Rising Stars: Meet Anthony & Valerie McDaniel of East Mesa

Today we’d like to introduce you to Anthony & Valerie McDaniel.

Hi Anthony & Valerie, having you on the platform is an honor. Thanks for sharing your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers.
Valerie was a stay-at-home mother of 4 foster and 3 adopted children. I worked as a dice & blackjack dealer at a local casino for 17 years. Whenever a dealer would have a good tip day, as a shift, we agreed to bring donuts or pizza in to treat the shift; after a while, we all got a little tired of the same ole same ole. So one day, I decided to bring in Valerie’s empanadas. They were a solid hit with everyone. So on my next big tip day, I brought them in again. Then soon after, others began to ask Valerie to make her empanadas for their tip day treat. And soon after that, they contacted us at home to purchase empanadas. I’ve always hinted at us getting a food truck over the years, but Valerie would always laugh me off. So, jokingly, I asked Valerie, let’s do an empanada-themed food truck?! And she said yes. I thought she was joking, but she said, “Yes,” let’s try it. We then sat down and weighed the whole of the decision, and within a few months, we went all in and have never looked back. We’ve been at it just over a year and love what we do. We travel all over the valley to feed people. We’ve gone as far as Wickenburg, Tempe, Apache Junction, Gilbert, Ahwatukee, and even N Phoenix.

We all face challenges, but would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
There have been bumps in the road, but none are too major. We have reached out to many food truck owners asking many questions; about their successes and failures in the hope of us learning to navigate the mean streets of food trucking and entirely joking about the mean streets as we have been graciously welcomed into the food truck world by our peers. So much help! Such an encouragement! And so much love! Our biggest challenges along the way have been learning how to properly and efficiently shop for products. Finding good prices while maintaining quality took time in the beginning stages. One last obstacle has been searching for a permanent parking location a few times a week.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Valerie specializes in flavor. She works diligently to perfect her flavor profiles so everyone who eats at Holy Empanadas can experience bold and consistent flavors in every bite. What sets us apart is our girls zipping around on scooters at most of our events. We love our children joining us at events. Most food truck owners put in as much hard work as we do. They attempt to put out top-notch food that pleases their customer base. So we can’t say what sets us apart from others. Still, we do try to offer personal and sincere customer service, vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free options, and some empanada flavors that are unique to Valerie’s creative culinary mind. Does this set us apart? We don’t know because we don’t have deep insight into the hard work other food truck owners put into their products.

Any big plans?
We want to build a brand, not just pull up in random places throughout the week. We want to feed the valley continually and truly get to know our customers. We have discussed finding an excellent and small location to set up some brick & mortar roots. That would be cool.

Pricing:

• Our savory empanadas run from $6-$6.75 per empanada.
• Our desert empanadas cost $7.50 per empanada.
• We offer to price for every budget. We offer a No bowl for $13.75.
• We offer combos from $15-$21 and scaled-priced catering.
• We also offer a 6-pack variety box at $35. Anyone with any budget can eat affordably at our truck.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/holy_empanadas_llc?igshid=MTIyMzRjYmRlZg==
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/holyempanadasAZ?mibextid=LQQJ4d
• Other: 480-364-7194