This beloved restaurant is a ‘Boise must.’ It plans to open a third location
A beloved Boise mom-and-pop restaurant is evolving into a beloved Treasure Valley chain.
Tango’s Empanadas, 701 N. Orchard St. in Boise and 46 E. Fairview Ave. in Meridian, is planning a third store.
The newest Tango’s will be at 1226 S. Broadway Ave., not far from Boise State’s Albertsons Stadium. (The Whale Tea, a bubble tea franchise chain, recently closed in the space.)
Monica “Mama” Bremmer, who co-owns Tango’s with her husband, Louis Bremmer, shared the news in a social media announcement. “We will see you here at Tango’s Empanadas BSU very soon,” she said in a video. “We’re going to try to do it very fast.”
In a message, Bremmer said they hope to open it by the end of March or first week of April.
The Bremmers, who offer “a taste of Argentina in Idaho,” have lots on their plate right now. They also plan to move the original Orchard Street restaurant, launched in 2006, to a building three blocks away at 295 N. Orchard St. They’re hoping that will happen toward the end of March, she said.
Whenever the Orchard Street relocation and the “Tango’s BSU” expansion do occur, customers are sure to follow. A beloved local brand in the City of Trees, Tango’s is rated an exceptional 4.8 out of 5 stars on both Google and Yelp — with thousands of reviews.
“A Boise must,” one reviewer declared recently. Confessed another: “I didn’t even know what an empanada was until a friend took me here. Wow!”
Empanadas are scrumptious pastry turnovers filled with meat, vegetables and cheese. (Unless you order a sweet dessert version, of course.) The Tango’s menu features a dizzying number of variations.
Not only are empanadas delicious and satisfying, they travel well. That’s probably one of the reasons Tango’s was named Idaho’s top restaurant in a guide to the “Best Takeout in Every State” from Move.org a few years ago.
Another likely reason? Authenticity. Monica and Louis (whose roots are in Buenos Aires and Mexico City, respectively), moved to Idaho from Mexico City, where they had operated an empanada restaurant.
In 2023, celebrity chef Guy Fieri visited Tango’s for an episode of Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.”
Expanding near BSU seems like a win-win for the Bremmers and hungry college students. “We’ve been waiting for this for many years,” Mama Bremmer said in the announcement video. “You’ve been asking for it. ... We can’t wait to start making all those happy memories with all of you guys.”
This story was originally published February 3, 2026 at 1:40 PM.