By Dan Karpiel

The Surveyor

Opening a new business is enough of a challenge but for Martina and Ernesto Becerra, owners of the new Lupita’s Mexican Restaurant in Berthoud, they were also forced to open their new Berthoud location during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As the Bacerras explained while they served breakfast Tuesday morning, they had no choice but to press forward despite the hit the pandemic and associated lockdowns did at the time they were just starting up. As Martina said, “One of the things that made it challenging for us, is we had already made a commitment with this building before any of this came down in the middle of March so there was not an option for us to not continue, to keep going and continue the process of opening up.”

The couples’ experience in the restaurant business – close to 20 years in total with 10 of those years coming as owners of the Lupita’s location in Fort Collins – certainly helped them navigate the choppy waters in their first couple of months. The fact that the restaurant is almost entirely operated by family members certainly helps as well; the fact that it is a family-owned and operated business is a point of pride for the Bacerras.

“It has been challenging and it’s a day by day thing, you don’t have as much money coming in and then you have to spend more money with signs outside and in the windows and let people know that we are still available for call-in and takeout,” Martina said but was quick to add that Berthoud has been so welcoming and supportive as they have gotten off the ground. “During these challenging times the Berthoud community has really been supportive and has been helping us get the word out, we really appreciate that from the Berthoud community.”

Martina explained that it was a friend of theirs that made her aware of the open location in Berthoud and they decided to move forward with opening a second Lupita’s here in town. “We’re really excited to be here, we’re excited to offer what we have had in Fort Collins here in Berthoud.” Offering breakfast all day long and a full menu of traditional Mexican fare, Lupita’s offers dine-in and takeout options.

“Our green chili is very popular; we’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback from a lot of people on our green chili and our chili rellenos dinners,” Martina said. All-day breakfast options include the very popular breakfast burritos, available for grab-and-go, with any choice of meats and can be smothered as well. Breakfast plates include huevos rancheros and even pancakes. Tacos, enchiladas, crispy chile rellenos, tamales, tostadas, quesadillas, stuffed sopapillas and various combination plates offer a wide array of choices and assure the whole family will find something on the menu to enjoy.

“We have good quality food at good prices,” Ernesto said.

Lupita’s Mexican Restaurant is located at 405 Fifth Street, due west of Rise Bakery and due south of the Berthoud Animal Hospital. They can be reached at 970-532-9887.