We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lucas Nunez. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Lucas below.
Lucas, appreciate you joining us today. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?
It all started with my Uncle, Chef Diego. Diego has specialized in empanadas for the last two decades, working for different empanada shops around the United States. What is an empanada you ask? An empanada is literally the perfect finger food, it is a type of baked turnover consisting of pastry and filling, common in different styles around the world. Our empanadas are Argentine-style, but we offer international flavors. Argentine-style empanadas mean that every empanada is made with wheat dough, is crescent-shaped, and is baked. The origin of empanadas is unknown but they are thought to have originated thousands of years ago in Greece and later became very popular throughout Spain. Now, empanadas are one of the few foods that unite all of Latin America. Still, you can find similar concepts all over the globe. In 2018, Diego and his wife moved to Cincinnati because he got the opportunity to be the empanada chef at a Argentinian restaurant in downtown. Diego needed help with someone running food stands at events all over the city and that’s where i come in to the rescue. I worked along side him for the next 2 years and it was a tremendous experience. When covid-19 emerged, the food industry wasn’t doing so well, we were scared for what was to come and it was Diego’s dream to open up his own empanada shop after years of specializing in them. We found out about Findlay Market and their incubator kitchen: Findlay Kitchen. Findlay Kitchen supports food entrepreneurs looking to start, grow and scale their business, by providing affordable access to 11 licensed commercial kitchens, commercial-grade kitchen equipment, and ample storage space. This was the holy grail for us, the stepping stone that launched us to success. After becoming members of Findlay Market we started producing at their incubator kitchen and selling at the market on the weekends out of a pop up tent. Every Saturday and Sunday for the next 52 weekends. Findlay then released their newest program: Findlay Launch. Findlay Launch is a food-focused Storefront Accelerator, located in the Findlay Market District of Cincinnati, Ohio. It is the first of its kind in the region, with a specific focus on giving real time experience to food-related retail and restaurant concepts. This residency-based program provides crucial mentorship, industry connections, a 9-week food retail and restaurant curriculum, and a minimum of 9 months in a fully built-out, operating storefront. This gave us the opportunity to be in a actual storefront for the next 9 months to see if this is possible for us. There is a big difference between being open on weekends only to being open 6 days a week right in front of the market. This opportunity built relationships and networks i never thought were possible. It gave us hope that we can do this, we can run a storefront and sell our empanadas to the whole city of Cincinnati! Fast forward 9 months later and we finally graduated the Findlay Launch program. This was huge for us, this meant that now we are ready to take the next chapter of our lives and move into a permanent storefront. Findlay Market of course helped us find many options so that we can pick the right one. We stumbled upon a storefront in Covington, KY, only 10 minutes away from the Market. This storefront had a full built in kitchen and we said “this is it”. The hardest part of being a food business is building out a kitchen which is the most expensive part of the whole operation. We loved the are and a few months later, on July of 2022 we opened our doors to the public. It has been a year and a half now since we have been at our new home. It has been a long journey but along side my family and our few employees that stuck with is through thick and thing, we have become of the most successful empanada shops in the tri-state region. With over 20 different international flavors, there will always be an empanada for you! Some examples of our selection of international flavors include: From our hometown Buenos Aires, Argentina, the “Buenos Aires Empanada”! The house’s main specialty! With delicious ground beef, onion, red pepper, & green onion. When you bite into one, you feel like you are walking down the streets of Buenos Aires, enjoying its culture and tango shows. From the country of Jamaica, the “Jamaica Empanada”, with jerk chicken thighs, green onion & a sweet spice mix. Jamaica empanadas are the perfect combination of sweet and spicy. Try one and feel like you are in the Caribbean. and From the beautiful state of California the “California Empanada”! With garlic buttered mushrooms and onion, mozzarella cheese & green onion. California empanadas remind us of our arrival to the United States of America.
Lucas, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
My name is Lucas Nunez, i am co-owner and director of sales and marketing at The Empanada’s Box. I got into the food industry in 2018 when i worked along side Chef Diego, he taught me everything about making and selling empanadas for the next 2 years. Diego has been curating empanadas for the last two decades working for multiple different shops around the U.S. An empanada is a type of baked turnover consisting of pastry and filling, common in different styles around the world. Our empanadas are Argentine-style, but we offer international flavors. Argentine-style empanadas mean that every empanada is made with wheat dough, is crescent-shaped, and is baked. We offer over 20 different empanada flavors for everyone to enjoy! The empanada is unique for the simple fact that no matter who you are or what you enjoy eating, there will always be an empanada for you. We offer flavors for meat-eaters, vegetarians, sweet lovers, and even vegan options. Being a family business solely focused on making empanadas, we are able to put all of our energy, time, and love into producing the best quality empanadas for your taste buds. All of our recipes are authentic creations, fusing different cultures and their flavors. We offer hot-and-ready empanadas, the perfect finger food that you can eat without the need for utensils. Perfect for dining in, take-out, deliveries, and even private events. Our concept is upscale quick-serve. All recipes are made from scratch and we keep a handful of each of our offerings baked hot and fresh for easy checkout, keeping our tickets under eight minutes per guest. Every empanada comes with a side of our traditional Chimichurri sauce. Chimichurri is an uncooked herb and oil sauce used principally on grilled meat, another specialty in Argentina. Combos are also available with our empanadas. They can consist of two or three empanadas with a range of sides to choose from like veggie rice and/or a homemade super green salad. We also offer frozen empanadas, ideal for stocking up your refrigerator or even as a gift for any occasion. Easy to heat up in an oven or air fryer, at 375 F degrees for about 10-15 minutes. Fast, easy and super beneficial when having a party, office meeting or even just for lunch. Since i am the face of the company, my number one priority is customer service. Every customer that walks through the door deserves the best empanada experience they’ll ever have. We work hard and are passionate in what we do. Our mission is to bring a different culture to Cincinnati/NKY area through our gourmet Argentine-style empanadas, using only the freshest ingredients and crafting everything by hand.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
I believe what helped us build our reputation within the food business is being consistent, hard working and being real/being ourselves. Consistency is key in anything you do. If you make a great product, along the line, people want that same product they first got. You got to be consistency in quantity and quality. If you work hard then hard work pays off. Putting in hours of work, even when you know you’re working more being an entrepreneur than working for someone else will pay off in the long run.
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
The best source for new clients of us is social media and word of mouth. Social media platforms help us reach hundreds and hundreds of people on a weekly basis. Connecting with customers online is a great way to network and build clients for life. Everyone uses those platforms like: Instagram, Facebook, Google and Yelp. They are tools we should take advantage of to help us with our business. But word of mouth has to be #1. Our food speaks for itself and when someone takes our yummy empanadas home, they rave and rave to all their friends and family. It’s just like watching a good movie, you love it so much you tell everyone you know to go and watch it.
Contact Info:
- Website: theempanadasbox.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theempanadasbox/
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/theempanadasbox/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-empanadas-box-covington