Manena’s Pastry Shop and Deli

Went Saturday afternoon, nobody greets us when we walked in or let us know we had to order at the register. had some empanadas though they were ok, then we order the milanesa plate it came out cold, small portion and not very appetizing. For dessert we had the dulce de leche pionono it was hard and old could tell it was from a few days ago. We also got some miga sandwich to go the bread was dry and the sauce taste too strong. Not interested on coming back.

This places makes rich, sense, delicious flan de caramelo. I had a taste for it, so I went to during rush hour. That may have been a mistake, because I had to wait while the sole cashier took an order from someone on a telephone line. While I waited I spotted an eat-​in crowd of what looked and sounded like Argentinean expatriates and a group of teen girls stopped in at the bakery behind me. It could use more vanilla, but the flan more than makes up for the wait in its rich deliciousness. I’ll be back next time for tres leches cake.

Very cozy place and excellent pastries and empanadas. Had their vegetarian sandwich with eggplant and dessert. So delicious!

alfajores are awesome!
milanesas are awesome!
sandwich de lomita is great but i prefer the milanesa sandwich.
el niño envuelto is wonderful too.

We used to come here a lot, but then it got extremely expensive, the sandwich was $ 7, now they charge you like $ 15 per sandwich, no drink included, and the pastries are too sweet, we are not comming back.

I ordered a cake and 2 dozen cup cakes. The cake was so mushy and the cup cakes were hard. I called to explain the problem that I was having and the lady that answered the phone said I don’t know what to tell you. She was very rude as I explained I was not expecting a tres leche cake I just wanted a vanilla cake with strawberry in the center. I’m so disappointed and frustrated with the $ 180.00 I lost with an inedible cake that was soggy and the cupcakes that were too hard and dry. The manager was never in when I called to complain. Then the audacity of her to ask where the cake was… In the trash! They were not open on the Sunday and I called first thing Monday morning. So why would I carry around a soggy cake.

This place was a surprise and a delight! We stop here as a last minute hunt for a Saturday morning mid-​Breakfasted sight. The service was great and the food was a pleasant surprise. We had the beef, chicken empanadas, egg & cheese croissant and a Alfajores cookie, all GREAT! I will try this place again, small and quaint spot to relax on a beautiful morning.

I ordered a cake last minute for my brother’s birthday this weekend and Manena didn’t have a problem with coming up with something spectacular! It was excellent! I highly recommend this place!

The ham&cheese and onion&cheese empanadanas are the delicious. The pan de miga sandwiches are also delicious. The service is consistently good (sometimes a bit slow, but worth it). The meringues filled with Chantilly cream, tres leches cake and palmeritas are a great treat! This is a must go in Houston!

I eat lunch here at least twice a week. The staff are nice, the food is good and the place is quiet and cozy. Mostly I eat the French baguette sandwiches, the french fries are some of the best I have ever had. Food is always served fresh and hot.

Being a Venezuelana in Houston, I often long for authentic «home» cooked meals– Latin American ones. Mane a’so empanadas are flour based (more likeness to my pastelito) and amazing. I stop more often than I should as I’m trying to stay fit for my wedding! But just two of the tomato-​onion– basil empanadas make me such a happy girl.
The service is so friendly, even when non-​Spanish speakers are ordering, unlike a lot of small Latin restaurants.

I really wanted to like this place cause it’s family owned and the owner is really nice.
I can’t really remark on the empanadas cause I just stopped in for some pastries. Unfortunately, the flan was too dense and heavy and the alfajore cookies were too sweet. Tried a few of their other cookies but they were all just a bit too sweet for me and my wife.

A very nice friendly and home like atmosphere. Small but clean and a nice selection of sweet breads and Tres Leches cake with single servigs.

Not as good as most people make it out to be.
I came in here this morning to try out their empanadas since I was staying at a hotel nearby. They were filled with the good stuff inside (not hollow) but it was a little too bland for my taste. I tried both ham and cheese as well as the beef version of these empanadas.
I was hoping for something actually tasty. Empanadas bring forth fantasies of juicy treasures and lovely carb-​olicious dough to me so I was disappointed. I wasn’t even drinking coffee to hide the taste. All I had was water and I was quite hungry when I got there. (One would think my hunger should have made it taste like gold lol)
I also tried the tres leches and a small alfajore cookie. The tres leches is probably the best tasting out of all of them and the little cookie was just as flavorless as the empanadas. It’s supposed to have the taste of coconut and caramel and all I could think of was bleached flour and sugar. So sad.

This is no gourmet fancy schmancy place — it’s your friendly, neighborhood Argentine delight shop. Not exactly a hole in the wall, because you can’t help but get a homey and comfy feeling in here, but the place is quite small. There are probably ten tables in here and you’d be hard pressed to fit a large group. So it’s more of a bring-​your-​honey or small family/​friend group and let your taste buds dance a savory tango. Although, by the looks of things, big groups can enjoy their goodies via catering orders — every other person that walked in seemed to be picking up a large order of some goodie or another.
Their milanesa sandwiches are huge and sure to please a big appetite. But save room for dessert! My faves are (in this order): Brazo Gitano with cajeta — kinda like a cake jelly roll but with an awesome caramel-​like filling and topping, and of course, the alfajores — think crumbly and airy cookie. They have lots of treats of the sweet persuasion and if you look around it seems that everyone enjoys all the varieties. There are no bad choices here from what I can tell.
But the thing that truly makes me love this place, besides the awesome food, is their super friendly service. The lady at the counter (I don’t know her name but she always seems to be there) is the sweetest, most helpful and genuinely happy person. She often greets the customers by name and recalls details about their personal life. She embodies the awesome spirit of this place — which is attention to detail and appreciation for the little things with a passion.
Treat yourself to Manenas and pass the good vibe along! :)

Excellent empanadas and a perfect chicken
Milanese! Not too greasy, served with salad or mashed potatoes. Small place, nice folks, great food. Plus reasonable prices and great dessert.

I love this place! I love the empanadas. They bake then, as opposed to frying them, so they’re never greasy. You have to try the corn ones. It’s a bit unusual, but I promise you’ll love how the sweet corn balances the savory meat. I also really enjoyed the shredded beef empanada. It reminded me of carne asada. The chicken empanadas were ground meat and full of flavor. The jamon y queso is also a fun treat because the cheese gets all stringy and fun. At $ 2.20/ea, it’s a steal.
Also, I don’t know how to spell or pronounce it, but they’re slightly lemony shortbread cookies sandwiching an amazing dulce de leche center. Try it. You will not be sad.
This place is super authentic as declared to me by an Argentinian friend. The owners speak primarily Spanish, and there are customers that you can tell have been regulars for years.

My coworker keeps raving about the empanadas and desserts here, so I trekked my way here after work. The bakery is hidden in the back of an empty shopping strip on Wilcrest and Westeimer. They only have about 5 – 6 varieties of empanadas. They are $ 2.20/each, if you but 10 then you 2 free. I waited about 15 minutes to get my dozen empanadas. They came out piping hot, the best part is the empanadas are baked and not fried, so I felt less guilty eating them.
The empanadas had a thin crust with a good amount of filling. The beef and chicken empanadas had chopped egg whites mixed into the meat filling. The meat was seasoned well. The chimichurri sauce added more depth to the flavors. My favorite was chicken. I have a couple more empanadas left that I am planning to freeze and eat at a later time. I also got 2 alfajores for dessert. It was so good! Buttery lemon cookies held together by a dulce de leche filling and rolled in coconut flakes. I wished I bought some more of these cookies.

Argentinian pastries!!!
This place is hidden on a strip center behind Walgreen’s, across from Bistro Le Cep and the new Genji’s. It’s small and definitely has a mom-​and-​pop feel. There are Argentinean newspapers and magazines lying around everywhere, and you’ve very likely never heard of half the stuff on their menu board, making you feel like you just wandered into another country somehow. Seriously, does every country on earth have an outpost in Houston or something? Have I been living in the United Nations this whole time?
Anyway, being the sweet-​toothed pig that I am, I try to sample most of their offerings and my favorites are the alfajores (dulce de leche cookies) and the meringues (baked egg whites and sugar). They also sell flan and tres leches cake, which were absolutely heavenly!
You can also order custom cakes, and their decorator seems pretty talented with fondant (I’ve seen her do flowers, a huge candy ribbon, and even a superhero figure).
Aside from their popular sweets, you’ll also find regulars eating empanadas, migas (Argentinian sandwiches using white loaves that are double-​layered but have the crust removed), and baguette sandwiches (French bread, kind of like a sub sandwich). I recommend the carne (beef) and the jamon y queso (ham and cheese) for empanadas, the jamon y queso and the prosciutto (italian ham) for migas, and the jamon y queso (anyone notice a pattern yet?) and the milanesa (beef or chicken) for baguettes.

Yummy!