By Jorge Rennella
El Sabor Latino Bakery & Café in Wheaton, Maryland is on the grow, just like the city around it. The restaurant’s latest addition? Three thousand square feet of space and a tortilleria right next door.
"The city of Wheaton is growing too, it is being renovated and it is expected that new government offices and county agencies are coming," says Maritza Delgado, the company’s founder. "Here, three blocks away from my business, a 15-story building with a 400-car underground parking lot is already being built. The city is going to be renovated because the county is coming here with government offices. "
Its current business, located at 11413 Grandview Ave, is 1,500 square feet, and the new El Sabor Latino Bakery & Café will be 4,500 square feet, with 80 tables.
Delgado, a native of San Miguel, Republic of El Salvador, arrived in the United States in 1979. "I had an aunt who had emigrated to Maryland in 1960 and came to visit her," she says. "There -- in El Salvador -- I had a good standard of living, my parents were well-off, but el Salvador could not grow much. I love business. I am a merchant.
"When I arrived, I observed a lot of stability in the United States, especially in business, and it was that stability that made me stay here. I decided to form my home, study, develop my business and grow as a human being," says this mother of three.
Part of the expansion includes new equipment for making tortillas.
"The only thing I'm worrying about right now is that I still do not have the new ovens running. At the moment I have two ovens that give me eight trays each - trays where the tortillas are baked,” she says.
The two new ovens will give her thirty trays per oven. She plans to develop a tortillería next to the restaurant and the bakery.
"Because my clientele will grow, we will grow, too," Delgado says.
Jorge Rennella is part of the team that creates el Restaurante. Contact him at jorge@restmex.com