Angie’s Delightful Bites launched in the fall of 2020 when the world was still in the middle of the pandemic that rocked all of us. At the time, Angie was still operating a Metropolitan Transit Authority bus in New York City.
“A lot of businesses came about during the pandemic because we actually had to sit down and think,” Angie told Parle NY. “We actually had to sit down and face ourselves.”
As an essential worker, Angie still had to work. A car accident on her way to work during the pandemic gave her some time to think about what she wanted to do. Meanwhile, others had no work or had to work from home. Many even using work as an escape.
“What I did know,” Angie said, “was that I made some really good empanadas.”
She used to make empanadas just to make them. To turn that passion into a business was not something she thought of until she was inspired by her change of mentality during the pandemic. She didn’t know if she would have the time to work a full time job, sell her products and manage a family with children. But she knew she had a good product to sell.
Then she took her big leap.
“I was on a journey of self love,” she explained. “My journey of self love started to change the way I looked at things. And my journey bought me closer to God. That’s where the mind shift changed for me. I started to realize that I was no longer living but I felt alive. Just doing new things and changing. Making changes in myself. And that’s what helped push the mentality change for me.”
While she believed in herself, there were some other signs that helped provide inspiration for Angie’s Delightful Bites. Her neighbor mentioned that the empanadas were so good that she should sell them. Another former employer had an event space and asked Angie to make a pan of empanadas. Those went over really well. Another friend brought her empanadas to work for an event and the buzz kept growing.
Angie recalls, “It pushed me. It made me so excited to feel like what am I going to call this? Because obviously I have something. This is something.”
Angie is not just an entrepreneur. The Brooklyn native is a mom. She is a leukemia survivor. And her resilience has pushed her to this point.
Forming Angie’s Delightful Bites as a full time business
Angie started practicing making dough and trying new flavors. She knew that anyone could make an empanada… so hers would have to stand out!
She started to look outside the box. One thing that makes Angie different is the different fillings that she has and the many varieties. While her favorite empanada is the beef and cheese that started the business, she now has over 30 variations of fillings for each empanada.
Angie made fillings and sauces that cannot be replicated.
“My spinach empanada is something that I created accidentally,” she shared. “And so that’s something that you have to come to me because I have my own special flavors. And it all came to me by accident.”
Parle NY met Angie on accident, like many of her customers these days. She’s outside tabling when its warm. We were at the 2025 STooPs Summer festival for an African dance fitness class, and Angie had a table there. We tried the BBQ chicken empanada. It was so good I went to another festival to try her new white cheddar lobster mac and cheese empanada. The cheddar lobster mac was a favorite!
We’ll be back for more.
Here is an example of the variations she had available at the festival:
White cheddar lobster mac
Chicken parmesan
Jerk chicken
BBQ chicken
Beef and cheese
Spinach and shrimp
“The people who helped me with my marketing taught me to not put out too many fillings because the more you put out [customers] may feel that they don’t have to come back to you,” she said.
How to Access Angie’s Delightful Bites
Angie’s Delightful Bites is ready to order at the Long Island City location; 8-08 Queens Plaza South. Pick up orders are also available in Southside Queens and Brooklyn. Just text, call, email or direct message on Instagram for orders.
Website: angiesdelightfulbites.com
Email: angiesdelightfulbites@gmail.com
IG: @angiesdelightfulbites
