For a quick, cheap, and excellent lunch, follow locals to one of the small empanada shops on and around Avenida O'Higgins. Chilean empanadas are baked rather than fried, filled with cheese, corn and basil (the pino de queso), or a mixture of ground beef, olive, hard-boiled egg, and raisin that sounds improbable but works. The ones in Pucón tend to be particularly good, perhaps because the town gets enough tourist traffic to support continuous turnover and freshness.
A single empanada costs around 1,200–1,500 Chilean pesos; three makes a satisfying meal. Order at the counter, eat standing or at a small table, and be prepared to wait five minutes if they go straight into the oven.