Today we’d like to introduce you to Johnathan.
Hi Johnathan, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Yes! So how this all started was we used to host Puertorican Festivals in Kansas with my parents. The last one we ended up doing my mom made a whole pig roast and 150lbs of Rice. We sold out in less than 3 hrs of all of the food. I looked at my mom and told her that we need to have a food business one day because people really enjoy our food mom. She gave me the whole speech that she didn’t know if she wanted to because of the Recipes, Trust issues and having to hire people to work for us.
However i looked at my mom and told her that if she doesn’t do anything food related for a business that i would one day. I started selling food on a 2foot table and a turkey fryer my friend let me borrow for the event. I sold 2 empanadas my first event and i was sooo happy. Then i did another one and my friend was like let me buy 50 of them and you can give them out for free!? I told him are you crazy!? 50 of them. Dillon told me again its okay bro yes i want to buy 50 from you because i believe in what your doing and i want to support you. Kept doing little events here and there and one day as i was driving i heard that Ford Amphitheater was going to be built in COS and i instantly got an idea! Why don’t i send an email inquiry about selling food inside of there. So i did i sent that email the day it was announced on the radio. I didn’t hear anything back from them. I decided to reach out to Bear mountain studios which is a Glass blowing Company based in Colorado springs. I’ve been following Evan for years before i moved out here to Colorado and i was curious to see if he would see my message about bringing free food to him and his team. I sent that message early and at 4 in the morning Evan opened that message. I took the Team some free Empanadas and they were hooked! I was doing events here and there, while also trying to survive financially but i knew i couldn’t give up on my dream. when starting a food business you try and get into whatever you can to sell food. I did events where we were told there was goin to be 3,000 people in Aurora Park and i decided to put my bills on hold so that i can make enough food to sell that way i can pay my bills and have some money left. also at this time i was frying the empanadas on the day of an event then ask the coordinator if i can hook up my air fryer to a generator or plug and air fry. i had brought a couple hundred empanadas already fried. When we arrived there was no one there. My stomach instantly turned and i looked at my friend josh who came to help me. I told him this does not look good. but we waited and waited to give the benefit of the doubt. Well no one showed up to the event and i took a Major Major loss in food cost wise and because i put all my bills on hold. I started falling behind. Bills were stacking up, the mortgage was falling behind. I felt like i was done. i did not want to do this anymore. i was ready to go back to a 9-5. I ended up giving all empanadas away to the homeless people we could find on the way down from Aurora. I kept it pushing and pushing. I was able with the help of Family buy a propane hot dog cart. I took myself to the Night life in Denver to sell food downtown when the Bars and clubs were at. Extremely dangerous and had someone pull up on me threatening me with a gun that this was his corner to sell food and i left and told him it was not worth all of that. and then July of 2024 a week before they open Ford Amphitheater i get this phone call and it happens to be the Contractor for Ford. He mentioned to me that he came across a food review on TikTok and he went back to his email and saw that we had emailed years ago about selling food there at Ford. I could not believe what was happening, I had an angle investor give me 7k and i had to make dew with what i had. So decided to do a get a Tent setup with nice Deep Fryers and some A frame signs. we were the only food Vendors last year without a food truck and we were also separated from all the food trucks. We had to make a name for ourselves there. I hopped on the Facebook page and every time we had a concert coming up i would post on the page. to let people know where we were located at and what were had to sell for food. It worked ! with the help of the community and the amount of support we received i was able to Purchase a food truck! Now we have lines every concert with little to no wait times. and also people love seeing where their money went to last season with buying food from us. There has been so many up and downs but i was always consistent with what i wanted. We love giving free food to people and also because i love putting smiles on everyone’s faces when they have my food.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Oh man there has been lots of ups and downs. as i mentioned the biggest down fall one i had. there are more. I’ve done events where i didn’t sell any food or just a couple and i drove from pueblo to sell food in Denver and so i don’t make any money at all .
I’ve done event where they don’t have a plug in for me to set up anymore but they don’t communicate that so i show up to a mess. not having money to buy food cost to prep food to sell is one of the worst.
I’ve had times where I’ve sold enough food to put gas in my car to make it back home.
dealing with individuals that want to put you down is a struggle but i always then remember that if they are talking about you, then you must be doin something right
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Before all of this i was a manager for a mental heath acute unit for adolescent kids waiting trial. but what i do now is I specialize in Puerto Rican Empanadas but we have expanded our menu since. I am known for not only some of the Best or the Best Empanadas in Colorado but i also make my Famous Cuban Sandwich which just is to die for. I am most proud of myself for not giving up on my dream and having my close friend Josh helping me when i couldn’t even pay him. What sets me apart from others is that we make our Sofrito from scratch and i have a pretty Gnarly recipe that my Mother gave me. I’ve had older generation Puerto Ricans that when they take a bite of the food it brings them back 40 years as if their mom was calling them for lunch at the table when they were kids. that when you know the authentic flavors are all there.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
I have been putting myself in rooms where I’m the dumbest. You never want to be the smartest guy in the room.
The people i surround myself with are also self employed and we love to network. anytime i can talk about my business to anyone i do it. because you never know who is going t0 try your food and what doors that could open down the line. because i am really heavy on networking and building connections we now have a second location inside the Ford Amphitheater. And Hotel Polaris by the Air force Academy is wanting to carry the empanadas at the restaurant inside and also for the banquet buffets
Pricing:
- Classic beef and cheese, Spicy and shredded chicken options are $8 a piece
- We offer a Vegan option those are $9 a piece
- Bacon Philly Empanada are $11 a piece
- Boudin Ball Bites 3ct are $11
- Johnny’s Famous Cubano is $20
Contact Info:
