Policy

Disclaimers & Ordering Policies

Please read before placing an order.

At Empanadas El Guanaco, our food is prepared in small batches and primarily made to order. Because many orders are customized, prices, availability, preparation requirements, and lead times may vary depending on the quantity ordered, menu selections, special requests, dietary preferences, ingredient availability, packaging, and other specifics of the order.

Prices displayed on our website are provided for general reference and are subject to change without notice. Your final price will be confirmed when your specific order is quoted and accepted.

Minimum Orders

Empanadas El Guanaco is an advance-order, small-batch business. Minimum order quantities apply and can vary depending on the menu item variety, preparation requirements, ingredients, and other circumstances.

We do not sell individual items on demand or as single-item or walk-up purchases. Our items are prepared in batches, and orders must meet the applicable minimum quantity for the selected product or variety. Please contact us in advance to confirm current minimums and availability.

Minimum quantities and ordering requirements are subject to change.

Advance Ordering & Typical Production Schedule

Please coordinate your order in advance and wait for confirmation before making arrangements based on an unconfirmed request.

For many standard orders, our typical schedule is:

Before or by Saturday: Order details are coordinated and confirmed so ingredients can be purchased fresh.
 Sunday: Ingredient preparation and production begins. Many items require overnight marination for authentic and best flavors.
 Monday: Items are baked fresh.
 Tuesday: Order is available for scheduled pickup.

This is our typical production schedule, not a guaranteed schedule. Actual timing may vary depending on scheduling, order size, menu selections, ingredient availability, holidays, special requests, production capacity, and other circumstances. Larger, specialty, or customized orders may require additional advance notice.

Because we purchase many ingredients specifically for upcoming orders, please coordinate ahead of time and confirm your order with us before assuming availability.

Quotes, Prices & Custom Orders

A price displayed on the website is not necessarily the final price of a particular order, it is listed for reference and requires discussion, quote, and prepayment. Final pricing is based on the specific order confirmed with the customer ahead of time.

Factors that may affect pricing include order size, quantity of each variety, special or specialty ingredients, substitutions, dietary modifications, custom preparation, packaging, and other order-specific requirements.

We reserve the right to correct pricing or description errors and to update menu items, ingredients, availability, and prices at any time. A quoted price becomes the applicable price once the order details have been confirmed and accepted.

Payment

Payment is required in full in advance for all orders. An order is not considered fully confirmed until payment has been received and accepted through one of our currently accepted payment methods.

Only the current payment methods specifically accepted and communicated by Empanadas El Guanaco may be used. Please do not send payment through an unapproved method without first confirming with us.

Because orders involve advance purchasing of fresh and specialty ingredients, payment is required before purchasing and production begin.

No-Refund Policy

All confirmed and paid orders are final and non-refundable. No exceptions.

Because orders are prepared specifically for each customer and may involve advance purchasing of fresh, perishable, specialty, or custom ingredients, we do not offer refunds for cancellations, changes of mind, failure to pick up an order, late arrival, incorrect ordering information provided by the customer, or unused or unwanted products.

Customers are responsible for reviewing their order details, quantities, varieties, dietary requests, pickup arrangements, and other information before payment and confirmation.

Pickup, Delivery & Authorized Pickup

Pickup is the standard and primary fulfillment method. Orders are prepared for pickup at the agreed-upon location and time.

If you are unable to pick up your order personally, you may designate another person to pick it up on your behalf. Please provide us in advance with the person’s name and phone number and explicitly authorize that person to collect the order. We may request identification and keep their name and identification number on file. We may communicate a confirmation of the authorized person by the customer for final confirmation. We may require a signature and capture photograph, audio, or video.

We generally do not provide delivery. However, delivery options may be discussed under specific circumstances if feasible and are subject to availability, location, timing, order size, and any applicable additional costs.

Customers may also independently arrange for and authorize a third-party courier or delivery service at their own expense and risk. The customer is responsible for providing the courier with accurate pickup information and ensuring that the courier is properly equipped to transport food safely. Once an order has been released to the customer’s designated courier, authorized pickup person, or other representative, responsibility for transportation and handling rests with the customer. If pickup by whomever is authorized is unreasonably late we reserve the right to charge a late fee for any additional costs such as but not limited to storage, labor, or burden to the business including delaying pickup to the next business day.

Allergens & Dietary Requests

Please tell us before ordering about any food allergies, intolerances, dietary restrictions, or ingredient preferences, including vegetarian, gluten-free, low-sodium, low-fat, whole wheat flour, humanely raised animal products, organic, religious dietary requirements, or requests to omit or substitute particular ingredients, spices, or seasonings.

We are open to discussing dietary preferences and special requests, but we reserve the right to decline any request. Furthermore we cannot guarantee that any product is completely free from a particular allergen or protected from cross-contact. Ingredients may be prepared in the same kitchen or with shared equipment, utensils, work surfaces, cooking areas, or other facilities.

Customers with severe or life-threatening food allergies should use their own judgment before ordering and should contact us before placing an order so that we can discuss the specific request.

Our products may contain or come into contact with common allergens, including but not limited to wheat/gluten, peanuts, fish, shellfish/seafood, milk/dairy, eggs, and many other allergens regardless of the ingredients of your particular order as the kitchen and your order may be subject to cross contamination from any allergen. Please disclose any allergy concerns so we may discuss. Ingredients, recipes, brands, and suppliers may change, so please ask about the ingredients applicable to your specific order.

Specialty & Seasonal Ingredients

Certain specialty products and ingredients are subject to availability. This may include Chilean beverages such as Bilz y Pap, merkén (smoked Chilean chili pepper), specialty spices, imported products, seasonal produce, and other ingredients that may not always be available from our suppliers.

If a requested ingredient or product is unavailable, we may offer an alternative, modify the order, or advise that the item cannot be provided at that time. We will communicate material substitutions or changes before completing the order whenever reasonably possible.

Product Appearance & Photography

Our empanadas and other products are handmade, and actual appearance may vary. Differences in size, shape, color, browning, filling distribution, crust appearance, packaging, garnishes, and presentation are normal characteristics of handmade food and do not necessarily indicate a problem with the product.

Photographs displayed on our website and social media are intended for illustrative purposes only and may not represent the exact appearance, size, quantity, packaging, or presentation of the product you receive.

Some images and visual materials on this website have been created or enhanced using artificial intelligence (AI) or other digital tools. AI-generated or digitally enhanced images are used for illustrative, promotional, or conceptual purposes and should not be interpreted as an exact representation of the actual product. When in doubt, please contact us for clarification about what a specific order will actually include.

Gifts With Purchase & Complimentary Items

From time to time, Empanadas El Guanaco may include a complimentary gift with purchase or surprise item. These gifts are not guaranteed, should not be expected, and are subject to availability.

Depending on the season and availability, complimentary items may include fresh avocados, passion fruit, or other seasonal produce from our gardens, Empanadas El Guanaco merchandise or “swag,” an additional food item, another small gift, or nothing at all.

Gifts and complimentary items are provided at our discretion, have no cash value, cannot be substituted for a discount or refund, and are not guaranteed with any particular order or purchase amount.

Order Confirmation & Availability

Submitting an inquiry, contact form, message, text, or other request does not automatically guarantee that an order has been accepted. Do not send payment without a quote, discussion, and agreement first.

Orders are subject to ingredient availability, production capacity, scheduling, and confirmation by Empanadas El Guanaco. We may contact you to clarify quantities, ingredients, dietary requirements, pickup arrangements, payment, or other details before accepting an order.

Please do not consider an order confirmed until we have expressly confirmed it with you and received the required payment.

Cancellations & Changes

Please contact us as soon as possible if you need to change or cancel an order. Because our no-refund policy applies to confirmed and paid orders, cancellations or changes will not result in a refund.

Once work has begun and ingredients have been shipped for and purchased or preparation has begun, changes, substitutions, cancellations, credits, or other modifications may not be possible, particularly for customized, perishable, specialty, or large orders. No exceptions.

Food Quality, Transportation & Storage

Our products are prepared as fresh as possible for your scheduled pickup. Once an order has been picked up, proper transportation, refrigeration, reheating, storage, and handling are the customer’s responsibility.

Perishable foods should be transported and stored appropriately and should not be left at unsafe temperatures for extended periods. Please follow any storage or reheating instructions provided with your order.

Ingredients & Product Information

We make every effort to accurately describe our products, ingredients, portions, and preparation methods. However, recipes, ingredients, brands, suppliers, and preparation methods may vary or change.

Special requests are welcome, and we will be considered, but we cannot guarantee that every request can be fulfilled.

Right to Refuse Service & Code of Conduct

Empanadas El Guanaco reserves the right, to the extent permitted by applicable law, to refuse or discontinue service to any customer.

We value respectful, courteous communication. We may decline an order or discontinue an interaction when a customer engages in but not linked to: abusive, threatening, harassing, discriminatory, excessively rude, unreasonable, or persistently demanding behavior, or when the requested service has been declined.

If you are of good manners, character, and polite — even if only average or even somewhat or frustrated or complaining legitimately this is not you. In fact we will welcome you back! If something was not to your liking we will hear you out and welcome feedback. We may suggest another item for your next order or that you try the competition instead. We may also offer some other suggestion, open ears and mind or refer you to a different cuisine entirely. With an equal and reciprocal amount of neighborliness and respect. Always expressing, promoting, and encouraging benevolence, love, friendship, art, community, humor, poetry, dialogue, charity, kindness, education, peace, humor, and Chilean-American food and culture!

Semi-satirical Code of Conduct Clause

We love & respect everyone that loves and respects us back, including those that respectfully disagree with us, however with regards to assholes of any kind, we will give you directions to the closest sewage treatment plant so you may contemplate your personality flaws or whatever else is wrong with you and show you the curb. We have zero tolerance for this sort of behavior. This determination is at our discretion. However it is solely based on your vitriol, attitude, behavior, and general assholeishness. It is entirely your decision to provoke this reaction. If this is your situation it is not us it is you! 

Although sincerely written, well thought out, and poignant apologies — with follow up in person or video apology may be considered on a case-by-case basis only for isolated and minor incidents. There is no guarantee we will ever offer our services to you again, it would be the right thing to do notwithstanding.

For unapologetic assholes directions to the closest sewage treatment plant may be provided at our discretion and are contingent on the stated person exhibiting symptoms of assholism providing a mailing address to where directions to such a facility may arrive in 6-8 weeks. In more serious cases if you continue to be an annoyance, harasser, bully or similar, we will only accept the address of your employer and may provide them or others, such as our social media followers, with the details of your assholic behavior such as but not limited to a transcript, quote, summary, screenshot, and/or audiovisual content that documents the abusive, harassing, or otherwise contemptible behavior. We may inquire with your employer if we can treat you like you treated us at our business and we will wish you luck in finding stated sewage treatment plant where we hope you will contemplate, in the very least, on improving your social skills and newfound addition to our shitlist and permanent ban from working with us. It will be your loss not ours. We are a good, kind, family operation founded by abuelita over a quarter century ago. Furthermore we sincerely hope you maintain your employment. Having said that if you get written up or sent to some sort of finishing school, anger management, sensitivity training, or human resources meeting, training, or seminar it will be a few minutes out of your life you will never get back, much like your unacceptable abusive treatment of us will be something we will never get the have avoided either. We do wish you well, better, nevertheless and there is a wonderful banishing spell ends in, “Now bitch begone!” If you did not wrong us horribly this will never apply to you. Conversely if you treat us with malice and cruelty, at the very least we may send you  humorous correspondence including directions to the closest sewage treatment plant, express our feelings about how you wronged us and why this transgression has led us to never do business with you again!

Communication & Questions

For questions, special requests, dietary concerns, ingredient availability, pickup arrangements, or order inquiries, please contact us by phone, text, WhatsApp, or the contact method provided on our website.

We are happy to discuss your needs and provide a quote based on your specific order.

Thank you for supporting Empanadas El Guanaco and our family tradition of sharing the flavors of Chile. 🇨🇱

Last updated: September 2026