From Dodd Street to Ampere Parkway

The Empanada That Started It All

I grew up on Dodd Street in East Orange, and I loved empanadas. The problem was the ones I could get. I’d buy one from the corner store, bite in, and find a dry crust with a little bit of filling hiding in the middle. Every time, I thought the same thing: I can do better than this.

So that became the rule before we ever had a shop. If it has my name on it, it’s packed. Our full-size empanadas are about six inches long and stuffed all the way to the edges, and our catering minis get the same treatment.

A Caribbean kitchen raised me

I was raised in a Jamaican household where food was how we showed love and kept our culture close. My grandmother was strict, and her kitchen was my laboratory. She let me experiment, taste as I went, and figure out what worked. By the time I was 10, I was cooking full meals for my siblings and my family.

When I was about 14, I lived in Jamaica for almost two years. That time shaped how I season everything, and you can taste it in my oxtail with butter beans and my honey jerk chicken.

One weekend became every weekend

My first business was Courts Treats, baking I sold to my homeschool community and at my family’s jobs when I was around 10. As I got older I fell back in love with cooking, because it let me be creative in a way baking never did.

I started an Instagram page just for fun, and it grew past 1,000 followers without a single ad. I decided to sell empanadas for one weekend. People came back the next weekend, and the one after that. By the summer of 2020 I had steady orders every week.

My business partner, Andrew Fields, noticed how consistent I was. He believed in it enough to invest in a real space and help run the operation, and that’s how Courts Empanadas got its front door.

A shop around the corner from home

Our shop at 7 Ampere Pkwy, East Orange, NJ is one street over from where my mom used to live. I walked past that building as a kid. When we moved in, neighbors told me nothing had ever lasted there.

I heard that, and I kept doing what got me here: showing up every day and making every order the same way, whether it’s your first visit or your fiftieth.

Look up when you walk in

Every wall in our shop has a royal portrait, and every king and queen in them is holding an empanada. I wanted everyone who comes through the door to feel like royalty, because that’s how I was raised to treat people.

What you’ll find on the menu

The menu is big on purpose, so everybody finds their favorite. My Jamaican side shows up in the oxtail and the honey jerk chicken. The garlic shrimp and garlic salmon lean Italian. The buffalo chicken, veggie and cinnamon apple are for the American comfort-food crowd. All our meats are Halal.

This is a Black-owned business, and I take that seriously. I want people to walk in and see high standards and real quality, every single time.

People keep calling it the best empanada in Jersey. Their word, not mine. Come try one and tell me what you think.

Courtney