Navigating COVID-19: How One Felix Godward form Felix Empanadas Survived The Shutdown 2 Weeks After Opening

Está historia está disponible en español en La Noticia

Felix Godward is a bit of a free spirit who needs constant change. When he was 21, he moved out of his apartment in Los Angeles and into his van. He traveled across California working as a server at different restaurants.

“It was actually not that uncomfortable. I thought it was so exciting that it was like it never felt like it was something that was like an inconvenience,” Godward said. “It was really stimulating. I'm someone that needs a lot of stimulus.”

He knew he wanted to do something in the food industry, but he didn’t want to start a business in LA. He heard Charlotte was a fast-growing city with fewer food trucks and he dreamed of having one of his own. Living out of his van helped him save up for it, but then his van got towed. The $1,600 it cost to get it back was the push he needed to leave California and move to Charlotte in 2017.

When he arrived, he bought a small trailer. He added wood paneling, an oven and large windows and launched Felix’s Handmade Empanadas.

“I loved the food truck. I love it much more than working for someone. I love working for myself,” he said.

Godward grew up making empanadas with his family. These pastries filled with meats, vegetables and cheeses are a staple in Argentina, where his parents are from.

He took the family recipe and made it his own, selling empanadas across Charlotte from his little trailer. They were a hit. So Godward started looking into opening a restaurant at Optimist Hall, a former mill-turned-food hall with small restaurant stalls and retail stores.

“I had called them multiple times and they had told me that they weren't going to take us on because we were a really small operation,” Godward said. “They didn't think we could handle it and I don't blame them. It was really risky to take us on.”

One day, a group stopped by the food truck. He didn’t know it at the time, but they were the owners of Optimist Hall. A week later, they offered him a spot in the food hall.

His parents and some family friends became investors, giving him around $190,000 he needed to move his business into a new phase. So he parked his food truck and opened his restaurant. That was March 3, 2020.

“I thought I’d be like, ‘Wow, this is awesome,’” he said. “But it was really hard to be able to say, ‘Wow, now I'm a restaurant owner.’ It came really fast.”