La Masa Empanada Bar, a long-time staple of Milwaukee’s East Side dining scene, has brought its operation to a second location downtown in the Milwaukee Public Market.
La Masa is co-owned by brother-sister duo Brad and Megan Todd, who have been operating at their original Brady Street location for over 10 years.
Megan’s son, Kalos Soriano, a first-year student in the College of Business Administration, has been helping out at the restaurant since he was a kid.
Before he was old enough to be an employee, Soriano would help his mother prep orders in the back. In high school, he began packing and selling orders and working the cash register every weekend.
“I loved it,” Soriano said. “I love helping my mom,”
It is not his mother’s first time working at the public market.
Around 20 years ago, still new to the restaurant industry, she worked at Thief Wine, directly across from the spot La Masa now occupies.
Soriano says he is proud to see how far she has come and recalled texting her, “I’m so proud of you,” just days after La Masa opened at the market.
He credits his mother for inspiring him to start his own business detailing cars, which he has been pursuing since his sophomore year of high school.
“My entire family are entrepreneurs, so I followed suit,” Soriano said.
Even though working part-time at La Masa, running his own business and studying for exams after a shift can be difficult, Soriano said he is up for the challenge.
“I think I have a good work-life balance,” Soriano said. “I think I’m pretty motivated as a college student, but also as a young adult working to pay for college.”
Opening La Masa at the Public Market
The beloved Brady Street staple has enjoyed a lot of success as they have taken their fresh-baked empanadas and craft cocktails to one of the most popular spots in town.
“It’s just so different here. It feels like every single person who comes here is coming to see the attraction,” Megan Todd said.
The restaurant’s concept is inspired by Todd’s study abroad experience in Argentina while she was attending the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The name comes from the Spanish word for dough, a nod to their flaky dough recipe that guests find irresistible.
“We really spend a lot of time on it, and it is authentic,” Megan Todd said. “People just love it and say it tastes like home, so we’re really proud of it.”
La Masa’s menu includes over 20 baked-to-order empanadas. Some offerings are more traditional, like the Argentinian beef, which features sweet, heavily spiced beef, raisins and a hard-boiled egg. Others are inspired by other cuisines, like the fan-favorite shrimp curry made of diced shrimp, coconut milk and a Thai red curry seasoning.
Opening at the Milwaukee Public Market has led to a newfound sense of responsibility to represent the space and the city well, Megan Todd said. It is her mission to continue to deliver high-quality food with a smile on her face.
“The environment that my mom pushes is super happy and super vibrant,” Soriano said.
La Masa Empanada Bar at the Public Market is located next to Thief Wine and Freese’s Candy Shop. It is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.
This story was written by Joseph Schamber. He can be reached at [email protected].
