Tina’s Café is a small café, with half a dozen tables, that opened in Oct 2025, in Philadelphia’s Queen Village neighborhood.  I can’t really find any background information on the place and outside of Yelp, which only has three reviews, no one seems to have reviewed it yet.  Tina’s caught my eye because they serve empanadas.  They also make a really good flat white coffee.

The Empanadas:  Tina’s empanadas are deep fried, but not greasy, and super crispy and crunchy.  I have not fully got a handle on the range of empanada styles Tina’s sells, and the selection seems to vary day-to-day.  On most days they have empanadas with beef or chicken filling (neither of which I eat), and I have tried a breakfast one filled with ham, egg and cheddar cheese, and a ham and mozzarella one.  Both styles were really good and I loved the crunch of the fried pastry.  The breakfast one was the more flavorful of the two, but last time I stopped by I was told they had stopped making it.  Tina’s bring back the breakfast empanada!!

The Location:  Tina’s Café is on East Passyunk Ave between Monroe and Bainbridge Streets.  Passyunk is one of two streets that run diagonally through the otherwise fairly regular, gridded streets of South Philadelphia.