If you pass through Peñasco, New Mexico, in the spring or summer and crave some New Mexican style comfort food, you are in luck. La Jicarita Harvest offers just the food to give you a taste of authentic northern New Mexican cuisine. Sopapilla burgers, Indian tacos, and Frito pies, along with seasonal specials like chicos and green chile fries, are just a few items on the menu.

Natalie Lopez, owner of the restaurant, originally sold Frito pies during local fiestas. When her son and customers encouraged her to expand the business, she started getting weekend permits to sell food from a small building on her property.

“I started with a little front section, just a little shack,” said Lopez. “That’s all it was. Just to sell food out of.”

As her business grew, the environmental department inspector told her she needed to get an annual restaurant permit to continue selling food from her location. She applied for the permit and made the required updates to the building and her equipment.

“I added a portable section, then added a more permanent section that has water, and everything required by the environmental department,” said Lopez. “So little by little we have grown.”

After opening, a new requirement meant Lopez needed to install a kitchen hood with fire suppression. Without it, the restaurant would not meet the fire code requirements. Last year, her refrigerator also stopped working properly, which added another large expense for the business.

Luckily for Lopez, at the same time she was trying to figure out how to pay for the hood and new refrigeration, workers at MAS Comunidad, a nonprofit supporting Peñasco and the surrounding communities, wanted to help local businesses. They purchased a commercial refrigerator, freezer, and kitchen hood for her business using a USDA Rural Development, Rural Business Development Grant.

“The grant was a tremendous help because I didn’t have to basically take all of my profits to buy new equipment,” said Lopez. “Now I can actually buy more product, and have more food products in my inventory, so I don’t run out.”

The refrigerator and freezer both have counters built in. Now Lopez and her employees have more space to work along with the added food storage.

“We bring all of our stuff from Albuquerque and now I will have more space so I can bring enough supplies for two or three weeks,” said Lopez. “This saves us time because going to the store every week is time consuming, and with working full time it is almost impossible.”

The extra space will have an added benefit of keeping her customers happy.

“It was hard seeing peoples’ disappointment on their faces when they came to my place to order, zucchini sticks say, and I had to say well I’m out, sorry,” said Lopez. “Then they look at me like, oh great, now I can’t fill my craving. Or if they came to buy a hamburger and I was out of hamburger patties, then they might have to drive to Taos or Española to get a hamburger.”

La Jicarita Harvest’s five-star rating online might have something to do with the business’s success. The restaurant is easy to find with a quick online search or while looking out the window as you drive through Peñasco.

“There’s not a whole lot of people in Peñasco, but I do have a pretty strong customer base of regulars that come in,” said Lopez. “There are a lot of tourists and a lot of travelers up the high road, so I get a lot of those people stopping. I’ve even gotten tourists from New Zealand. I was pretty amazed.”

Lopez makes all her food fresh and provides vegetarian options for all her dishes. She offers catering services year-round. La Jicarita Harvest is open from May to September.

Visit the MAS Comunidad website to learn more about what they do for the community. To learn more about Rural Development grants visit the programs page.