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Late last year, Little Italy got a New World update on its cuisine with an Argentinian empanada restaurant. We've been meaning to check it out, and our first thought walking through the door: Why did we wait so long? Bottles of homemade chimichurri sauce and bags of Argentinian coffee on the left, a beautiful tiled counter and glass case full of tarts and desserts to the right, and a delicious-sounding menu written on a chalkboard behind. All good signs. We ordered up an Argentine caprese panini with basil, huge tomatoes, chimichurri sauce, and mozzarella (comes with a salad, $7.49), and a bowl of butternut squash and cheddar bisque, which was more soup-like, but nevertheless excellent, with nice chunks of squash ($3.65). A great start. Then, we ordered a few empanadas, those tasty deep-fried buns of savory perfection that Hot Pockets are a sad derivation of: a chorizo, a salteña (potato with raisin and cheese), and a mixed vegetable with corn, green beans, peas, carrots, bell peppers, onion, and mozzarella sauce. Special empanadas rotate through the menu, all at $3.15 each. We recommend any of these, and are confident the ones we didn't try are just as good. Desserts are tasty and cheap, too: a coconut and dulce de leche tart ($2.50) topped off the spread. Yum.

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