Delia’s Empanada Cafe in Trenton, New Jersey may be the best hidden gem you’ve never heard of.
Founded in 2019 the traditional Puerto Rican restaurant is serving the best empanadas for miles.
Delia’s is run by Jose Pantoja, a retired Trenton Police officer, who was also a part-owner of Li’s Smoothie bar in Columbus, New Jersey. He says the food is inspired by his mother-in-law and her homemade empanadas.
The team at Delia’s knows the names of most every person that walks through the door, neighbors, regulars, fellow business owners down the street. Standing outside you can hear the Puerto Rican music, and smell the heavy scent of rich, sizzling beef.
Delia’s classic empanadas are not from the freezer section at ShopRite. Imagine for a moment, beef so succulent that its full-bodied flavor overwhelms your tastebuds, a flaky dough that soaks up every ounce of fat from the beef. The housemade sauce is a creamy mix of cilantro, salt, pepper, oregano, and has undertones of acidic notes that wake up each and every item it touches.
There are also specialty empanadas. The chorizo and plantain empanada is chewy and salty. The chunks of the sausage pair with the sweetness of the plantain.
Another specialty is the chicken, sweet plantain and cheese empanada. Local professional motivator and trainer Shane West is a regular who likes to get his fix of chicken empanadas whenever he can.
“So many people are attracted or hooked on those empanadas because they’re delicious.” West describes, “It’s delicious. I got to stay away from it!”
As you bite down into the empanada you are faced with wave after wave of flavor. Chicken and cheese, cheese and plantain, plantain and chicken, the taste continues to linger on the tongue. Soon you realize that the only aftertaste is that of the sharp cheddar, oh my!
In addition to the empanadas, Delia’s makes fine tostones. They are little discs of love that have been fried in oil and served with more of that housemade sauce. Be ready to devour an entire plate by yourself, because once you eat this you’re not going to want to share.
If you have never heard of mofongo it’s a Puerto Rican dish with plantains and can be served with fried pork. Delia’s pork is hearty and when combined with the plantains it truly makes this a better plate. A lone disappointment here is the lack of flavor from the plantains, especially after it was considered a favorite by their own kitchen cook Christian Torres.
The best is saved for last, dessert.
There’s a reason people love the sweet empanada’s here, there to die for. The Apple Empanada was dense, but what lay within that deceiving flaky crust was liquid gold.
Break its shell and its glorious molten center spills out in its complete sweetness. And oh, do you smell that? It’s the most dangerous scent in the world, a combo of cinnamon, apple, and rich brown sugar. Upon my first bite, I swear I shed a single tear. Upon my second bite, I realized I had already inhaled it in its entirety. While you wallow in the loss of a delightful sweet empanada only one thing can save you now, chocolate!
“I would have the Oreo and Nutella,” says local resident Maati Sekmetra. She is another regular at Delia’s and continues to check in to get this dessert. “It’s sweet and chocolaty.”
Fried Oreos and Nutella stuffed within the fried crackly crust. God bless Delia’s. Welcome to one of the best chocolate desserts in Trenton.
People come to Delia’s to eat fantastic classic empanadas, not every dish is perfect, but pretty close, and if all you want is dessert, that’s a reasonable choice.
Jose Pantoja says, “We want people to walk out of here amazed about the experience they just had with the food that we served them with.”
