Popular Williamsburg spot Titi’s Empanadas is heading to the East Village, with plans for a 650-square-foot location at 130 E. Seventh St. The team is targeting a May opening.
Owners and New York locals Jesus Villalobos and Nate Ramm launched the brand at the original spot on Havemeyer Street in early 2024.
“About a month in, we realized this could be bigger than we originally thought,” Villalobos told What Now New York. “It’s an affordable place to come get food.”
Villalobos said that as neighborhoods like Williamsburg and East Village become more expensive, providing community hubs where people can gather and enjoy food at a low cost is becoming more important — and increasingly rare.
“I call it social interaction for under $10 without booze,” Villalobos said. “There’s not many places you can get that sort of feeling besides a bar, where you’re just chatting with the people serving you food.”
The new location will have the same luncheonette-style layout with a few seats and counter service. Customers can expect more seating at the East Village location than the Williamsburg spot. He points to surrounding businesses, including Miss Lily’s, Yuca Bar and 787 Coffee, as setting the perfect Latin-Caribbean atmosphere for Titi’s Empanadas to join.
“The whole vibe is to make it look like your Hispanic aunt’s living room — some old floral chairs covering plastic sort of vibe,” Villalobos said.
This location will also offer a coffee window. Eventually, Villalobos said they hope to open a piragua (Puerto Rican shaved ice) cart, as well. As they move forward and see where the brand goes, the team is hoping to do more collaborations and events at the East Village location.
Customers can expect the same menu as is offered in Williamsburg, featuring a variety of empanadas, cachapas, coffee and sandwiches such as chopped cheese.
For Villalobos, a lot of the Titi’s brand is about creating community.
“It’s a homegrown operation,” Villalobos said. “We can offer people a hug via our store, a warm place to pop in and say what’s up even if you’re not getting anything.”
Eventually, they would like to expand to additional locations, but since the brand is still young, the team is focusing on getting the East Village location open first.
“Ideally in the future we will open more stores. Eventually we would like to go into supermarkets and have people be able to take their empanadas home and put them in the oven or the air fryer,” Villalobos said. “I would love to be in Yankee stadium. But I think we’re trying to get to know the brand, too. It’s only been a year. It’s going in its own direction and we’re just trying to see where it goes.”
