- What's up, you guys?
I am in Miami, my hometown,
and I was hungry for some empanadas
so I decided I'm gonna go for an empanada crawl
and I brought along some friends.
Ahh!
(laughing)
We also decided to bring a special guest with us,
Crafty Chica!
- My mom.
- So I'm taking them on an empanada crawl
and we're gonna try three different empanadas.
Are you guys ready?
- Hell yeah, we're ready. - Yes.
- Let's do this.
(upbeat music)
- Y'all, I'm so excited.
- Why are you so excited?
- Because it's a Dominican place
and we're having some Dominican empanadas.
- I have a question. - Yes.
- What is all of this business here?
- Okay, I know this and I'm not sure of this.
- Man, I'm going for it because I can't wait.
- So this is the lambi, this is conch.
- Yeah! - Bien, salud.
- You guys don't want to put sauce on it?
- I already did.
- It's so fresh, like the conch is fresh,
whatever's in it is like, you taste everything,
right, like it was straight out of the ocean.
- This is something you'd be in the sand,
drinking a beer, eating a couple of these.
- Yeah, I could eat this with coconut water.
It is perfect beach food, I would say.
- I have no words.
- I think that you take that first bite
and you want to gobble it down 'cause it's so good
but then you realize it's meant to be savored.
- Try it with this.
It is an experience.
- Oh my god.
(laughing)
- This one is like your ultimate Dominican empanada,
which I've never even tried and it's like our cheese
that we usually fry and our salami.
He's put it inside of an empanada which is nuts.
- Cheers, cheers. - Salud.
- Cheers.
- Oh my god.
- Why is this not in my life every day?
- This is not food, this is like edible love.
(laughing) - Edible love?
- I feel like I'm having a picadera.
- Picadera.
- That's exactly what we call it.
- I don't want it to be done.
- Isn't it neat to think that this food,
it's getting so much love from us.
They must be so happy that they know they taste good
in their, like, full cycle of life.
- My mom personifies everything.
- As much as I hate to ruin this Dominican party,
we gotta go to the next place, you guys.
I gotta take you to the next spot.
- Okay, let's go. - Let's go.
- Let's do this.
(speaking foreign language)
- In Rico Pan.
We're in the next place, place number two
to try the Columbian empanadas.
Guys, this place is so special.
- [Male] Why is it so special? - Why?
- It's special because I used to work right over there,
right, right, right there, right there,
at the chiropractor's office.
- I actually was just a receptionist, okay?
God, come on, let's go try this.
(speaking foreign language)
- So we're here at Rico Pan.
So we're trying some Columbian empanadas.
- She had to run. - She had to go.
She's doing her thing.
She's got a life.
- So when I was in high school, every Saturday,
I'd come here and grab an empanada and a taqueno
and a pandebono.
- So this is where high school Julisa hung out?
- This is where high school Julisa was hungover
and come here to, like, replenish myself.
- Ooh. (speaks in foreign language)
- Yeah, let's try this so you guys can see
what I used to eat. - Okay.
- And listen, this little sauce right here is lit.
(speaking foreign language)
- Oh, cheers.
- Whoa, whoa, whoa. - This is good.
- Whoa, whoa, whoa.
And it has potato.
- This sauce is what makes it. - Tastes good.
- The sauce is good.
It has like a hint of spice but not really.
It makes you be a model, it makes you do that?
- It does, do you see me?
- I feel like you're a model,
like you're giving me, give me face.
Show me another one.
- [Male] I love Columbian empanada.
- That's it, that's the one, keep going.
(coughs) (laughing)
- Outside of it is very, like, crispy and thick.
The Dominican one was more, like, crumbly and...
- Like doughy kind of? - Doughy, yeah.
- (speaks in foreign language)
- This one's like a crunchy exterior,
a little bit mushy in the middle
but still not too mushy that you're like,
ew what is it, it's just like damn,
I wanna keep eating it.
- Dora, where we going next?
(laughing)
- Let's go!
(upbeat music)
So, we're finally at the last place
and now we have Cathy back with us.
- My mommy.
- So, Havana 1957 is like so, like, antique-ish,
like if you go inside, you see all these Cuban celebrities
and you see all of the things
that were going on in the 1950's.
- The vintage typewriter, did you see that?
- Everything.
You see everything and it makes you feel
like you're back in Havana and it gives you,
like a sense of Cuba.
This is like super authentic to what Cubans eat in Cuba
and that's shredded beef, like carne de res,
which is like, they call it ropa vieja.
- Mm, I love ropa vieja.
- And then they put their Cuban sweet potato in it,
into this empanada and it's baked and also fried.
Oh, I forgot to mention that the meat is cured
with salt way before, like for 24 hours,
before they put it inside of the empanada.
So it's like the real deal.
- It sounds like you were in there
cookin' the empanada yourself. - They told me.
They told me, they told me.
I'm ready, are you guys ready? - Let's do it.
- All right, I'm going for this one.
- Wow.
Oh my gah. (rolling tongue)
- You can taste that it was made with love.
You can taste that it has all this flavor.
- It was a process. - Yes, yeah.
- It was that there's a story behind it.
- The coolness of the cilantro mayonnaise,
it like brings it altogether.
- This is like something that, if we were at a table,
I would, like, take little bites
and then I'd sneak one in my purse
and go in a dark corner
and then (clicks tongue) just eat it.
(laughing) - That's why she's my mom.
- What do you think?
- This was a science project put together.
It's crispy on the outside,
very soft on the inside and you can tell
it took a long time for him to cook this meat.
- They also have the same, like the outside as us,
Dominicans, this is the same way,
it looks just like ours but it tastes very different.
I feel like it's giving our Dominican empanadas
some competition. - It does, it is.
- Well I think it's, like, the aesthetic of the place
and then the food complements it.
It just, like, gives you an entire full rounded experience.
- Being Mexican-American, living in the Southwest,
to come all the way to Miami and experience our cousins,
right, the food is delicious and I can taste similarities
but yet its own personality.
- Yeah. - [Julisa] Yeah.
- And it just makes me proud, it makes me feel good.
- Yeah, that's good.
Give it a round of applause. (clapping)
(laughing) - That's my mom.
- Crafty Chica. (imitates horn)
(laughing) - Craftychica.com.
- So we just finished eating Havana 1950
and what was the verdict, you guys?
- Ooh, so good. - It was dope.
- Delicious. - So dope.
It's phenomenal.
It's crazy how unique and different the empanada was.
Everybody else is a certain way.
- [Julisa] Oh my god.
- No lie, I would say, the restaurant itself
is a five star out of five. - Yeah.
I think this one is my favorite from the aesthetic
to the empanada to, like, the sauce.
- You know, I have to agree with Maya.
Now, the other one, that was so close.
- [Julisa] Llego El Sabor?
- Because it was delicious and I love the branding,
the way the empanada had their name on it,
it was so hard to choose.
- Llego El Sabor was my favorite but when I tell you
that Havana 1957 came like close, like ooh,
but I could not get away from the salami and queso
and mayoketcho inside of an empanada,
I'm sorry, I just couldn't do it.
It tasted like home.
- Okay, man, yo this shit was mad hard, yo.
I was like yo Llego El Sabor had got it, hands down.
I love Columbia.
Columbians, you guys killed, the empanada was dope.
- Yeah, it was. - Right.
But this one, take it.
This one gave the run for the money.
That's what I would say. - Yeah.
Havana 1957
- I'm not gonna lie, I am biased, too,
so I am going to Llego El Sabor.
- Oh, so you are picking it. (laughing)
I mean. (speaks in foreign language)
Honestly, every country, Cuba, Columbia
and Dominican Republic all had amazing empanadas.
- They all won. - Yes.
- And we win because we're Latinos
and we just have awesome food.
- All the places won.
- The empanada crawl's a wrap.
- Give it up for... - Thank you for having me.
- You're welcome. - Thanks, mom.
- Cathy, thank you for coming.
(laughing) Comida Latina.
(upbeat music)