# Northern VA Dopers! Great empanada joint in Fairfax! (No, not Julia's) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 24, 2012, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-va-dopers-great-empanada-joint-in-fairfax-no-not-julias/644977 "2012-12-24T02:41:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![oft\_wears\_hats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7993a0/32.png) [@oft\_wears\_hats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oft_wears_hats)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2012, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-va-dopers-great-empanada-joint-in-fairfax-no-not-julias/644977/1 "2012-12-24T02:41:17Z")
Let me get this out of the way: I love Julia’s Empanadas. They are wonderful. This is not them. There’s a bakery right near Pickett Road and 236 that has fantastic empanadas. I think their storefront just says “Bakery,” and they’re not marked on Google Maps, but [here’s the plaza they’re in](https://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Vienna,+VA+22181&daddr=38.844061,-77.271223&hl=en&sll=38.843896,-77.27073&sspn=0.001857,0.004128&geocode=CUhZSUR0Q2oHFcC0UQIdN51k-ylXhJ7UZEm2iTH82KFo9v05qw%3B&mra=mift&mrsp=1&sz=19&t=m&z=19). I just stopped in today, and their empanadas had this delicious, crispy crust that was wonderful. Two empanadas and a can of soda was around $6, and their empanadas are about half the size of a Julia’s, so they’re about the same portion to price ratio. I can’t decide whether they’re better than Julia’s, but they’re not quite similar enough to compare. They certainly are at least as good, and a heck of a lot closer to me than any place I know of that serve’s Julia’s. I will definitely be revisiting this hidden gem and I feel compelled to spread the word. I’d have passed the place right by if I hadn’t been looking for a new place to try. Mods: Normally I’d put a food post in Cafe Society, but since this is so area-specific, I figured that MPSIMS was more appropriate. Feel free to move it.