Elisa Milan, known around Baltimore as “The Empanada Lady,” got her start in the food industry because of a playful bet in 2017 with a friend who said that her food wasn’t good enough to sell.
Milan was working in the healthcare industry and raising her young son, Bernard, who she affectionately calls Nard, when she took up her friend’s bet and began selling empanadas as a side project outside of work called Elisa’s Empanadas.
Then, Milan took the next step in 2019 after her contract in healthcare wasn’t renewed.
She officially started her business under the name The Empanada Lady—the title people in the community had given her.
Now, six years later, Milan is living in the city and still going strong, making her empanadas using her grandmother’s recipe and proudly showcasing her Afro-Latina heritage while seeing her son, now 16, grow up alongside her business.
What was it like starting a business while raising your son?
When I started, my son was my hardest working employee. He helped me make the sauces in the house, cup them up; he was running food out. I have customers to this day tell me, “I remember when your son used to run the food outside,” because I was doing pickups from my house. He was helping me cook. We were at the market together. I was doing all the deliveries myself, so he was riding around in the car with me. He got put to work. But it was easier to balance motherhood and business because I was operating in my own home.
How did things change once you started expanding and eventually got your own restaurant?
Jumping into opening the restaurant, in July 2023 we were still living in Cockeysville. My son was going to school in Baltimore County and the restaurant was downtown, in the Inner Harbor. And that was probably the hardest year of my life, just because of learning everything about the restaurant in real time.
I didn’t come in with a big plan. So, I told myself [that] a year in, we were going to move into Baltimore City. [Bernard] ended up getting accepted into Baltimore Design School for the art program … and we moved downtown, so now everything is like 10 to 15 minutes away.
Tell me about your passion for your work.
The empanadas are my grandmother’s recipe. I’m Afro-Latina, my mother’s Puerto Rican, my father is Black. When [my grandmother] got to see me open the restaurant and be here and experience it, that was really rewarding … The Empanada Lady, for me, is about the cultural experience in the community.
I grew up in Baltimore, and I would see Puerto Rican culture in my home in the music we listen to and the food we ate, in the art, in the storytelling. But when I went outside, it was nonexistent. And it’s really important to me to make that something people can experience outside of having to go to Puerto Rico.
How have you developed as a parent over the last 16 years?
My patience, because I would be dealing with so many things professionally and I needed to be intentional about not taking that home into my motherhood, with the stress of the day and whatever new fire I have to put out … Also, learning the importance of time. Because when I first opened, it was just sacrifice, sacrifice, sacrifice. And I felt like I was missing things.
I was realizing [my son] may spend five days straight at my mom’s because I’m working open to close. And yes, I have [my mom]. But once the time passes, [I’ll wonder] was I there? It helped me appreciate the time I have and be intentional about making time regardless of what’s going on, personally or professionally.
What has it been like seeing your son grow up?
It’s been a blessing. My son teaches me something every day. It’s really rewarding because we grew up together, in a way, because I had him so young [at 17]. He’s so smart, witty and sarcastic … He’s just responsible, and hardworking and really independent for his age. He makes me proud as a mom. I’m like, “You’re going to be a good member of society when you get out here.”
Some responses were edited for length.
Family Favorites
Meal: Pizza
Activity: Going to the pool
School Subject: Art
Movie: All three Sonic movies
Holiday: Christmas
