Lupita’s Café brings Mexican home-cooking to Ilwaco

Published 5:00 pm Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Ilwaco has a new restaurant, Lupita’s Café, located at the traffic light in town. Owner Lupita Perez offers authentic Mexican cuisine, along with espresso, ice cream and other items. The eatery opened this spring.

Perez hails originally from Mexico, but she and her husband Fernando Rodriguez have lived on the Long Beach Peninsula for many years.

Rodriguez is an accountant for Shorebank Enterprise Cascadia in Ilwaco. Locals may also recognize Perez as a familiar face in Long Beach; she worked for almost a decade at the Cottage Bakery and was manager there.

Perez had a career in the tourism industry in Mexico before moving to the U.S. She and her husband and sons used to vacation in Ilwaco and grew to love the small town atmosphere – so much so that they decided to move here almost 20 years ago. She said her home city of Morelia, in the province of Michoacán in central Mexico, is similar to the Pacific Northwest – both areas are wooded and green.

Owning her own business is a different kind of challenge from her previous work, but she loves it.

“For me the most important thing is the people,” she said with a radiant smile. “I love customers.”

Perez’s menu offers home-style Mexican cuisine, just like she’d cook at home if you were a guest, she said.

The café’s fare is made fresh each day, from the chips and salsa on up. And it’s a family affair: on the day of our interview Perez’s son and sister were helping out in the kitchen. Husband Fernando bakes bread and pastries.

At lunch, tacos made with pork, chorizo and pineapple were tasty and delicious, as were the delicately flavored beans and rice, and conchas – sweet bread shaped like shells. Prices are a bargain.

The café is open seven days a week; currently Perez is working there every day. During the summer, when her three children are off from school and can help out at the cafe, she hopes to be able to take a day off now and then.

Perez said she and her family are getting up to speed as they continue to run the café, sharpening their skills at fast, efficient customer service. She hopes to decorate the dining room more as time goes by.

For Perez, the restaurant is a chance to put into practice in her own small business, valuable experience she has gained throughout her career

“I can put together the working knowledge I have with the knowledge I have learned from others,” she said. “I like interacting with the community.”