HARTFORD, Conn. — Inside Aurora’s restaurant and bakery you’ll Karen Valeenzuela’s family recipes coming to life. “When I was in Guatemala, I was 12 years old when I learned how to bake, my uncle taught me a lot of what I know,” says Valeezuela.
The newly-opened Guatemalan restaurant and bakery on Capital Avenue in Hartford is serving up traditional favorites for breakfast lunch and dinner. “You will find tostadas with avocado, those are very traditional in Guatemala, also with beans and salsa, also our churrasco which is very good,” she says.
The family-owned business is getting off the ground as so many others have been forced to Fox 61’s Keith McGilvery asked why the family decided to jump into the business. “We found the opportunity now and it is here, so we just took it,” she says.
The Harford Courant recently left the area and Broad Street’s Firebox Restaurant has closed but like Aurora’s there are bright spots. The Red Rock Tavern is getting a boost from the Bar Stool Sports relief fund and new housing is also filling up.
“The neighborhood is a wonderful place as it is, it’s got a wonderful foundation, it just needs some traditional TLC and some additional people to commit to it really,” says neighborhood developer, Aaron Gill.
Gill is involved with the Frog Hollow Revitalization Zone and Neighborhood Association and is just finishing renovations on two multi-family properties on Lawrence Street. “The location is awesome, the architecture is amazing, the history here is unlike very few other places in the country. The only fight we have is the perception of folks who don’t realize all that we have to offer here and all that is Frog Hollow and Hartford,” he says.
Valeenzuela and her team are ready to say hello.
“We feel so grateful to be here because everyone on Capital has been very nice and very welcoming,” she says.
Aurora’s is located at 399 Capital Avenue in Hartford and is open 7 days a week for breakfast, lunch and dinner.