the place, and we read the snippets for the empanada itself, the Argentine, Colombian and Chilean versions and the asado or churrasco table around them, rather than the broad continental survey the Latin American page already covers. The corpus is Victorian and scored; no AI writer ever reads it. The ranking is arithmetic; the words are ours.
Explore more Empanadas across Melbourne on Discover ->
Every venue here is ranked by its Curateria Score, a recent-review-weighted quality signal that leans on what diners are saying now, not years ago. Keep browsing Melbourne, sorted by Curateria Score, on Discover.
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An empanada is the handheld of the Americas: a pastry folded around beef or cheese or corn, baked or fried, crimped along the edge, eaten by hand. The Argentine version comes off the asado table, the Colombian and Chilean versions carry their own fillings and sauces, and a good one is the tell of a kitchen. It is a dish you can build a visit around, distinct from the broad Latin American and Mexican lists the city already has. Melbourne folds them across the CBD and out to South Melbourne, Windsor, Brunswick, Fitzroy and Footscray. We ranked the inner-city rooms diners name for that pastry by their Curateria Score and what reviewers keep saying on their most recent visits, with chains and far suburbs left out. Here is the order this month.
Top of the list is San Telmo restaurant in the city, the high-volume Argentine parrilla reviewers fill for the charcoal-grilled steaks and the steak tartare, the empanadas and the provoleta as impressive as the grill, a chocotorta and a flan to finish, the kitchen pass a show of its own. Streetdogz Melbourne in South Melbourne follows, the near-top-scoring Colombian street-food room reviewers call a moment more than a meal, the Colombian empanadas beside the loaded hot dogs and the crazy fries, authentic, fresh and friendly.
La Tienda Melbourne in Windsor is the high-scoring Colombian room reviewers rate for a deliciously rich bandeja paisa, the empanadas and the arepas beside a picada, the coastal bandeja costena singled out as muy rica. Two Chiles in Windsor is the Chilean room reviewers say felt for a second like being in Chile, the baked and fried beef empanadas the best, beside a choripan and a barros luco, a tres leches cake to finish. Neruda's Brunswick in Brunswick is the Chilean kitchen whose empanadas reviewers call absolutely amazing, the pastel de choclo and the milanesa napolitana beside them, a pisco sour and the sopaipillas with pebre the order.
Casa Iberica Deli in Fitzroy is the tightly-packed Iberian deli reviewers come to for a warm empanada and a hard-to-find ingredient, the chorizo and the tamales beside them, and Caminito La Boca in Footscray is the Argentine room reviewers call the best Argentine food in Melbourne, the corn-and-cheese empanadas and the asado beside a choripan and a locro stew, the atmosphere and the service excellent. Lulo Spice & Bar in Hawthorn is the South-American-and-Indian room reviewers call obsession-worthy, the Colombian empanadas and the asado Argentino beside a tres leches de Lulo, every dish packed with flavour.
The list closes across the inner ring. Lore's Kitchen is the Colombian room reviewers say feels like mom's food, a bandeja paisa, a bistec a caballo and an ajiaco beside the empanadas, the service wonderful and the portions generous. La Bodega Restaurant/Bar in St Kilda is the room whose empanadas, tostones and braised-chicken-with-rice reviewers rate, the whole menu gluten free and the host generous with intolerances, Mr Latino Cantina in Windsor is the chargrill room reviewers make their go-to for the chorizo-and-prawn empanadas, the steak churrasco roll and the rice bowls, fresh and hearty, and Costenisimo in the city rounds it out, a long-standing room reviewers recommend for the costillas and the solomillo, the beef empanadas a starter beside a Cartagena shrimp and a ceviche.
Every room here carries a Curateria Score built from its full review history, then weighted toward its most recent hundred reviews so the order reflects the room as it runs today, not as it ran two years ago. We hold the cohort to a tight inner-Melbourne radius, roughly 15km of the city, and drop multi-location chains and the national brands that trade on a logo more than a local following, so what is left reads as the genuine local order. We blend that quality score with how often and how recently diners are still talking about the place, and we read the snippets for the empanada itself, the Argentine, Colombian and Chilean versions and the asado or churrasco table around them, rather than the broad continental survey the Latin American page already covers. The corpus is Victorian and scored; no AI writer ever reads it. The ranking is arithmetic; the words are ours.
Explore more Empanadas across Melbourne on Discover ->
Every venue here is ranked by its Curateria Score, a recent-review-weighted quality signal that leans on what diners are saying now, not years ago. Keep browsing Melbourne, sorted by Curateria Score, on Discover.
More from the Lowdown
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