Meet Monse Hines of Monse’s Taste of El Salvador in Colorado Springs

Today we’d like to introduce you to Monse Hines.

Monse, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
We started making and selling pupusas for wholesale accounts in 2011. My husband (Tim) deployed to Afghanistan within a month of our arrival to Colorado and I wanted to keep myself busy. I started at local markets and eventually introduced my pupusas in grocery stores and school lunch programs. Eventually, our product was carried in multiple grocery stores, ranging from local shops to whole foods, natural grocers and Safeway. We grew out of our kitchen space and found our current location– the idea to open a restaurant wad finally a possibility. January 2018 we opened the doors to “Monse’s Pupuseria” and it has been an amazing experience. What started as a limited lunch menu has expanded to a breakfast, lunch and dinner menu five days a week!

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Definitely not a smooth road, but the local community and literally dozens of wonderful people helped along the way. The food industry is a tough business. There was a steep learning curve to understand and follow all the different guidelines for wholesale and retail accounts. We were learning and growing at the same time. Plus, we very much wanted to avoid taking out large loans and didn’t want to build the business on a mountain of debt. We took our time and grew at our pace.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Monse’s Taste of El Salvador story. Tell us more about the business.
We specialize in handmade Salvadoran cuisine, specifically pupusas. While they have been introduced in a handful of restaurants, we’re not aware of any with a dedicated focus towards pupusas or a scratch kitchen concept dedicated to a Salvadoran menu. I’m proud to introduce food from my culture and to see house many people truly enjoy it!

It’s been wonderful to stand up a business that has the ability to hire employees and v take care of people. We are a small, family-owned business and we support our community. We’ve experienced people listing us as a local favorite and I’m very proud to how far we’ve come.

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
We consider all of our success to be a blessing. We are passionate about our product and have the best team working with us. We like to say, “its more than food…its an experience.”

Contact Info:

• Address: 115 S. 25th street, Colorado Springs, CO 80904
  (Entrance in the back of the building)
• Website: Www.monsestasteofelsalvador.online
• Phone: 719-473-0877
• Email: monsespupuseria@yahoo.com
• Instagram: @monsespupuseria
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/monsespupuseria/
• Yelp: Monse’s Pupuseria

Image Credit:
Credit: Colorado springs independent (interview)

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