Maria Contreras has always been passionate about cooking.  When she opened Miss Empanadas y Más in 2021, she never expected how well the business would be received by the community. “My favorite part of this business is that when I tell somebody, ‘you should try empanadas,’ and then they call me and say, ‘I just bought some for my family, and we just love it,’” says Contreras. Making empanadas is a serious practice in Latin America, especially in Venezuela, Contreras says. She began Miss Empanadas in a small trailer parked at a gas station, and within two days she was completely sold out. This began a pattern—every week, Contreras was selling out of the empanadas she made from scratch in her own kitchen, and just five months later, she was upgrading to a larger trailer. Now, Miss Empanadas has expanded to five full-service food trucks in Bradenton, Sarasota and Lakewood Ranch, and opened its first brick-and-mortar storefront in December 2025. “The good thing is that people know the name, the product,” says Contreras. “When people see Miss Empanadas, they know us from our other locations in the community.”  Miss Empanadas’ most popular products are the shredded beef or chicken empanadas, but Contreras also recommends the chicken and cheese empanada, her personal favorite. “With our American customers, I love seeing them try empanadas for the first time, and I see their faces light up and they say, ‘oh, this is so good. This is delicious,’” says Contreras. “With our Venezuelan customers, I love seeing how they feel that they’re eating in our country. It’s the same flavors, the same memories, the same food as in Venezuela.”  Looking ahead, Contreras plans to continue expanding her business in the community, living by her motto that “when we start the day with empanadas, we know it’s going to be a good day.” “Our customers have become our friends, because they come back so often, and it’s so beautiful when we have a new customer come back again and again,” she says.