Antojitos Nila celebrates anniversary of serving authentic Guatemalan cuisine in Logansport
May 1—Residents of Logansport can get a taste of Guatemalan culture by stepping into the restaurant Antojitos Nila on Erie Avenue. The restaurant was opened by Lesley Gonzalez, and will be celebrating its one year anniversary this year.
Gonzalez majored in accounting at Purdue University and said she has always been around the area of business. She and her family, who are from Guatemala, also cook a lot and have always had good responses to the food they served. These two reasons led to the restaurant's opening, she said.
"Mainly, it was my mom and I starting up the restaurant, and so, we started it all from scratch," Gonzalez said.
Antojitos Nila serves authentic, traditional-styled homecooked meals seen in Guatemala, Gonzalez said. Their most popular food is the desayuno tipico, a traditional breakfast, she said. This is served with eggs, refried beans, fried plantains and sour cream. It also comes with their homemade ricotta cheese.
Another popular dish is pupusas, a traditional Central American dish seen in countries like Guatemala and El Salvador. Other menu items include Guatemalan tamales, handmade tortillas that are made to order and atol, a party drink that Gonzalez describes as being like hot chocolate but with different flavors. She said it is a very popular item, especially in the winter.
Guatemalan culture can be seen throughout the restaurant, like the tablecloth that uses textures, fabric and colors seen on traditional Guatemalan clothing. Photos of tourist locations in Guatemala dot the walls, including one large photo of the Santa Catalina Arch that people can take selfies in front of.
"... in general, that's just kind of a lot of what captures the culture, and even the decorations that we have also are traditional to the town that we're from as well," Gonzalez said. "And, we have a lot of goodies... like t-shirts or even tortilla wraps, things that we use in Guatemala that come in as well and capture the culture."
Gonzalez said business has been good this past year and they have been steadily growing. She said they have received lots of positive reviews and are visited from people both in and out of town.
With the restaurant, Gonzalez hopes it continues to grow. She also hopes for it to show Logansport that there is more food outside of the Mexican culture seen in town and that there is a large Guatemalan population in town as well. While their food is still Latin American, she said a lot of their dishes are different than Mexican food.
"... We have very many different dishes, especially like Guatemala tamales that are a little bit different from the Mexican tamales, so that kind of brings people in as well... it's different from other Latin American restaurants, but definitely a must see in town," Gonzalez said.
Antojitos Nila is located at 1335 Erie Ave. and is open 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays through Wednesdays, 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, and 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays. Breakfast is served from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Mondays, 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. from Tuesdays through Saturdays, and 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Sundays.
