Nuri's Donut House

UNIQUE BOLIVIAN PASTRY: Salteñas will get your morning started right with savory goodness.

These football shaped pastries were invented in Bolivia in the 1800s. Nuri's version has chicken/beef, potatoes, olives, peas, and stew inside. It's very lightly spicy/hot/sweet and all delicious.

The taste will linger in your mouth pleasantly with every bite, I bought 6 and they vanished by end of day. My wife loved them as much as I did. With the soup inside it's closer to a sheng jian bao then it is an empanada.

Tips:

-they sell out of these very quickly so call ahead to reserve some, they are made in small batches.

-best enjoyed relatively quickly or the soup gets absorbed. Hold it upright and take a small bite and work your way down to not waste any soup or have it leak everywhere.

-tuesdays they have pao de queijo, chewy brazilian cheese balls made from tapioca powder.

-john at the front is a very nice guy patiently answering my questions and letting me know when the next batch would be ready.

-they have a selection of donuts that are also good. The sprinkled glaze was softer and not as sweet as normal which my kid loved. They have round donut holes style donuts with sugar and cinnamon with soft-churros vibe.

4.5 STARS

COVID-19 TAKEOUT

Ohhh baby!

That golden brown skin.

It seduces you from afar with its meat eau de parfum.

You were going to wait but you can't take it anymore.

You sink your teef into it.

And, it squirts.

On your windshield.

But damn, that was good.

Never thought I would say that about something from a Donut House!

With COVID, it's given me some time to work through nearly 800 bookmarks and after 5+ years, I finally made it to Nuri's Donut House for their Salteñas, baked Bolivian empanadas.

IMPORTANT: Plan ahead...call 30 minutes ahead of time for freshly baked salteñas. I called before heading to RWC from SF, and they were ready when I arrived...HOT in a box.

The salteñas are also available frozen to bring home to bake.

During COVID, Nuri's Donut House is open for takeout and I believe delivery through UberEats (limited to donuts and drinks only, no salteñas or coffee).

C O V I D - 1 9 S A F E T Y P R E C A U T I O N S
* Both staff wore masks properly.
* Limited capacity; I believe only 2 customers allowed at a time.
* No self-serve drinks from the cold case.
* Hand sanitizer available at the register.

The customer after me waltzed right in without a mask. Rude.

F O O D
* Beef Salteñas ($3.75 each)
* Chicken Salteñas ($3.75 each)

Both salteñas have a hot, flaky crust filled with savory diced meat and warming spices. Beware, they squirted when I voraciously bit into them in the car. The salteñas also include tender potatoes, peas, and olives. As someone who detests olives, the briny saltiness wasn't overwhelming.

Delicious, satisfying snack.

* Glazed Donut: I'm not a donut person but had to order one since it's a donut shop after all.

Nice height and poof, fluffy soft with a smooth buttery sweet glaze. Not overly yeasty or overly sweet. Solid.

S E R V I C E
Sweet and friendly, you can see the smile behind the staff's masks.

I think Nuri's Donut House is the only place in the Bay Area that sells these hella juicy Bolivian empanadas. If you're passing through RWC, give this mom and pop shop a try!

I've had Nuri's donuts for years now, and they're consistently some of the best around. I typically get their unglazed Old Fashioned donut, which has a great buttermilk tang, a perfectly crispy exterior, and a tender, cakey interior. Without the glaze, it has a nice, subtle sweetness, and it pairs well with a nice cup of coffee. My husband normally gets their Apple Fritter, which is the biggest fried pastry that I've ever seen. It's probably the size of two typical apple fritters, and even with the size, it's got a great, crispy fry all around.

This time, we tried a few of their other options: their chocolate-covered Filled Donut, and their Cinnamon Roll.

Their raised donut (the donut part of the Filled Donut) has a great chew, and like with their Old Fashioned dough, it's got a subtle sweetness that keeps their donuts from being one-note sugar bombs. The custard filling was perfectly creamy and had a great eggy, vanilla taste. The cherry on top was the actual chocolate on top, which was also not oversweet and rounded out the whole experience with a little bitterness.

The Cinnamon Roll was, like their Apple Fritters, a monster of a pastry, but also like their Apple Fritters, their massive size came without any sacrifice to the flavor or texture. The cinnamon filling was a bit more sparse towards the outside, but the chewy bread was tender and moist from the crisp crust inward.

Hmmm how to describe these Bolivian empanadas called saltenas? I would say it's like the XLB (soup dumplings) of empanadas with a wetter consistency like a pot pie...small pieces of beef or chicken along with black ripe olives, potatoes, egg, peas, spices with wonderful flavored sauce (can taste the cumin and oregano) with a kick...the pastry is savory but does have a slight sweet component like the Filipino variety of empanadas.

If you're wanting a dozen, I would call ahead so they can bake them before you arrive...I went there about 930 and they had about 10 in the case. Instead of waiting (yes they offered) for them to bake more (25minutes) I opted to get frozen ones (dozen) for myself...and yes, I brought an insulator bag (with blue ice) which kept for an hour before heading home...they were just fine :)

Owner/staff friendly and welcoming and wearing masks with one person handling food and the other ringing up. Excellent! And earning that extra star! Give this place a try as you can get your donut fix while getting saltenas! Located in a small shopping area with a taqueria and the 7-11. I'll definitely be back to share with friends!

Sidenote: and yes I grabbed a glazed donut...it was delicious, fluffy, not overly glazed ...a good indicator of a good donut! :)

Covid19 takeout
Called in first for their saltenas/empanadas (25min)

Small strip mall with its own lot.
2 person inside at time.

Credit card friendly

2 chicken 3 beef: chicken is more soupy than the beef. The chicken one has bit of hard boiled egg, potatoes and olives. The beef one has more olives and is more packed probably because it's ground beef versus pieces of chicken. Both are delicious with their sweeten flaky thin crust.

Yeast donuts: they are just the right amount of fluff and not too dense or airy. I think this might be my new favorite yeast donut!!!

Small little mom and pop shop! If you want to try the saltenas which are like more flavorful and juicy empanadas, then call 30 minutes before pick up because they have to bake them fresh. You can also opt for the frozen ones but I have yet to try those.

I tried one of each, the beef and the chicken. Both had the same flavorings just the protein content was different. The soupy sauce was like a spicy sweet and rich with cumin type flavor, hard to describe. The dough itself was also on the sweeter and crunchier side. I've never had juicy empanadas before because I've only tasted the Argentine varietals which tend to be on the drier side. These were different but delicious, but do not eat in the car because the juices will explode! Also have a pile of napkins nearby. Both had potatoes and peas inside.

I appreciate that these are baked to order because you can smell the scent of love seeping out of the little pink boxes as you pick them up.

*Haven't tried the Donut yet, here to rate the Salteñas*

JUICY Empanadas - Salteñas are Bolivian savory pastries filled with beef or chicken mixed in a sweet, slightly spicy sauce containing olives, raisins and potatoes.

Piping HOT juices at every bite! I really don't know how they keep their pastries juicy on the inside and not soggy at all!

Prices:
$3.75 Beef
$3.75 Chicken
$3.50 Vegetarian

I liked both Beef and Chicken but if I had to choose one, the chicken was tastier!!

TIP: call before you arrive (30mins in advance) so they can bake them fresh! Otherwise they will be frozen. Same price baked or frozen.

Was craving some donuts and a friend of mine who lives in the area was dropping me off a care package and included a box of these and boy o boy!!! Delicious Donuts indeed!!! If I were living in Redwood City, it'd be dangerous for me to have this spot near by - I'd be on a donut diet!!!

I liked it so much that I had to ask my friend where she picked the donuts up from so I can make a visit on my own sometime!!! Only to find out... they offer other delectable delicious options like empanadas and pao de quiejos!!! I'm most definitely coming myself and buying those yummy items!! This joint is a must for whomever is in search of donuts, and other baked goods!

Don't bother with chain donuts if you have a gem like this one in the hood.

Lately I've been craving donuts, like all the time. So after leaving my friends house, we decided to drop by to get some empanadas and donuts. Sadly, I was five minutes too late and the customer in front of me bought the last three jelly/ custard donuts. So I settled for one glazed donut and four frozen empanadas (2 beef and 2 chicken). The donut was so fluffy and thick, it was one of the best glazed donut I had in a while. I need to come back earlier next time to get the jelly ones next time. I haven't tried the empanadas yet but they look good!

The employees are very kind. I called 20 minutes ahead to order the salteñas since they need time to preheat the oven and bake. If not, they have frozen ones ready to go when you arrive at the donut shop for you to take home and bake. Come early on the weekends. All the pastries were sold out by 11am.

The salteñas are delicious and filling. The pastry dough is slight sweet. The filling has your choice of protein (beef, chicken, or veggies) with potatoes and half an olive. The last few bites of the empanada is the best part. The juice of the filling pools at the bottom of the pastry like a warm and flavorful soup.