Voted best empanada’s in Phoenix in a readers choice poll for 2015, the Sydney’s Cafe located at Tempe Marketplace is a one-of-a-kind restaurant!
The speciality is the empanadas. I tried a bunch of them! They’re all very delicious!
The Gaucho Beef has beef, cumin, paprika, beef, potatoes, green olives, and hard boiled eggs.
Then there’s the California, a mushroom, fontina, goat cheese empanada that was my personal favorite. It’s like eating mushroom soup! Delicious!
The vegetarian options are plentiful. I tried the Samosa empanada, which has curry, potato, kale, peas, ginger, cilantro, garlic, and more… Really good flavor!
The chicken empanada has smoked chorizo, smoked cheese, bell pepper, red pepper, and more. Also delicious!
Sydney’s is way more than empanadas. They also serve a variety of custom made sandwiches, soups, salads, and desserts.
They also make smoothies, coffee and chai drinks, cocktails, and pastries! It’s like a coffee shop with awesome food.
Let’s start with the empanada’s, since those are the real treat. They make all of their different empanada’s fresh daily, and have more than a dozen varieties. Everything from chicken, beef, turkey, vegetarian, and spinach. And, they taste amazing! Each one costs $3.99 and you can bundle them with a meal for a value basket.
Dine in, or take-out. They also do catering. On the day I visited, they were wrapping up 800 empanada’s for delivery to a local tech company’s weekly luncheon.
Back to the food: the empanada’s are served with chips, coleslaw, or potato salad. They make all of these items fresh, including the potato chips. I love it when a restaurant makes their own chips, instead of just serving bagged chips.
They also have a variety of desserts. I tried the fig empanada which was marvelous. Hot out of the oven, and covered in a raspberry sauce. Lovely flavors you won’t find anywhere else. I also tried the pineapple cake which was lovely. It had a cream cheese based whip. One of my favorites!
The interior of Sydney’s is designed and accented with an airplane theme. There’s a tail wing from an airplane on the ceiling, and the trash cans are repurposed airline beverage carts (great idea!).
They have lots of comfortable seating, with booth and table seating along the western wall.
Most of the menu items are named after airports or airplanes in some way. For example, there’s the O’Hare Roast Beef Sandwich, and the Sky Harbor Chef.
The owners know a thing or two about the airline industry, and it shows in the design of their restaurant.
So, next time you’re in Tempe, stop in at Sydney’s and try one of the empanada’s!
Getting there
They are located inside Tempe Marketplace, across from Barnes and Noble and the splash pad.
Sydney’s Cafe
2000 E. Rio Salado Pkwy
#1064
Tempe, AZ 85281
Phone: (480) 967-1171
