Milly's Empanada Factory Brings Venezuelan Comfort Food to Kendall

Milly’s Empanada Factory has opened in Kendall, bringing a much-needed injection of Venezuelan food to the area.

Manager Jose Atencio explains the recently opened Milly’s, located at 13911 SW 66th St., was started by his father. "My dad opened Rafucho’s which was Miami’s first Venezuelan food truck. Following that success my mom, Milly, started selling empanadas on the streets on North Miami,” says Atencio.

When the food truck closed, Milly decided to capitalize on her street food success by opening a wholesale empanada business which now resides next door to the establishment.
The restaurant itself is so small, there's no room for tables — just a cozy counter space that sits about ten. Everything on the menu from the patacon ($7.75), a fried plantain sandwich to the pabe-yoyo ($8) which features deep fried plantains stuffed with cheese, shredded beef and black beans, is homemade. You can even indulge in traditional Venezuelan desserts like mandocas ($4), which are sweet plantain donuts.
Because of the proximity to the wholesale factory, customers can order take-out party boxes for their gatherings from a wide selection of empanadas, tequeños, and pastries. “Milly’s Empanada Factory is an extension of Milly’s wholesale so we wanted to incorporate that aspect into the business by offering patrons food for their parties,” adds Atencio. In fact everything sold at the restaurant comes straight off the production line next door.

Another great aspect of Milly's is that the eats are cheap. All empanadas as $2.25, which means you can have a whole meal, drink included, for $10 or less.

Another big issue in Kendall is that unlike the SoBe or Brickell many places tend to close early, even on weekends. Milly’s solves this problem. “We wanted to create a place where people could stop by in the middle of the night if they craved good food or were returning from a party,” says Atencio. The restaurant is open until 3 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, making it the place to hit up when the late night munchies set in.

Milly’s Empanada Factory is open Tuesday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Friday through Saturday 11 a.m to 3 a.m