TURNERS FALLS — Cocina Lupita has opened its doors, and the owners are eager to serve the community that helped them bring their Salvadoran cuisine to Avenue A.
Since Cocina Lupita first opened as a food truck in July 2021, the restaurant has expanded. In December of that year, the first brick-and-mortar location opened inside the Hawks & Reed Performing Arts Center in Greenfield. Four years later, Cocina Lupita decided to branch out even further with help from the community.
“She’s super happy with everybody who helped her out and inspired her to open up more,” said Alex Romero, translating on behalf of his mother, business co-owner Aleyda Romero.
Romero co-owns Cocina Lupita with friend Josh Breitner, and this spring, they launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise money to help them expand into Turners Falls at the former location of Black Cow Burger Bar, which closed in June 2024.
The goal was to raise $30,000 to help the business with its expansion, which included costs for acquiring new equipment, obtaining licenses and furnishing the restaurant.
Breitner and Romero were able to raise more than $3,000 from the community, and the Franklin County Community Development Corporation provided further assistance with a loan. The initial goal was to open the restaurant in Turners Falls in May, but the fundraising did not meet the goal, prompting a delay.
“It’s been a really positive response,” Breitner said on Wednesday. “There’s been little kinks to work out, but we knew that would happen. It’s been busy, people seem really happy. I think it’s going really well.”
Even still, the restaurant was able to meet its aspirations to open the second location, welcoming patrons starting Thursday, Oct. 2, after renovating the inside of the space and getting its liquor license approved late last month.
Alex Romero will be serving as the bartender for the Turners Falls location. He and Breitner said alcoholic beverages will start being served after a final inspection.
New options
While the Cocina Lupita location in Greenfield will remain open with regular hours and maintain its current menu, the Turners Falls location will have expanded menu options that include traditional Salvadoran cuisine not found in Greenfield.
One new option includes a pineapple bowl, which is a halved and filled with a choice of protein, along with pescado frito, which is a fried tilapia. Staples of the menu from Greenfield will also be available in Turners Falls, such as tacos, papas fritas and pupusas.
The restaurant will also serve beer and liquor, including margaritas and other tequila-based mixed drinks. Non-alcoholic beverages are also served, including a homemade agua fresca, horchata and sodas.
In reflecting on his mother’s journey with Cocina Lupita, Alex Romero said he’s proud of his family’s accomplishments.
“It was actually amazing to see that they wanted to open up their own business and I was very happy for them,” Romero said, adding that he started to help out the family business after high school. “I’m just happy, very happy for my whole family that works with us.”
As for Aleyda Romero, she hopes the people who donated to their GoFundMe will come over to Turners Falls and experience the business they supported.
“She just wants to say thank you, and hopefully she gets to see everybody that donated,” Alex Romero said, translating for his mother.
Cocina Lupita at 125 Avenue A in Turners Falls is open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. The business’ website can be found at cocinalupita.com.