This small, unpretentious spot on Alton Road has daily homemade soups, fresh tossed salads, a veggie burger with baked sweet potato “fries” and house made ketchup and lots of go-go pies (empanadas) with filling like ham and cheese, Thai peanut chicken and Argentine-style ground beef with olives and bits of hard-cooked eggs. All are good with the tomatillo salsa that you get where you pick up utensils and other condiments by the counter. There’s a super food healthy salad with greens, quinoa, chickpeas, tomato, pumpkin seeds and raisins tossed in ginger carrot dressing as well as a BLT salad with double bacon and blue cheese dressing. You can’t go wrong with a sweet caramel and blackberry dessert empanada.
Go-go pies sounds like a girl band from the ‘60s but it’s the name for empanadas at Go-Go Fresh Food Café. Lunchtime finds it in full swing with a queue snaking to the register, where orders are placed or picked up. The vibe is friendly and the menu is simple with homey soups, fresh tossed salads and little pies that are baked to order in a few minutes in a special oven. Green smoothies are made from a blend of oats, fruit and spinach or kale for a drinkable salad.
Owners Diane de Stefano and Carol Pierce met 30 years ago in Boston where they were introduced by a mutual friend. Carol worked for a photo studio and took cooking classes in the far-flung places she traveled to on shoots. Diane taught finance and was one of the partners who started Boston Market. She also spent several years in Argentina working on an empanada franchise deal. When it fell through, she moved to Miami where Carol had been transferred. They opened the cafe with a healthy slant six years ago. Carol oversees the kitchen and comes in early to make the pie fillings, prep salads and blend the dressings. Diane mans the front and closes at night.
Start the year on a new leaf with the super food salad that brings baby spinach with a scoop of quinoa, chickpeas, broccoli, tomatoes, toasted pumpkin seeds and golden raisins with carrot ginger dressing. There’s also chicken salad with dried cranberries, walnuts and mandarin oranges, Asian salad with seared sesame tofu, crispy noodles and bean sprouts and even a BLT salad with double bacon and blue cheese dressing.
Salads can be had mini or big enough to make a meal with a cup of soup. The only sandwich is the veggie burger served with baked sweet potato “fries” and house-made ketchup. Soup could be split pea, kale with beans and potato, or tomato herb. For pies, try Thai peanut chicken, spinach and feta, or Argentine-style ground beef, all stuffed in golden pastry pillows and delicious with tomatillo salsa. Sweet pies are filled with caramel and blackberries or Nutella and bananas.
Here’s a go-to spot for good, fast and cheap food.
Details
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Salads, Soups
Both
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Lunch, Dinner
Cheerful din
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