MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota — September 15 through October 15 is National Hispanic Heritage Month — recognizing the achievements and contributions of Hispanic Americans.
Amilton Yobani Garcia Murcia wants as many people as possible to try a taste of his home country.
"Everything I'm trying to do traditional or the most authentic food from El Salvador," Murcia said.
Murcia and his family run El Guanaco Bakery & Cafe at three locations in the Twin Cities metro area.
When Murcia was younger and still living in El Salvador, he worked at a bakery before spending 10 years at a popular restaurant. The family eventually opened their own bakery for three years in El Salvador.
After settling in Minnesota, they opened El Guanaco in 2006. At the time, it was only a bakery.
"Five years later, six years later we expand in St. Paul another room... make a full menu of food from El Salvador," Murcia said.
According to Murcia, at the time it was hard to find Salvadoran cuisine in the Twin Cities.
"There's more now but when I started it was only two restaurants," he said.
Pupusas are the most popular item on the menu. Pupusas — El Salvador's national dish — are corn tortillas stuffed with a variety of beans, cheeses or meat.
In the past three years, El Guanaco Bakery & Cafe has expanded. They opened a second location in Bloomington in 2020, in the middle of the pandemic.
"We start very slow but when they start opening and dining in, it's different. Very different," Murcia said.
Then in 2022 they opened a third location on Lake Street in south Minneapolis.
"We're very busy. Very stressed but also we like it. We like it busy because we need it busy," Murcia said.
When asked if the family is interested in opening a fourth location, Murcia said, "Why not?"
Some possible locations he's considering are in Willmar, Worthington, Rochester and Brownsville.
"We're trying to get number one in the Twin Cities for my country," Murcia said, laughing.
El Guanaco Bakery & Cafe locations:
849 E 7th St. in St. Paul
7837 Portland Ave. in Bloomington
501 E Lake St. in Minneapolis
Know a local business we should feature for our Behind the Business segment? Email Heidi Wigdahl at hwigdahl@kare11.com.
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