Javi Sandes was born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina where he started cooking at a young age to assist his mother prepare large meals for the family. He helped operate a small food business in Argentina before moving to the Usa 10 years ago to experience soccer. His soccer career was sidelined by a personal injury, so he changed directions and started pursuing food as a cook and server. In this transition, he always prepared Argentinian food for his friends, who encouraged him to start a company.
In 2009, he opened an Argentinian food truck called Primo's Parrilla with four partners. The truck and its empanadas quickly gained notoriety. However, the business partners chose to dissolve the meals truck in 2011 so Javi struck on their own. He soon started Javi's Parrilla and began selling wholesale to restaurants and grocery stores. In 2022, he opened a popup location at Mad Oak, a popular bar in Oakland. He then moved to a pop-up at Dirty Bird in Hayward. This year, he kept growing and seizing opportunities, signing an agreement for everyone empanadas in the Oakland Coliseum for A's and Raiders games, and the other for everyone at AT&T Park for the Bay area Giants.
Javi has worked from an industrial kitchen, however the space will not be able to aid this growth. He secured an area in Oakland, but as his clients are still relatively young he was turned down for traditional bank loans. He's worked with CDFIs previously, including our partners Opportunity Fund and Working Solutions – who referred him to us. We funded him, and we're excited to determine him grow and create jobs and opportunities within the Bay Area.
