Vaquana Daniers: Working in a Times Square food stand
March 29, 2015
One can often see Vaquana Daniers, a 25-year-old employee, preparing coffee for the Muchas Nuchas empanadas stand in Times Square, New York City. Tucked behind the flashy blue New York Police Department sign, the stand sells everything from coffee and empanadas to croissants and hot chocolate.
The stand, which moves up and down Broadway, previously stood in front of Sephora, then Toys R Us, and now next to the long-standing Snack Box hot dog stand.
A group of New Yorkers wait in line to order at the Muchas Nuchas stand in Times Square. The stand sells everything from coffee and empanadas to croissants and hot chocolate.
Daniers’ favorite location to sell empanadas was in front of Toys R Us.
“When they come out of Toys R Us, they come directly to us, whether they get a drink or an empanada,” she said, “It’s really busy over there, as opposed to here.”
The Muchas Nuchas stand bakes the empanadas on site. “[The empanadas] come here frozen, and we bake and rotate them fresh, so if we sell out we just keep rotating them depending on how the weather is,” Daniers said. “If the sun is out, we do really good.”
Despite the large sign with “Muchas Nuchas Empanadas” written on it, Daniers finds herself acting as a tour guide rather than a food server.
They think that we’re a help desk more than an empanada stand, so I’m really awkward, because I’m being a tour guide also. [The most popular question is] ‘Where are the half-priced Broadway tickets at?’ So I’m like, ‘Three blocks down, the big red stop, you can’t miss it.
— Vaquana Daniers
In addition to working at Muchas Nuchas, Daviers has previously worked in security. She held the two jobs simultaneously, but ended up quitting her security job for personal reasons.
“If I could do both, I’d love it because I don’t really see myself leaving Nuchas anytime soon,” she said.
Daniers’ favorite part about working at Muchas Nuchas is meeting interesting customers.
“A few young students came from Africa a few months ago, and they came back every morning for an empanada or croissant,” she said, “so I asked when they were leaving, and they told me they were going to Florida in a few days, and they’re going around the world.”
As some customers interested Daniers, she made an impact on them too.
“[I] don’t interact that much, but you’d be surprised that what you say goes a long way through their days,” she said.
Customers eat food from the Muchas Nuchas food stand. The stand sells everything from coffee and empanadas to croissants and hot chocolate.
Working in the food truck, she considers food service an integral part of her career and sees Muchas Nuchas as a step into the food industry.
[My plans for the future are] either owning a food truck or branching out into a restaurant or a business. It’s a lot of work, so I would say start off small and then dream big.
— Vaquana Daniers
Eventually, she wants to run her own food truck and sell sandwiches.
“Mainly grilled cheese and deli sandwiches, some ham in there and Philly cheesesteaks,” she said.
Her vision for the truck stems from her current love for grilled cheese sandwiches, her standing favorite being a grilled cheese with bacon, grilled onions, American cheese and wheat bread.
Daniers thoroughly enjoys every job she holds.
“I love anything that I do,” she said, “I’m passionate about whatever I do, so whether I’m working in a food truck or whether I’m working on a chair, I enjoy it.”