AMHERST — Two weeks ago while visiting Mexico, Izote Latin & American Kitchen owner Ana Lourdes Artiga enjoyed hot salsa prepared by her sister-in-law.
Seeing that her customers would also like this, Artiga made a point of getting the recipe so she could begin serving the same salsa at her new restaurant.
She has borrowed, in a similar way, a green salsa recipe from her husband and a guajillo salsa made by her mother-in-law. She also discovered the spicy chorizo, which she said is very popular with customers, after eating the dish made by her mother-in-law’s sister.
That chorizo is available in a burrito with homefries, scrambled eggs, pinto beans or refried Salvadoran beans, sour cream and cheddar cheese, as well as in the Salvadoran breakfast huevo con chorizo.
“A couple months after we went to her house, we got the recipe,” Artiga says. “Recipes are very homemade. Whatever’s in your kitchen is good, and everything is made with love.”
The concept of bringing the best recipes, local to her and her husband’s native lands, to local customers is at the heart of the recently opened restaurant in a small shopping plaza at 460 West St. in Amherst
Artiga also owns El Comalito Amherst, located in the same plaza in the Pomeroy village center, and El Comalito Easthampton.
What makes Izote different is both the broader array of El Salvadoran and Mexican dishes, and the addition of a variety of breakfast items.
“It’s different because it’s breakfast and lunch, and the food is not the same,” Artiga said.
The Salvadoran breakfast features fried or scrambled eggs, along with sweet plantains, refried Salvadoran beans, casamiento, which is rice mixed with beans, and tomatada. There are also more conventional breakfast items like pancakes, oatmeal, acai cobbler bowl and breakfast sandwiches with ham and eggs.
Since opening on April 16, one of the most popular breakfast items has been chilaquiles, a traditional Mexican dish of fried corn tortillas, or totopos, simmered in salsa. “We know it is good and people will like it,” she said.
Originally from El Salvador, Artiga wanted to expand beyond the restaurants in the area that offered El Salvadoran and Mexican cuisine for lunch and dinner, including the typical tacos, burritos and quesadillas.
“I saw there’s no Salvadoran, no Mexican breakfast, around here,” Artiga said.
For lunch, the menu is also different, featuring a “hot table” buffet style with a variety of stewed meats people can choose from, like beef, chicken and pork, along with options of rice, beans, vegetables and tortillas.
The beverages include atoles, traditional Central American and Mexican drinks that contain milk, Mexican and regular sodas, coffee, espresso, tea and hot chocolate and licuados, which are Salvadoran-style milkshakes.
Izote is streamlined, with six employees and customers place their orders at the counter. Most of the time their names will be called out when the food is ready for pickup; however, during slow times there will be table service.
The origins of Izote date back to 2022, when Artiga learned from the property manager that the space, which had been used as Chinese restaurant, would be available.
“It was a long process to renovate,” Artiga said.
While she kept intact the hood and sink in the kitchen, in the dining area the carpet was removed and replaced with tile, and the walls were repainted yellow.
She commissioned a friend in El Salvador to create the paintings on the walls, as well as carrying the acrylic flowers on one of these pieces into the colorful custom-made tables.
Also fixed up were the bathrooms, and the basement was cleaned.
Originally from Cojutepeque, El Salvador, Artiga came to the United States with her then 5-year-old son, initially working at pizza shops and Chinese restaurants.
Artiga, who lives in Chicopee, has done everything in the restaurant business, from being a busser to prep cook and chef. She began El Comalito Amherst in 2012, first as a takeout and delivery spot with the support and partnership of her mother, Mirna, her father, David, and her son, Fernando. Soon after, it expanded into a full-service restaurant with a bar.
Once able to serve alcohol, the business grew, and a strategic reinvestment allowed her to broaden the menu and begin doing catering for local colleges.
In 2019, after joining the Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce, El Comalito won first place at the Margarita Madness for its fresh-squeezed spicy cucumber margarita. That was just before launching the Easthampton location.
In recent years, Artiga has advanced her management skills through E para Todos, also known as Entrepreneurship for All, and participated in the Inner City Capital Connections National Conference.
Chris Killion and Elisa Gomez have been El Comalito customers since 2012, finding the restaurant after returning to Amherst from California.
“We were so excited to find it in our backyard,” Killion said, adding that it’s a pleasure to see how Artiga has grown over the years and to now find out about her latest restaurant.
After sampling both the breakfast and lunch foods, they both praised the quality.
“It’s very exciting, very good, and there’s a lot of love in this place,” Killion said.
The restaurant is open from 6:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily, with breakfast, and the majority of the menu, aside from the hot table, served throughout the day. The hot table lunch service is available from 10:30 a.m. to close.
