A Venezuelan couple’s empanadas have become a hit in Humboldt Park, selling out daily while they wait for work permits.

HUMBOLDT PARK — Before dawn, Angelica and Daniel set up colorful signs and a small table in Humboldt Park ready to serve hot coffee and Venezuelan empanadas.

The couple, asylum seekers from Venezuela, have become a fixture at the busy intersection of North and California avenues. They are reaping the benefits of foot traffic in the area, serving people waiting in long lines at government social services and creating family community resources, many of whom are fellow Latino asylum seekers.

“We had a lot of opportunities to try new things,” Angelica said in Spanish. Block Club does not publish its last name for security reasons. “Even though we cannot legally operate a business yet, we have made new friends and received great support for migrants from the local community and organizations.”

The couple are among the few vendors selling home-cooked food, coffee and soft drinks five days a week in the area while they wait for official work permits. Like thousands of people who have come to the country seeking asylum over the past two years, they I can’t work legally – so for many had to get creative making ends meet while adjusting to a new city and life.

They started selling at the intersection this summer and their food has become so popular that they sell out almost every morning. Sometimes they only stay there for an hour before they run out of food; other mornings it takes several hours, Angelica said.

They make 40-50 empanadas a day in their home kitchen, with most of their work being done on Mondays and Tuesdays.

“The reality is that a lot of people come here to sell, but the days and hours don’t match. … We’re the most stable here,” Daniel said. “A lot of people come here from the line, but lately more neighbors are coming and even driving for food—Puerto Ricans, other Latinos, everyone.”

Angelica and Daniel also do home delivery for people who want to order empanadas in bulk or can’t buy from them in person, he said.

Their empanadas come in four varieties: chicken and rice; mechada with shredded pork, rice, cheese, tomatoes and bananas; pabellon with skirt steak, beans and plantains; and ham and cheese.

According to Angelica, mechada empanadas are the most popular and are often eaten for breakfast.

The two took a strategic approach to their business: They chose their location specifically to cater to the Latinos in Humboldt Park and the migrants lining up there who would be familiar with their offerings.

They earn $400 to $600 a week, Daniel said, which helped them move into a home in Back of the Yards, pay bills and provide for their family. The couple’s two daughters, ages 14 and 5, attend a bilingual school in the southwest, and being able to provide them with stability and some sense of normalcy is important, he said.

The couple hopes to receive official work permits from the government next month after arriving in Chicago nearly a year ago and completing the asylum process. They hope this will open the door to finding better jobs before the cold weather sets in and they can stop selling empanadas on the street.

“We love Chicago, and since we have two daughters, we want them to have stability and make friends at school,” Daniel said. “We would like to go on vacation around the United States, like the places we saw on TV, but now we need to work and save money.”

They believe in a future in which they can settle in Chicago, create a new community and visit their family in Venezuela when it is safe to do so—as long as they can return to Chicago.

After moving from Venezuela, Chile and Colombia, they say Chicago is now their home.

“It would be great to have a future here that would give us job opportunities, stability, documentation so we could visit family and come back here without problems,” Daniel said.

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