I use a very liberal definition of the term “sandwich,” which makes the quest to eat and review every sandwich available at Citi Field a massively ambitious, multi-season project. Also, because I was on vacation for the Mets’ last long homestand and was sick for the Phillies series, this is my first time at the park in a month. So I have been remiss in my Citi Field sandwich-eating duties.

Anyway, an empanada is a protein wrapped in a starch and it’s portable, so it’s a sandwich in my book. The beef empanada is available at multiple concessions around Citi Field. This particular one was purchased from a stand along the third-base line on the Excelsior level.

The pastry on the outside is good; flaky and warm, and just a touch chewy on the inside. But the beef filling tastes mostly like salt, and there are unidentifiable bits of foodstuff in there that, though not unpleasant tasting, don’t make the product more appetizing.

It’s only $4.75 — reasonable by ballpark standards, if not by empanada standards — so I suppose I should not complain, but there’s not much food here. There’s only a thin layer of beef inside, and I am left considering my next ballpark sandwich. The empanada might make a nice choice for someone not hungry enough for a full meal at the park, but honestly, if I were looking for some not-huge portion of salty-meat-wrapped-in-bread at Citi Field, I’d probably just go for a hot dog next time.

Actually, I might go for a hot dog this time.