The Mmoon Expansion

The Mmoon is expanding! They opened their first location in Downtown San Jose two years ago, offering their unique and delicious empanadas on a spacious corner lot on Santa Clara Street near San Pedro Square. Now they are opening a second location in downtown Los Gatos! Additional info in the release below:




The Mmoon, a family-owned empanada eatery, is excited to announce the opening of their second location in historic downtown Los Gatos this spring. The new location will be at 81 West Main Street, next door to the Los Gatos Coffee Roasting Company.

“We are excited to have the opportunity to open our second store in Los Gatos. We have learned over the past year that empanadas are new to many people and we look forward to bringing a small taste of Argentina to a wonderful community,” says co-founder, Mike Mendez.

The Mmoon opened its first location in downtown San Jose in September 2010 and has since
become a popular destination for a quick lunch or pre-Sharks game meal. The eatery features an
assortment of gourmet artisanal empanadas, fresh salads, homemade dressings and sauces
(including their signature blended churri sauce – a secret family recipe spanning four generations).

The Mmoon looks forward to opening their doors to the Los Gatos community the week of May 14th.

About the Mmoon
The Mmoon features Argentine-inspired gourmet empanadas. Founded by the Mendez family in
2010, their mission is to offer quick service and quality food at an affordable price. Simple quality
makes each empanada special. The causal eatery offers catering, delivery and take and bake. The
Mmoon is located in downtown San Jose’s historic San Pedro Square at 177 W. Santa Clara Street.
For more information about the Mmoon, please visit www.themmoon.com.

Join us for the ArtBox SJ Celebration

from Phantom Galleries by Cherri Lakey

Artist Sara Tomasello being interviewed by the Mercury News.

We'd like to invite you all to a special event with the ArtBox Project SJ in a celebration of artists and community!

The project brings original works of art by local artists into neighborhoods by painting approved utility boxes.
Where: "The Mmoon" at 177 W. Santa Clara Street San Jose, CA tel (408) 999-0288 ,
When: Sunday December 4th; stop in any time between 3PM - 5PM (Acknowledgments at 4PM)

Meet artists and see their amazing work. Talk to the community sponsors. Check out the completed art boxes and hear about future locations. Buy art box note cards. Enjoy delicious empanadas (while they last!).

We hope to see you there!

Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Today!

From The Mmoon Newsletter:

The San Jose Rock 'n' Roll 1/2 Marathon is this Sunday, Oct. 2nd. The race starts 20 ft. from the Mmoon at Santa Clara Street & Almaden Avenue. Watch the race from our patio while enjoying breakfast. We'll be open at 6:30am to serve up fresh coffee, hot chocolate, homemade cookies and of course empanadas.   Look for all our empanadas off our menu and come taste some great breakfast options:  Breakfast Ham, Breakfast Sausage, Berry, Banapple and Spinach.                     Store hours for Sunday: 6:30am-2:00pm Event Details Half Marathon Start Time: 8 am Start Line: Santa Clara Street at Almaden Avenue Finish Line: Park Ave. just before Plaza de Cesar Chavez    The Mmoon 177 W. Santa Clara St. San Jose, California 95113 408-999-9288

Empanadas and Wine at The Mmoon this Tuesday

The Bay Area's premier Empanada restaurant is having a special event in conjunction with Dishcrawl. They'll be featuring 5 different specialty empanadas along with all you can drink wines and live music. More info is below and you can purchase tickets right over here.

Ever been to the Mmoon? Think of an out of this world place with half moon shaped pastries filled with star ingredients.  Rocket to the Mmoon for astronomical eats!

The Mmoon brings freshly baked empanadas to the hustle and bustle of Downtown San Jose.

For $23, guests will enjoy 5 specialty empanadas (4 savory and 1 sweet) with perfectly paired all you can drink wines over infectious live musical entertainment provided by Trio Paz. A sneak peek into what will be orbited around are gorgonzola chicken fig empanadas. Want more? Well, you'll just have to come!

Empanada lovers will enjoy a delectable dinner that demonstrates the love and innovation that goes into making the Mmoon empanadas. To reserve your seats, please register quickly before the event sells out. 
For those of you lucky to get in, see you soon for an evening of fun!
 


 **TO NOTE***


We're sorry, but cancellations are only taken if done 48H in advance. Thanks for understanding!
Visit dishcrawl.com for more info or email hi@dishcrawl.com with questions.


About the Mmoon
The Mmoon empanadas feature Argentine-inspired gourmet empanadas. Founded by Argentine brothers, Michael and Marco Mendez, their mission at the Mmoon is to offer quick service and quality food at an affordable price. Simple quality makes each empanada special. The causal eatery offers catering, delivery and take and bake. The Mmoon is located in downtown San Jose in the historic San Pedro Square district at 177 W. Santa Clara Street. For more information about the Mmoon, please visit www.themmoon.com.

National Empanada Day at the Mmoon!

The Mmoon is celebrating National Empanada Day by giving away a FREE empanada to all customers between 8am-8pm today! They also just added 2 new empanadas I'm anxious to try, the Chicken Enchilada Empanada and the Tri-Berry Dessert Empanada. If you still haven't tried out The Mmoon, today is the day to do it.

Click the image below for more info!

Downtown San Jose's First Dishcrawl!

A whopping 90 people came to Downtown's very first Discrawl! What a blast we all had. The night started out with empanada tasting over at The Mmoon featuring both savory and sweet empanadas. Then the group walked down Santa Clara Street to the WOW Silog Truck and enjoyed the premier of their latest creation... Filipino Silog Tacos (garlic rice, salsa, an egg, and your choice of protein including sweet sausages). The third stop was a gourmet pizza tasting over at Ruffled Feathers (with a side of their famous pita chips and hummus). Lastly, we capped off the night with a Psycho Donut buffet!

I really had no idea what to expect coming into this event. Despite my constant optimism, I was expecting maybe 12-15 people to show up. Instead we got a massive crowd including people of all ages from all over the Bay Area (even some from SF) and everyone was having a great time! I really got the feeling that the Downtown restaurant scene is starting to come of age and we're going to see much more of this in the future. 

Thankfully, you won't have to wait too long for the next Dishcrawl. The next one is on Feb 24th and is going to feature the exotic cuisines of Downtown San Jose. You can already sign up for it here!  Highly, highly recommended. In the meantime, you can check out some of the photos from the inaugural event down below:

Dishcrawl Comes To Downtown San Jose!!!

I love this concept! A Dishcrawl let's you experience cuisines from multiple restaurants in a single night and make some new friends in the process. They have been doing it in New York, LA, Montreal, and now Downtown San Jose. The 4 venues participating are some of my favorites... The Mmoon, Ruffled Feathers Eatery, The WOW Silog Truck, and Psycho Donuts. All are family owned, have launched in the past year, and feature killer eats. For more info and to get your tickets, just keep on reading!

Reserve your Exclusive Seats

With our launch of Dishcrawl San Jose, Dishcrawl brings you a brand new way to discover San Jose!

Have you heard? New downtown San Jose restaurants have been popping up left and right!

Discover a new downtown San Jose with us and mingle with other food lovers like yourself! It's a great way to rediscover the community and re-blossom into the new year.

We'll be visiting the likes of The Mmoon for argentinian empanadas, Ruffled Feathers for housemade flatbread pizza and specialty desserts, Psycho Donuts for crazy whacky donuts, and The Wow Truck, a new food truck in San Jose will be stopping by to serve us up! You can't miss it!

4+ dishes will be sampled around the city with us (Dishcrawl) as your guides on an unforgettable journey.

Reserve your tickets quickly- we sell out fast!

dishcrawl is the first matchmaker for your mouth. Create a taste profile and easily discover dishes in local restaurants that match your mouth. Dishcrawl currently serves San Francisco, Silicon Valley/San Jose, Los Angeles, Montreal, and New York! Simply visit dishcrawl.com.

Click here for other upcoming dishcrawls, and check out past dishcrawls here.

 Find us on Facebook.

The Mmoon Sneak Peak!

Last week I was fortunate enough to get a preview of The Mmoon Empanadas... and I think we have a real winner on our hands! My personal favorite was the Beef Tri-tip empanada dipped in an Argentinian chimichurri sause. My wife couldn't get enough of the Banapple empanada. To take a look at the full menu, just head over here.

There's still some work to do before the restaurant officially opens its doors, but some nice San Jose touches like local digital art and a live twitter feed were already hung up on the wall and functional. Currently, they're shooting for a mid-September opening. In the meantime you can enjoy a few photos from the preview night:

Update on the Mmoon!

We have a quick update on the Mmoon, the empanada purveyor taking downtown by storm this summer. Their website is set to go live on July 1st and they are planning to have their soft opening on July 29th if all goes well! I also have an updated mission statement:

Mission

We believe that empanadas made at the Mmoon are out of this world.  Simple quality makes each empanada special. Our mission at the Mmoon is to offer quick service and quality food at an affordable price.

We are passionate about understanding where our food comes from, how it is produced and how far it is shipped before it lands at the Mmoon. Close partnerships with our suppliers ensure that our standards and values are aligned.

Our menu is simple and designed to keep the focus on providing quality, quick service gourmet food. We offer eight different types of freshly baked empanadas, an assortment of salads, homemade dressings and sauces, and a selection of beverages. 

The Mmoon provides a dining environment equal to the quality of its food. When customers walk through the door, they are greeted by staff who are proud to welcome them into a space that is sparkling clean, visually cool and eclectic; and filled with good music.

At the Mmoon, we value integrity, honesty and creativity. We respect our relationships with each other, our customers and the planet at large.

Welcome to the Mmoon.

Concept Art for The Mmoon Empanadas

EXCLUSIVE: The Mmoon Mission Statement & Photos

If you didn't catch it yet, please take a look at yesterday's post regarding the latest restaurant prepping for launch in Downtown San Jose, The Mmoon Empanadas. Below is their official mission statement as well as photos of their food (the open empanada is a vegetarian version) and Michael Mendez, the proprietor behind The Mmoon.

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The Mmoon Mission

We believe that empanadas made at The Mmoon are out of this world. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand it's simple quality that makes each empanada special.

Our mission at The Mmoon is to prove to the community that quick service and quality food are not mutually exclusive. Our food is fresh. We are passionate about how the food we source is produced and how far it is shipped before it lands at The Mmoon. Close partnerships with our suppliers allow us to ensure that their standards and values are consistent with ours.

Our menu is simple and we designed it that way so we can focus on providing quality over quantity. Our menu consists of nine kinds of baked-to-order empanadas, two salads, house-made dressings and sauces; and a selection of beverages.

The Mmoon provides a dining environment equal to the quality of its food. When customers walk through the door, they are greeted by staff who are proud to welcome them into a space that is sparkling clean, visually cool and eclectic; and filled with good music.

Conservation awareness is an integral part of our company and is reflected in many of aspects of The Mmoon's practices. We source food locally wherever possible, the major component of the art on our walls is recycled, we use green building materials when we can and our daily operations are focused on saving energy.

At the Mmoon, we value integrity, honesty, and creativity. And we respect our relationships with each other, our customers, and the planet at large.

Welcome to The Mmoon.

EXCLUSIVE: San Jose Going to The Mmoon

The San Jose Blog has an exclusive scoop on the next major restaurant to grace Downtown San Jose! Situated on the highly-trafficked corner of Santa Clara St. and Almaden--below the Irish Innovation Center and next to The Brit--The Mmoon is gearing up to blow your mind with delicious empanadas. For those of you who have never had empanadas before, they are essentially stuffed bread or pastry turnovers similar to Calzones or Samosas.

The Mmoon will have 9 different types of empanadas, such as Tri-tip, chicken sun-dried tomato, sausage, and even a banana apple dessert creation. The empanadas themselves will be made from scratch on-site using fresh local ingredients and baked to order. Despite the effort involved to make each empanada, The Mmoon will still be in the quick-service category thanks to a high-powered oven, and what makes it even more appealing is that it will be affordable--around $9 for a complete meal (unless you can put down a half dozen empanadas like me).

Argentinian-born proprietor and chef Michael Mendez could have located his unique restaurant anywhere he wanted, and he choose Downtown San Jose for his first and flagship location. That already makes this a special restaurant for me without tasting a single empanada.  However, what really pulls on my heartstrings is his plans to make a restaurant befitting of Silicon Valley's Capital. The ambiance will be eclectic with video projections making you feel like you're on the moon, "recycled" art on the walls, great music, an amazing outdoor patio with seating for 90 and built-in heat lamps, free WiFi, an interactive art program featuring local artists, utilization of social media, and a lot of interesting ideas using Twitter that I probably can't mention yet. Sure, it would have been substantially less expensive to create a generic environment like a Quizno's or Togo's (ironic example), but Michael is doing what entrepreneurs do best and that's shoot for the moon.

Tomorrow I'll give you the official press release along with photos! I'll also disburse additional information as The Mmoon gets closer to launch time (June/July).