"People love empanadas, but nobody wants to make them," said Empanada Guy Carlos Serrano in a YouTube video explaining how he perfected the food he learned to love from his Puerto Rican grandmother and transformed into a franchise through the use of "Mercedes (like the luxury car) level quality ingredients," like lobster and fresh spices. Serrano has been invited to participate in the Food Network show "Beat Bobby Flay," which will air Thursday.
Serrano said he started making empanadas in his kitchen. He now has a restaurant in Freehold, New Jersey as well as three food trucks; he's on his way to a fourth.
"We've been very blessed with the business I've built," said Serrano to NBC News. His dream is to sell empanadas nationwide, and while he told NJ.com he initially shied away from appearing in the Food Network, he decided the exposure might help his dreams of going national.
The Empanada Guy is participating in Beat Bobby Flay's "Out of the Pan" episode on Thursday, August 28 at 10pET on the Food Network.