The story of Latin Food Blessing is about more than just ceviche or lomo saltado — it’s a restaurant that began in Costa Rica with a love story.
The owners, Sara Tito Futimán, a 57-year-old Peruvian, and Antonio Méndez, a 59-year-old Guatemalan, met in Costa Rica. They lived there for three years while Méndez worked and Tito studied. During that time, they got married and had their first daughter, Cecia.
“It’s been a long time now,” Méndez said about their 26 years of marriage.
Today, Latin Food Blessing is one of the only restaurants in Gainesville offering a fusion of Latin American cuisine with an emphasis on Peruvian food.
Although the couple met in Central America, their journey spans beyond just one country. While living in Costa Rica, Tito and Méndez traveled to Europe and the U.S. to participate in craft festivals, where they sold handmade art.
They traveled to Miami in 2001, intending to sell artwork in Florida. But a hurricane that same year left them stranded in the state without enough money to return to Costa Rica. They had just enough to buy a car.
Eventually, Méndez learned how to drive and got his license. From there, the couple and a friend from Costa Rica headed to Key West with the hopes of selling their artwork.
“And that’s where the story begins,” Méndez said.
A move to Gainesville
While in Key West, the couple continued selling crafts at local plazas. They also had their second daughter, Abigail, now a 20-year-old Santa Fe College sophomore studying plant science.
When both daughters moved to Gainesville for college, the couple decided to relocate in 2018.
They tried selling their art at festivals, but found it a challenge in Gainesville.
“It’s a place where there isn’t much tourism,” Méndez said. “The people who had purchased from us didn’t want to buy more.”
Looking for another way to earn money, they turned their focus to food.
Tito and Méndez learned to acquire food licenses and began selling “little, simple things” at farmers markets, like empanadas and guacamole, Méndez said.
From there, their customer base quickly grew.
“People liked it and would always tell us to open a restaurant,” Méndez said.
They found a venue — but it was 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic meant there wouldn’t be many customers right when they opened. Still, they took the risk and decided to try to open, Méndez said.
While working on the store during the pandemic, the couple had the idea to focus on Latin cuisine, a choice reflected in the restaurant’s name.
“We wanted to put a mix of Central America and South America, but what we prioritized most was Peruvian,” Tito said.
Cooking Peruvian food was a way to share Tito’s culture, she said. She is a descendant of the Quechua Indigenous people from Peru’s Andean region.
With that in mind, they focused on dishes like ceviche, lomo saltado and other Peruvian staples.
“They are dishes of our flag,” Tito said.
Once they had the concept, the family began working to get the location ready. Méndez said they got access to the store at the end of 2020 and were able to open Jan. 1, 2021.
“Even if you don’t believe it, we did sell,” he said. “Because it was new, people wanted to get to know it.”
A family operation
Since 2021, most of Latin Food Blessing’s staff has been family.
Méndez primarily helps in the kitchen, while Tito supports wherever needed. Abigail focuses on the front of the house, greeting customers and serving food.
There’s also Llamberto: the restaurant’s stuffed animal, a large, fluffy white llama wearing a red sombrero that sits atop a shelf of seasonings. Abigail named it when she was 15, Tito said. It’s even listed on the restaurant’s website as part of the staff.
The restaurant closed for a couple of hours during the summer after a routine inspection found a number of health violations, including a broken freezer, reports of cockroaches and claims that employees weren’t washing their hands.
Tito said the cockroaches were found in a freezer they hadn’t used for several months and that employees did wash their hands.
Latin Food Blessing is decorated with handmade crafts by Tito and Méndez, which are available for sale.
Tito said the restaurant is ideal for anyone looking to try something new.
“If people want to learn more about Peruvian food, they should come try it,” she said. “The flavor is very different, very unique … it’s very delicious.”
Latin Food Blessing is located at 7249 NW Fourth Blvd.
Follow Victoria on X @vickyriccobono.
