Award-winning empanadas are coming to McKinney via a new spot called Stefania's Empanadas Argentina Café, opening in August on the border of McKinney and Frisco in a former doughnut shop at 1800 S. Independence Pkwy. #1100.

The cafe is from Stefania DiStefano, born in Baltimore to Argentinian parents and Italian grandparents, with a lifelong love for good food and cooking. “I always wanted to be by my mom and my nonnas, cooking," she says.

She graduated from the University of Delaware with a degree in Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Management, and began working in the hospitality industry from a young age — first in management, then later taking culinary classes. She began baking empanadas while working at the Sagamore Pendry Baltimore hotel, which had temporarily closed during COVID.

She moved to Frisco in 2022, then started a ghost kitchen out of Cibo Kitchens, offering empanadas daily plus a full menu of Argentinian dishes on weekends, as well as pop-up dinners twice a month.

  Stefania's Empanadas Argentina CaféStefania's 

The road led to this brick-and-mortar store, where she will sell 14 flavors of savory empanadas, including her award-winning Gaucho Empanada, which she describes as "Texas barbecue meets Argentinian asado," with brisket, onion, green pepper, jalapeño, and a mix of chimichurri and barbecue sauce, which won an award for "Best Appetizer" at the city of Frisco's 2023 Freedom Fest.

Other empanada options include spinach & portabella mushroom; Argentine ground beef with onion, pepper, green olives, and hard boiled egg; and another Argentine favorite, the "humita," with sweet corn folded in a creamy béchamel sauce.

In addition to empanadas, the café will serve Argentinian dishes like lomo (sirloin) sandwiches, choripán (a grilled sausage sandwich), pastel del papa (a meat and mashed potatoes dish, similar to shepherd’s pie), and locro (stew). There'll be a selection of sweets as well including cakes, alfajores, and churros.

Beverages will include traditional mate, a caffeinated herbal drink served in a gourd with a metal straw, and a mate cocido version, which is served in a cup like a regular tea. They will also have a coffee bar, as well as a mini market with items such as dulce de leche, cookies, and yerba for mate for sale.

The café will have seating for 20 inside, with a small outdoor seating area as well. DiStefano will continue her tradition of private dinners, starring empanadas as a starter, with a couple of savory items and dessert.

“I think Argentinian food is simple but it gathers people together and makes you feel like family," she says.