Amy’s Pastelillos won a partnership with the Sixers worth $250,000. Here’s what they’re doing

Every week, Amaryllis “Amy” Rivera-Nassar hand-shapes and deep-fries around 2,000 pastelillos at her Fishtown takeout joint, Amy’s Pastelillos.

Rivera-Nassar opened the bright pink storefront at 2001 Memphis St. in 2024 after spending years as the neighborhood’s “pastelillo lady,” selling the Puerto Rican turnovers — filled with classic chicken stew, guava BBQ pork, and truffled mushrooms, among others — via pop-ups. But 2026 is the year things really started to click.

Amy’s landed a spot on The Inquirer’s The 76 at the end of 2025, and in February, the store saw a surge in business surrounding Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl LX performance.

The only hitch: Rivera-Nassar says she’s running out of room to keep up. Her kitchen barely has enough space for two burners, two fries, a pair of fridges, and an oven.

“It’s like a little tiny shoebox. We do so much with so little,” Rivera-Nassar said.

Luckily, Rivera-Nassar now has a big team in her corner: This week, the Philadelphia 76ers and Bank of America announced that Amy’s Pastelillos won the Enrich Program competition, making the takeout shop an official Sixers partner for the upcoming NBA season.

The prize package is valued at approximately $250,000, and includes a year of marketing support, business consulting, and strategic networking from both Bank of America and the Sixers. As an official partner, Amy’s Pastelillos brand will be promoted to 76ers fans through a mix of TV, social media, and radio ads, plus appearances.

The opportunity, Rivera-Nassar said, couldn’t have come at a better time.

“I had been spending all year trying to secure support and funding for my business, and had been getting constant ‘nos,’” she said. “I just can’t believe that we won.”

Bank of America and the Sixers started the Enrich Program during the 2020-21 basketball season as a way to uplift small, local, and underrepresented business owners in and around Philly. Previous winners include East Falls coffee shop Thunder Mug Cafe and the late Charisse McGill’s Lokal Artisan Foods, the brand behind the popular French toast bites stands previously located at Spruce Street Harbor Park and the Christmas Village.

The program is competitive: 175 businesses applied earlier this spring, a Sixers spokesperson said via email. After submitting an application detailing their growth plans, selected business owners must pitch Bank of America and Sixers executives. Enrich’s two other finalists, the Northern Liberties gift shop Laser Philly and the popular Kensington gelato shop Cloud Cups, also received $10,000 cash prizes.

“Amy’s story stood out to us,” the Sixers spokesperson said. “Her vision extends beyond the restaurant itself — she is passionate about creating a space where Philadelphians can experience and connect with Puerto Rican culture and community. That combination of entrepreneurial growth [and] cultural purpose ... made Amy’s journey one we were excited to support.”

Rivera-Nassar attributes at least some of Amy’s lasting boom to the power of Bad Bunny’s halftime show, which catapulted Puerto Rican culture into the mainstream.

“We did 700 pastelillos in two hours for just Super Bowl parties alone,” she said. “But the aftermath was super-exciting. A lot of people were like, ‘Oooh, Puerto Rican food’ and really wanted to explore the culture.”

Rivera-Nassar believes the support from Bank of America and the added visibility from the Sixers can help Amy’s expand to a larger off-site prep kitchen — even if she can’t bear to leave her bright pink storefront.

“I’m attached. It’s my baby,” she said, at the same time acknowledging that, space-wise, “we’ve hit our ceiling.”

Rivera-Nassar is most excited to see her business’ name in lights inside the Xfinity Mobile Arena. She learned about winning the Enrich prize while sitting courtside with her 10-year-old daughter at Game 4 of the Sixers playoff series against the Boston Celtics.

“I was already overwhelmed by the fact that Tyrese Maxey and [V.J.] Edgecomb were right in front of us. And then the Sixers reps came out and congratulated me,” Rivera-Nassar said. “I was floored.”