Care to tango?

For my first local restaurant review, i thought long and hard about the choices. With so many options...how to choose? Well when i drive by a hole in the wall with a line out the door, i have to assume they know something i don't.

Tango's Subs and Empanadas ( 701 N Orchard, Boise)

 Its easy to miss. Its small, toned down...and visually unappealing. That being said, the smell alone is enough to compensate for the lackluster location. As i walk in I'm greeted by an older man, clearly Argentinian, who likes to call people "my friend!". When i explained i was a first timer he quickly whipped out a full scale clay mock up of said empanadas. Wheat flour based dough, rolled thin, stuffed with your choice of fillings, crimped, and fried. I opted for the Elpuerco- shredded pork in green salsa with potatoes, and a Moleh (aka Mole). I also ordered a couple of "hawaiian" empanadas for the kids. So much for tradition right?

I started with the Elpuerco. The dough was flaky and crispy, though slightly oily. The smell was of diner french fries ( which they also sell) and green chili's. The pork inside was tender, moist and well seasoned, but nothing to write home about. A fairly homogeneous mixture with no discernible vegetation other than the 2 small pieces of potato. So far...im not impressed.

Next up was the moleh. Same basic french fry smell. the mixture inside ( pork??maybe beef??) looked like...well not great. When i order Mole, i expect a mahogany colored chili based sauce with hints of sesame or peanut ( depending on local). What i got was a....brown, shredded meat paste that tasted like Mexican style pulled pork ( tinga) with a handful of Reese's peanut butter cups melted in.Way to sweet, no spice, and generally unpleasant

The kids Hawaiian style empanadas ( and my eye is twitching just trying to fathom that concept) were...eh. Shredded mozzarella, sliced ham pieces, and canned pineapple. just seems wrong, but they ate them.

So why was there a line out the door? What magical spell are they using to draw these poor lemmings into this south American hot-pocket factory? Money. 1 empanada, 1 Drink, and 1 order of fries = $5. The guy behind the counter says its mainly kids stopping in after school for fried...whatever.  I give this place a 1 out of 5, and only because there chimichurri sauce was pretty good. Not the way i wanted my first review to go, but thats how it goes.

Eat well my friends
Bob