Pho Luc Lac

We go to Big E every Saturday (and I swing by on the way to work far too often). Great place wonderful people. Excellent empanadas.

Your empanadas are the best and I am sending people from work to enjoy them also!!

Love the empanadas here ! Come down here and give them a try !

I ordered a chorizo and eggs empanada; it was my first time there, and a caramel frappé. It was simply delicious, although it was heated up a bit—it was okay but not hot. I think next time I will order it to be baked extra in the oven. What caught my attention was how kind and gentle the staff were to customers. I am definitely going back again.

Love this place! Their espressos are sooo much better than the chains. My mochas are handcrafted in a way I just don’t get from the corporate coffee houses. And the empanadas are a cut above. My fave is the Thai chicken; love those flavors. Friendly staff. Pleasant place. Highly recommend!

The empanadas are really good. The dough is soft with a little crunch and there are lots of savory filling options. Lots of hot sauce options too. Make sure to eat the empanadas warmed up. The owner and staff are friendly. A great neighborhood spot for a satisfying snack.

The team is great and the empanadas are awesome.

Been coming for years almost a decade now and they are amazing. Quality and consistency

Great empanadas! Will definitely be back!

A casual place in a strip mall serving very tasty and a variety of empanadas. I tried their breakfast sausage empanadas and two of their sweet empanadas. Very tasty and filling. Their drip coffee and barista made coffee are also great. Warm and friendly service. Highly recommend BigE cafe.

Love this place - real local feel and yummy empanadas! I've been going here for years and I sincerely hope that Empanadas are not bad for your health because I sure eat a lot of these. They have a great selection of flavors (my favorites are Potato egg and cheese for breakfast and probably chicken and mushroom for anything else). The staff is kind and of course by now they know me so just hand me my order when I show up. I'm always rushing around with my kids so I always order from their website directly and it works great. Recently they expanded their hours to be open until 7pm many nights and my first thought was "I need to just direct deposit my pay to Big E Cafe I guess!" The quality is good, consistent and tasty. The prices have gone up over the years but the size is good, so it's ok.

I have never gone inside but I can tell you that the empanadas are amazing! I’ve had sweet and savory and they never disappoint!

My granny apple and cranberry empanada was very good the best part was the crust. Sooooooooo good, HIGHLY RECOMMEND FOR LOCALS AND TOURISTS. Definitely will return and try other menu options. The ladies communicate very well and make sure you get what you want. 10/10 all around ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Empanandas are always a treat for us ( hearty breakfast or lunch). The selection is good and includes a Mediterranean. I stop by, there's always a good selection. The wait is a few minutes while they are warmed, but you can take them cold and heat at home. Also has a good expresso drinks.

Coffee was great! I also got the “Lomo saltado” empanada and it was delicious!! 👍🏻

They’re open early. It’s clean and the staff are always swift and pleasant. The empanadas are fantastic and they have a variety (some savory, some sweet; great breakfast selections). The coffee is good too. This place is excellent.

Alicia Valverde

I have never gone inside but I can tell you that the empanadas are amazing! I’ve had sweet and savory and they never disappoint!

Christina Akpan

My granny apple and cranberry empanada was very good the best part was the crust. Sooooooooo good, HIGHLY RECOMMEND FOR LOCALS AND TOURISTS. Definitely will return and try other menu options. The ladies communicate very well and make sure you get what you want. 10/10 all around ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Wayne O

Empanandas are always a treat for us ( hearty breakfast or lunch). The selection is good and includes a Mediterranean. I stop by, there's always a good selection. The wait is a few minutes while they are warmed, but you can take them cold and heat at home. Also has a good expresso drinks.

Rexx

Coffee was great! I also got the “Lomo saltado” empanada and it was delicious!! 👍🏻

Billy Ravel

They’re open early. It’s clean and the staff are always swift and pleasant. The empanadas are fantastic and they have a variety (some savory, some sweet; great breakfast selections). The coffee is good too. This place is excellent.

Charlene Teets

Really cute cafe with delicious tea drinks and empanadas. I got the tropical mango shaker that is mango syrup and black tea. Very delicious!

Had an amazing experience at this Peruvian empanada café! The empanadas were fresh, flavorful, and perfectly cooked—crispy on the outside and packed with delicious fillings. You can really taste the care and authenticity in every bite. A special shout-out to Laura for her outstanding service. She was warm, attentive, and made us feel truly welcome from the moment we walked in. Her recommendations were spot-on and made our visit even better. Great food, great atmosphere, and even better service. We’ll definitely be back and highly recommend this place to anyone looking for a fantastic Peruvian bite!

Found this gem listed on a reddit thread and I am so glad I went on a little early morning adventure. Looking for some breakfast, checked out the menu, downloaded the app, and jumped in my car. Service was great, my order was ready and just as hot (you get to pick) as ordered it on the app. Started with the the sides. Potato salad is an excellent deviled egg style but the coslaw could use some Granny Smith apple. Leaving my breakfast for last, i dug into the Panzerotto Special. Puts every calzone I have ever had to shame. Then went for dessert with the with the Granny's Apple Empanada. Perfect apple pie flavor with a tart twist. Last was the Bacon Eggs and Cheese. The thin hard shell was a interesting twist on hand held breakfast to-go. Loved the bacon crumbles baked into the shell! The prices were great and I can't wait to go explore more!

Big E Cafe is my favorite place to buy coffee and empanadas. Their coffee is the best I’ve ever had! I love their homemade empanadas! They have a wide variety of empanadas and make them fresh everyday. They are DELICIOUS! The service is always fast. The staff is very professional and friendly. They are a small, family-owned business and the owner is usually there and waits on customers as well. I would give this business more than 5 stars if they were available. Very highly recommended!

This place is absolutely EXTRAORDINARY!!. The variety of empanadas, the flavors, the generous portions, everything is simply AMAZING. You can truly taste that it’s homemade, and it shows in every bite. From the moment you walk in, you feel like you’re at home. The space is so welcoming, and the people working there are incredibly kind, sweet, and genuinely attentive. They really go above and beyond to make you feel happy and cared for. Everything is also spotless, and you can feel how much pride they take in their work and in their customers. I discovered this place by pure chance, and I’m so grateful I did. It genuinely warmed my heart. Go taste the best empanadas in the Bay Area!

I have gone regularly to this place for 12 years now. The food has remained a consistent high quality. The staff is great. Even the coffee is great. Only down side would be if you are gluten free, there aren't many choices (but I doubt you would expect them at an empanada restaurant!). We even catered a party from here and they did a great job. Everyone loved the food!

Ordered in advance to celebrate "Staff Appreciation" at our office gathering. Everyone enjoyed! Staff at Big E should be appreciated for the timeliness of order, excellent customer service, and the most delicious empanadas in the Bay Area.

I may be biased because I was a customer from when this coffee shop first opened. I left the area for a while & when I returned a few years ago I found it still had delicious empanadas for breakfast or lunch (both sweet & savory!) and good coffee. Upbeat music reflects the culture of the food & Big E’s owner- Ernie is a gem who has provided consistency and good quality food & coffee for years.

The pastry is so well baked. The coffee is delicious. The people who work here always seem in good spirits and they're chilling. I come here whenever I'm in town

I love this place and the friendly staff. Great coffe and the empanadas are amazing too. Wonderful little neighborhood cafe.

Margaret Sullivan

Found this gem listed on a reddit thread and I am so glad I went on a little early morning adventure. Looking for some breakfast, checked out the menu, downloaded the app, and jumped in my car. Service was great, my order was ready and just as hot (you get to pick) as ordered it on the app. Started with the the sides. Potato salad is an excellent deviled egg style but the coslaw could use some Granny Smith apple. Leaving my breakfast for last, i dug into the Panzerotto Special. Puts every calzone I have ever had to shame. Then went for dessert with the with the Granny's Apple Empanada. Perfect apple pie flavor with a tart twist. Last was the Bacon Eggs and Cheese. The thin hard shell was a interesting twist on hand held breakfast to-go. Loved the bacon crumbles baked into the shell! The prices were great and I can't wait to go explore more!

Marylene Notarianni

This place is absolutely EXTRAORDINARY!!. The variety of empanadas, the flavors, the generous portions, everything is simply AMAZING. You can truly taste that it’s homemade, and it shows in every bite. From the moment you walk in, you feel like you’re at home. The space is so welcoming, and the people working there are incredibly kind, sweet, and genuinely attentive. They really go above and beyond to make you feel happy and cared for. Everything is also spotless, and you can feel how much pride they take in their work and in their customers. I discovered this place by pure chance, and I’m so grateful I did. It genuinely warmed my heart. Go taste the best empanadas in the Bay Area!

Edie Kerr

Big E Cafe is my favorite place to buy coffee and empanadas. Their coffee is the best I’ve ever had! I love their homemade empanadas! They have a wide variety of empanadas and make them fresh everyday. They are DELICIOUS! The service is always fast. The staff is very professional and friendly. They are a small, family-owned business and the owner is usually there and waits on customers as well. I would give this business more than 5 stars if they were available. Very highly recommended!

stacy sanders

I have gone regularly to this place for 12 years now. The food has remained a consistent high quality. The staff is great. Even the coffee is great. Only down side would be if you are gluten free, there aren't many choices (but I doubt you would expect them at an empanada restaurant!). We even catered a party from here and they did a great job. Everyone loved the food!

Lucky

The pastry is so well baked. The coffee is delicious. The people who work here always seem in good spirits and they're chilling. I come here whenever I'm in town

MarjiM Educator

I may be biased because I was a customer from when this coffee shop first opened. I left the area for a while & when I returned a few years ago I found it still had delicious empanadas for breakfast or lunch (both sweet & savory!) and good coffee. Upbeat music reflects the culture of the food & Big E’s owner- Ernie is a gem who has provided consistency and good quality food & coffee for years.

shannon williams

I love this place and the friendly staff. Great coffe and the empanadas are amazing too. Wonderful little neighborhood cafe.

Brazilian egg & bacon empanada and peach & blueberry empanada and a latte coffee.

+2

Fast service. We got an apple and cranberry empanadas with Carmel frappes. Both came out right.

Empanadas are delicious but I think Milohas down the street is what I would recommend. I guess it depends on what your taste buds prefer. Otherwise I see lots of customers and pretty tempting empanadas. I ordered the Thai and gyro ones, they were okay 👌.

We split four empanadas: the spinach & cheese, the Mediterranean, the chicken & mushrooms, and the traditional Peruvian. They were all great, but between two people, you'll wanna plan to order more. Would be nice if they offered some side dishes too, and apparently they don't have plates.

Empanadas are delicious but they do not offer any non-dairy **options or can ask to modify. Bummer. But still...the empanadas are tasty & a good portion size. **Thank you for the reply! I did see your other non-dairy tasty options but not for BREAKFAST. Your breakfast empanadas all have cheese. I should have been more specific. I buy them for breakfast. The other options are great for lunch (in my opinion) or if you are in the mood for chicken & spice first thing in morning.

Empanadas are very tasty. I like the Cilantro Chicken, it's spicy and goes really well with coffee. Service is fast and the ladies at the counter are consistently nice. Pricey: Black coffee + empanada can be $10, but still worth it given the lack of other good choices in the neighborhood.

Nice atmosphere. Slightly slow service. Empanadas have too much bread for my taste. Great Mexican Mocha!

I ordered a chicken empanada and a steak empanada. The chicken empanada was big in size, had great taste, and was filling. They're definitely was more meat than crust which was a surprise for me. As for the steak empanada, the taste was not what I expected. There is green olives, raisins, and onions with the steak. In my opinion the raisins and the olives were an off-putting taste for me but that is me. Again this empanada was filled with plenty of steak and on both of the empanadas the crust was very tasty and slightly buttery. Of course I only had the two for the savory empanadas but the dessert apple cranberry was an absolute must have again. The apples were largely diced, the filling was smooth but not too sugary, and once again it was the right amount of filling for the amount of crust. I do want to go back and try some other ones because the empanadas overall were very savory and filling. Big e Cafe has the feeling of a small coffee house but surprisingly has very filling foods. Definitely going to try again!

Valerie C.

I ordered a chicken empanada and a steak empanada. The chicken empanada was big in size, had great taste, and was filling. They're definitely was more meat than crust which was a surprise for me. As for the steak empanada, the taste was not what I expected. There is green olives, raisins, and onions with the steak. In my opinion the raisins and the olives were an off-putting taste for me but that is me. Again this empanada was filled with plenty of steak and on both of the empanadas the crust was very tasty and slightly buttery. Of course I only had the two for the savory empanadas but the dessert apple cranberry was an absolute must have again. The apples were largely diced, the filling was smooth but not too sugary, and once again it was the right amount of filling for the amount of crust. I do want to go back and try some other ones because the empanadas overall were very savory and filling. Big e Cafe has the feeling of a small coffee house but surprisingly has very filling foods. Definitely going to try again!

Joshua A.

We split four empanadas: the spinach & cheese, the Mediterranean, the chicken & mushrooms, and the traditional Peruvian. They were all great, but between two people, you'll wanna plan to order more. Would be nice if they offered some side dishes too, and apparently they don't have plates.

Big E Cafe is conveniently located in a Safeway shopping center with plenty of parking. Big E Cafe serves delicious empeñadas, coffee drinks, salads and more. I enjoy the friendly service and tasty food/drink personally and occasionally will order breakfast empeñadas for work meetings; usually two dozen empeñadas. During my latest experience, I called two days early to place my multiple empeñada order for a work meeting and was told to use the Big E website to order. I was quite surprised the cafe would decline a significant order over the phone and potentially turn away business. My initial thought was to order from another empeñada cafe down the street from Big E but my work partner stayed the course and placed the order online. The process was fairly easy and the order was ready as promised warm and tasty. I was just surprised a small business would potentially turn away a bulk order considering my order took the place of about ten individual customers visiting and ordering two empeñadas each. I’m not a small business owner but if I was, I would be excited to accept a bulk sale with one financial transaction over the phone. More on the food…each empeñada was packaged individually and labeled by flavor. The order was complete with sauces, napkins, etc. I recommend using the website to place orders.

Roxana Guevara

Empanadas are delicious but they do not offer any non-dairy **options or can ask to modify. Bummer. But still...the empanadas are tasty & a good portion size. **Thank you for the reply! I did see your other non-dairy tasty options but not for BREAKFAST. Your breakfast empanadas all have cheese. I should have been more specific. I buy them for breakfast. The other options are great for lunch (in my opinion) or if you are in the mood for chicken & spice first thing in morning.

Kind of a let down but the empanadas were still OK, just not great. They are not made on site, saw the guy bringing them in from his van. They heat them up and serve but ours were not heated up in the middle. The salsa choices are terrible, nothing fresh just grocery store stuff, no lime and no chimichurri. Half the fun of eating empanadas is putting on the sauce. No bathroom. Took a surprising amount of time for them to not get our empanadas heated up. The Empanadas themselves are good, especially the traditional beef. Whoever is making them is doing her/their part but the people at the store are not serving them right.

The prices have definitely gone up since they opened. Food is very tasty, however, I notice lately they aren’t filling up the empanadas as much as before. For the price of over 7$ for a small empanada, they should be filling the inside with more of the filling.

Carl O'Neil

Kind of a let down but the empanadas were still OK, just not great. They are not made on site, saw the guy bringing them in from his van. They heat them up and serve but ours were not heated up in the middle. The salsa choices are terrible, nothing fresh just grocery store stuff, no lime and no chimichurri. Half the fun of eating empanadas is putting on the sauce. No bathroom. Took a surprising amount of time for them to not get our empanadas heated up. The Empanadas themselves are good, especially the traditional beef. Whoever is making them is doing her/their part but the people at the store are not serving them right.

Gabby Martinez

The prices have definitely gone up since they opened. Food is very tasty, however, I notice lately they aren’t filling up the empanadas as much as before. For the price of over 7$ for a small empanada, they should be filling the inside with more of the filling.

The cashier must ask... “Are you eating it now? 👀” If YES, give it on wax paper bag, and that's it. ✅ For ONE EMPANADA, they gave me: One paper bag Three napkins Too much wax paper as if I was going to give it as a present 🎁 Let's be more eco-friendly, people. ♻️ 💰💵💸 Plus, you're losing TONS of money and resources daily that you could be saving for your business 🙄🙄

I asked the cashier if they have empanadas with ham and cheese, no egg, she said yes so I ordered 2, ee got them with egg and my wife was throwing up since she can't eat egg. I also ordered cilantro chicken and i got mushrooms, so 3 out of 5 empanadas were wrong. No bathroom, not good I will keep going to milhojas, same service but 100% accuracy

Marco Ramirez

I asked the cashier if they have empanadas with ham and cheese, no egg, she said yes so I ordered 2, ee got them with egg and my wife was throwing up since she can't eat egg. I also ordered cilantro chicken and i got mushrooms, so 3 out of 5 empanadas were wrong. No bathroom, not good I will keep going to milhojas, same service but 100% accuracy

I always had come here with my friend but today really upset me first, I get they might of forgotten my vanilla latte after they handed me my empanada… whatever on that but just had to point it out . Second , they were too busy chatting around with a costumer that once that costumer left .. they told me and my friend that they are CLOSED ! no 5 min warning ! Me on the other hand wasn’t even finished with my empanada had to rush out and finish it outside . Couldn’t waited at least till I was done ?!? While they were still inside picking stuff up . Very rude and uncalled for . I get you might have been there all day but at least warn me so I don’t have to rush outside with my food and drink . I’m never coming here again they lost a regular costumer .

***WARNING WARNING*** On12/30/25 it was my first time giving this place a try. I could not wait to taste their food. After I ordered 2 empanadas I decided to give them a $2 tip when I saw their tip jar. Because of giving them cash I did not except to tip it when the girl cashier rang it up. She saw me put the money in her tip jar. When I got my $17 bill for 2 empanadas I was surprised to see she added a $2.43 tip. I did not want to cause a scene bc there was a lot of customers in the shop. That is not like me!! I also told her that I wanted them cold, yet I got them hot not to mention one of them was burnt. Because she did not tell me she was also adding a tip, I will not frequent this place again. There are lots of places to get delicious empanadas that do not deceive you.

carmella giuliodibari

***WARNING WARNING*** On12/30/25 it was my first time giving this place a try. I could not wait to taste their food. After I ordered 2 empanadas I decided to give them a $2 tip when I saw their tip jar. Because of giving them cash I did not except to tip it when the girl cashier rang it up. She saw me put the money in her tip jar. When I got my $17 bill for 2 empanadas I was surprised to see she added a $2.43 tip. I did not want to cause a scene bc there was a lot of customers in the shop. That is not like me!! I also told her that I wanted them cold, yet I got them hot not to mention one of them was burnt. Because she did not tell me she was also adding a tip, I will not frequent this place again. There are lots of places to get delicious empanadas that do not deceive you.