About Us
Meet Azael and Morgan
San Francisco is where the two creative food-artists of My Empanadas came together!
Azael first fell in love with cooking--and his wife Morgan, there. But both were childhood lovers of lingering in their mother’s savory kitchens which later gave way to influences both Mayan and European!
As a teen Azael, the the now master-creator, had an opportunity to move from his small town in the Yucatan, Mexico to one of the worlds most diverse culinary cities!
There, through hard work and dedication, he mastered a variety of cuisine from the most mouth-watering Mexican Taquerias, Korean Barbecues, and decadent Sushi restaurants; to healthy Vegan and All-American grills!
In 2019, the experienced pair relocated to Morgan’s hometown Fort Collins, Colorado where they put their talents together!
Evolving into My Empanadas
Positive feedback from our customers was overwhelming in the best way. We started to sell out minutes after we opened, and the demand was increasing fast. We started seeing just how big this could become.
We spent time focusing with obsession on perfecting the quality of the dough, adding more empanada flavors, and creating sweet ones too – this is where Morgan influenced, from her Dutch European heritage.. the flaky, buttery, amazing crusts and fillings!
In 2020, we opened our first real storefront, on Prospect road. We changed the name to My Empanadas, since these were nothing like you would find in any Mayan culture. Yes.. Yucatan cuisine was the inspiration for many of the fillings, especially in the beginning, but the style of our style of empanadas had really taken on a mind of its own. These are My Empanadas, because they are unique to us, a special creation.
Opening Day July 19, 2019
Mayan Empanadas.. the beginning
Azael always wanted an Empanada restaurant, but as he tried to recreate the Argentenian ones that he was familiar with, he felt like something was missing. The flavors from his mother’s kitchen. The spices, the citrus, the tastes of his childhood. That’s what he craved.
He had a crazy idea of putting these traditional Mayan meats (such as Cochinita Pibil, and Chimole), INSIDE of an empanada. From the first bite, our minds were blown.. The combination of the buttery baked dough, with these unique fillings, was a match made in heaven. We knew what we needed to do.
We started with the name Mayan Empanadas. First as food vendors using our jeep.. this quickly evolved into a “delivery only”, or “virtual restaurant."
We had funky hours.. nights and weekends only, since we were renting out a shared bakery. Six months in, when the pandemic hit, that’s when business really started to take off!
My Empanadas Continues...
In 2021, we were able to finally renovate and build our own commercial bakery, with a little storefront inside, on Elizabeth Street. We took on a huge project, and did a lot of the work ourselves! After nearly 9 months of construction, we finally opened, and to us, this felt like we had finally made it! We had to hire a lot of people to help us run the two locations, and after a couple of years of this we decided it was too much.
In 2023, we made the tough decision to close our Prospect location, and keep the one on Elizabeth St, with the bakery (of course). This freed up our time and energy back, so we could put all of our attention onto the most important thing-- maintaining the quality of the Empanadas, and putting the love into our business.
Azael has incredibly high standards in his kitchen, and to this day, you will find him doing most of the cooking himself, to keep the quality at its highest!
Both of us continue to eat Empanadas almost every day.. you heard that right! We still love them after eating them continuously for over 4 years. Quality control at it's finest 😁