ORLANDO, Fla. — Sofrito Latin Café owner Maria Molina makes sure every arepa coming out of her kitchen is perfect. 

“The Arepa is a Venezuelan traditional type of, you know, it is white corn bread,” Molina said. “That is what I can compare it with, and it just became very popular in the U.S. so that is one of the items that we sell here at Sofrito.” 

Molina and her husband, Carlos Calderon, who immigrated from Peru, came up with the idea to open a place in Orlando where other immigrants could have a taste of home — or where people could try something completely new to them and get a taste of a different culture.

She serves up family recipes she grew up on in Venezuela. 

“Being able to provide this type of traditional dish from my country, it just makes my heart full,” Molina said. 

“We said we always wanted to go out and eat different things, so what about we put everything in one place?” Molina said. “Like you can find cuisines from Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Puerto Rico, Cuba and just give the Latin community to sample one special dish from their country in one place, so we have items like lomo saltado and sopa de mariscos.”

Their restaurant is one of the about one-quarter of new small businesses that are Hispanic-owned, according to the U.S. Joint Economic Committee. Nearly 5 million Hispanic-owned businesses contribute over $800 billion to the American economy every year, and the number of Hispanic-owned businesses has grown by 34% in the last decade, according to the study released in 2021.

While Sofrito is a success, it wasn't without hard work.

“We opened our first restaurant in 2007,” Molina said.

She immigrated at 23 years old and did not speak English, so starting her own business a few years later was, at times, a struggle. 

“Sometimes you don't know all the challenges that you have to overcome,” she said.

But Molina said they never had any doubt that Orlando was where they wanted to be. Molina said she is proud to be among the owners of the 36% of businesses in the area that the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Metro Orlando says are owned by immigrants.

“You know, Orlando, it is made by immigrants and people from all over, not only the U.S. but so many places, and I like to share my experiences and have friends from different parts of the world,” Molina said. 

While Molina employs many other immigrants, she said she recognizes it’s getting increasingly more difficult to start a life in the United States.

“It is getting more challenging everywhere, and most people might think it is impossible, but I always tell everybody that comes to this country, ‘Never give up’,” Molina said. “It is not easy, but if you don’t give up, you will reach any goal that you have in your life.” 

She said she never thought she’d end up in Central Florida when she left Venezuela two decades ago, but added, “It is my version of the American dream.”

Sofrito is doing so well that Molina and Calderon are talking about expanding.

“It is better than I could ever imagine,” Molina said.