Pupusería Acajutla hopes to open by July in the space next to the Domino's on North Main Street.
ANSONIA – North End may be getting a taste of El Salvador starting this summer.
Husband-and-wife duo Marvin Orellana and Yesenia Quintanilla came before Ansonia’s Planning and Zoning Commission on March 25 with a site plan for Pupusería Acajutla. The restaurant hopes to open shop in a currently vacant building space attached to the Domino’s on North Main Street.
A statement of use on file with the city lists the address as 139 #B N Main St.
The restaurant will serve pupusas – flatbreads stuffed with meat, cheese, and other ingredients – as well as other Salvadoran cuisine.
Business consultant Rosa D. Franco of Bridgeport represented the couple before the commission. The commission, after raising questions regarding garbage and grease disposal, voted to accept the application and put it up for approval next month.
“It fits the area, it looks like a good plan, and hopefully we’ll be able to get you on for an approval at our April meeting,” commission chair Jared Heon said.
According to Orellana, Quintanilla had the idea for the restaurant during the COVID-19 pandemic. He said she began selling pupusas from their home in Stamford over Facebook, and that neighbors couldn’t get enough.
“We had a lot of people asking, ‘Why don’t you open a restaurant?’” Orellana said.
Orellana hopes to open the restaurant, which is named after his home city of Acajutla, El Salvador, by July. He and Quintanilla will work there, as well as one additional family member. The couple is leasing the restaurant space from Nasir Ahmad, who owns Liberty Plaza.
Orellana is also the current owner of Orellana Carpentry, an Ansonia-based business which does roofing and construction jobs throughout Connecticut and New York. He said that, after fifteen years in the business, the restaurant will be a welcome change of pace.
The fire marshal and WPCA will need to inspect the site plan before an approval is voted on in April. The next meeting of the PZC is scheduled for Monday, April 29, over Zoom.
