THE STORY OF A LIFE.
“I started selling empanadas with a borrowed pot… today I have six restaurants and none of them are named after my children.”
The pension wasn’t enough. My children didn’t show up. And the neighbors were tired of lending me. One day I grabbed an old pot, bought half a kilo of meat, and started making empanadas as my grandmother taught me. I went out to sell on the corner with a borrowed basket. No one knew me, but when they tried the first one, one said to me: “Ma'am, will you be back tomorrow?” That phrase… saved my life.
I sold 20 at first. Then 40. After that, a lady lent me a table and I put up an umbrella. They called me “the grandmother of empanadas.” It rained, and I was still there. One day, a young woman recorded me for TikTok without me knowing. The video went viral. Two days later, I had a line at my front door. That’s how “Doña Elvira Tradicional” was born, a brand I never imagined I would have.
With the help of a friend who is an accountant, I legalized everything. I opened my first location with just enough. And when I started hiring, I didn’t look for famous chefs… I looked for single mothers, grandmothers, women who knew about flavor and struggle. Today I have six restaurants, I sell frozen goods wholesale, and I’m invited to food fairs. All with the same recipe, the same love… and the same pot hanging on the wall as a trophy.
Recently, one of my children wrote to me. He asked if he could invest in my business. I said: “I’m sorry, son… here you don’t invest with money. Here you cook with history.” I hold no resentment. Because I understood that family sometimes doesn’t just happen… it’s cooked. And life, when it tightens the most, makes you savor what truly matters.
“Don’t underestimate an empanada made with hunger… it could be the beginning of your empire.”
– Doña Elvira Vargas