9 Julio Empanada Kitchen Opens on Claremont Avenue

The second empanada chef Erica Sanders ever tasted was in Costa Rica. Twenty years ago while studying Spanish there, she ordered them at a bakery on her way to and from school. The memory of eating them turned out to be her version of Proust’s madeleine.

East Bay Express

NOSH

9 Julio to open in Oakland with fresh-baked empanadas and a sweet outdoor space

Erica Sanders took a six-month food journey in 2011, traveling across the United States and South America. The Bay Area native was trying to make a decision about her future: Should she stay in Minnesota at her secure corporate job or take a leap of faith, move back to California, and start her own empanada business?

What Now San Francisco

9 Julio Empanada Kitchen Storefront Back on Track to Open This Summer

9 Julio Empanada Kitchen is set to debut in June, according to Oaklandside. The empanada pop-up’s brick-and-mortar is almost ready to welcome customers at 5239 Claremont Ave. in Oakland. For owner Erica Sanders, the debut of this storefront was five years in the making.