Puerto 511 Cocina Peruana owner Jose Victorio Alarcon made a name for himself cooking fine Peruvian food but always dreamed of owning a second spot celebrating Peruvian street food, namely the empanada.

That dream became reality in 2019 when he opened his beloved Andina. So it was particularly painful when he lost Andina in a divorce settlement. He turned his full attention back to Puerto 511, until a chance visit to a food court convinced him that he should make another go of it.

“I was with my girlfriend, Patricia, in this nice food court,” he says. “They had empanadas, so I ordered two. I was so disappointed—they were greasy and only had ground beef in them. I told my girlfriend, ‘When you try my empanadas, you’ll see the difference.’”

Not long after, Alarcon made a batch of the half-moon-shaped specialty he grew up eating in his home country. “When Patricia tried it,” says Alarcon, “she said, ‘You need to look for your own place—this is delicious.’”

Months later, while walking in Fells Point, he strolled past an empty storefront that formerly housed Sofi’s Crepes. For Alarcon, the brick-lined alley with outdoor tables offered a quiet charm. Last May, he decided to make his dream come true and opened Empa511 (the number is the country code for Peru).

“There was no kitchen, but Puerto opens at 5 p.m. and my cook starts at 3 p.m. The kitchen is empty in the morning, so we prepare everything at Puerto 511 and assemble and bake them on-site.”

Tell me what makes your empanadas special?
I make everything, including the dough, from scratch using my grandmother’s recipe. They’re not fried, they’re baked, and they’re slightly sweet—and none of the fillings are ground. I have huge pieces of chicken, pork, and steak. Everything is chopped and we make them daily, using Peruvian chiles—ají amarillo, ají rocoto, ají panca.

Do you have a favorite type of the seven you sell?
The Huachana is my favorite. It has pork, caramelized onion, and scrambled egg. I remember when my mom made them for breakfast in Peru.

Puerto 511 is more fine-dining. Is it fun for you to make Peruvian street food?
It’s the same flavor, but the price is more accessible.

What did you want the space to feel like?
I want it to smell good—we are always baking. I wanted it to feel minimalist. I also wanted to reduce plastic, so we don’t sell water, it’s free and the cups are compostable. The dishes are biodegradable. Reducing plastic and respect for the environment were important to me.

How did you learn to cook?
When I was a child, my mom always told me, you need to learn cooking so you have more opportunities in life. I studied business administration, but after three years, I didn’t feel very happy. I decided to go to cooking school. Before cooking school, I had never been outside my country. At school, I ended up winning an international competition. The kitchen changed my life.

Is there anything else you want us to know?
Empa511 is dog-friendly. I love dogs and have a Maltese-shih tzu mix named Dogman. He likes chicken empanadas.