America Mauricio’s dream of owning a restaurant comes to fruition with Yummi’s opening
(Burnsville, NC): As a young girl, America Mauricio’s friends were playing with dolls while she was playing with cutlery and watching her mother cook traditional Mexican foods. Since those early days she knew she wanted to pursue her passion for cooking. On September 29, America’s lifelong dream of owning a restaurant will come true with the opening of Yummi America Burnsville Café.
Yummi will offer fresh and fast Latin fare, gaining inspiration and flavoring from the Caribbean, Latin America, and Spain while utilizing local produce and proteins. Yummi is located just west of downtown Burnsville, next to Fastenal at the intersection of Hwy 19-E and Charlie Brown Road. The café will start by serving lunch and dinner with a plan to add breakfast later this fall.
Mountain BizWorks is a small business lending and learning organization which helps local businesses throughout WNC start and grow. It makes small business loans to new and expanding businesses from a pool of loan capital organized in part from community investors. This includes the Local Lenders, a group of South Toe residents investing their money to create a vibrant economy in Yancey and Mitchell counties.
The Foundations course also helped America understand the financial commitment opening a new business would require. As a result, she continued working in the nonprofit sector for several years to be better financially prepared for the new business. This time also helped her refine her plan from a food truck into a restaurant. Earlier this year, America felt the time was right and returned to Mountain BizWorks for a loan to assist with the restaurant’s start-up costs.
America reflects, “Opening Yummi has been a process that’s taken many hands — from my business partner Billy Garcia, to my local ingredient suppliers, to Mountain BizWorks, to the contractors that helped build out such a beautiful space — it took a village.” With America’s perseverance and the efforts of those who rallied alongside her, Yummi’s doors will open September 29th and all are invited to come try out Burnsville’s newest eatery.
Learn more about Yummi America Burnsville Cafe on their Facebook Page at www.facebook.com/yabc.cafe
Detailed information on Mountain BizWorks’ small business lending and training programs is available online at www.mountainbizworks.org or in person at their Asheville and Boone offices.
For information about working with Mountain BizWorks to launch or grow your business, visit the small business lending and learning pages of our website.
