Empanadas y Salsas Claim this business

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Tucked into a small storefront on Pendleton Street in West Greenville, this is a Colombian breakfast-and-lunch counter built around one thing done well: the empanada. The shells are made from corn masa, formed and fried to order, which means the whole empanada lineup is naturally gluten free, a detail that has quietly turned it into a regular stop for people who assumed fried street food was off the table. The fillings run Colombian and generous: seasoned beef, beef with lemon, beef and jalapeño, chicken, chorizo, cheese, and a guava-and-cream-cheese version that sits somewhere between snack and dessert. Each comes with a rotating set of house dipping sauces that regulars treat as half the point. Past the empanadas, the case fills out with pandebono, guava and coconut pastries, crispy tequeños, and Colombian fruit juices you can order blended with either water or milk. The other thing people order without thinking is the bombón, an espresso poured over sweetened condensed milk, about as Colombian a way to start a morning as you will find in the Upstate. It has built a real following for food that Colombian customers say tastes like home, served quickly and warmly in a room that seats only a handful. Half the fun of a first visit is working out which filling and which sauce become your usual, because everyone who keeps coming back has landed on a pairing they order every time.