""The empanadas I grew up with were sweet, fruit-filled pastries common in Mexican panaderias - still my go-to pan dulce. I always ask panaderos if they have any de calabasa, or pumpkin, a flavor I can't resist. When Tejeda took over Chile Lindo, some Chileans told her, "Nobody even knows where Chile is, and nobody knows empanadas." Her response: "They're never going to know it unless we introduce it." She also expanded her menu to reflect the Bay Area.""
""I had a cheese jalapeño, cheddar mozzarella jalapeño and a ham and cheese cheddar mozzarella jalapeño. You have to navigate where you stick with the culture, but you're also part of the neighborhood." Chile Lindo was recently named a San Francisco Legacy Business, a designation for businesses that have existed for more than 30 years. "I've been able to prove to the Chileans that Chile Lindo had a place in San Francisco," Tejeda said.""
""My mom would make empanadas for any special occasion. It's not an easy process. It takes a couple days," Ahearne said. "When she would make them, she would never let us taste any of the fillings, taste them before whatever the occasion was. The anticipation was just torture. It was just waiting and waiting. So, I really associate empanadas with that big reward.""
Empanadas appear in varied cultural forms, from sweet, fruit-filled panadería pan dulce to savory Chilean and Argentine styles. Tejeda preserved Chile Lindo while expanding its menu to reflect Bay Area tastes and Mexican community flavors, offering items like cheese jalapeño and ham-and-cheese jalapeño, and earning a San Francisco Legacy Business designation. Ahearne recalls his Argentine immigrant mother making empanadas over several days for special occasions, creating anticipation and reward. He and his wife launched El Porteño in 2008 to balance family schedules, tapping the street-food and social media moment to grow the business.
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