Little Guatemala: food, soccer, and a cultural connection

The smell of freshly brewed Guatemalan coffee and sounds of a bustling street food kitchen fill the air as Christian and Erica Ramazzini prepare to open the doors of Little Guatemala for the day.

 Erica Ramazzini met her husband Christian in Guatemala, where she served as a missionary for two years. The couple married and moved to Morganton in 2009.

 Born and raised in Guatemala, Christian was unsure if he would be able to connect with his culture and feel at home in Morganton.

To his relief, the move was made easier once he discovered the thriving Guatemalan community that makes up a growing percentage of Morganton’s population.

 “It’s a really precious thing that exists on the streets here in Morganton,” Erica said. “It is something that we were thankful for immediately.”

 Finding these immediate entries to the Guatemalan community proved to be more difficult for American-born Erica Ramazzini, however.

 “Even me, who feels very comfortable speaking Spanish, I love Guatemalan culture, I go to these places and I am an outsider” she said.

 The couple wanted to find a way to showcase the unique blend of cultures that exists in Morganton and provide a place that could help bridge any cultural barriers in the community.

 Thus, the idea for Little Guatemala was born.

 Little Guatemala, a family-run business made to share Guatemalan culture, began in the Ramazzini kitchen in 2018. Christian brewed his own coffee beans and Erica worked tirelessly to perfect her homemade Guatemalan chocolate.

The couple sold their culinary goods at local markets while also working behind the scenes to create a physical space to host Little Guatemala.

 Just three years later, Little Guatemala opened its doors to the public in June 2021. It is open Monday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m and is located on a one-way street just outside of downtown at 810 E. Union St.

 The Ramazzinis desire to bridge the cultural gap in Morganton is manifested in five ‘pillars’ designed to introduce people to Guatemalan culture.

Little Guatemala serves as a space to roast Guatemalan coffee, make bean-to-bar chocolate, cook authentic Guatemalan street food, sell fair trade crafts straight from Guatemala and host weekly events in its very own indoor soccer field.

 The pillars were chosen carefully to represent distinct connection-builders that exist in Latin America: coffee, chocolate, street food, crafts and soccer are some of the first things that come to mind when thinking of Guatemalan culture.

 The restaurant serves authentic Guatemalan street food from sweet fried plantains to savory tamalitos, or grab a traditional Guatemalan breakfast of eggs, beans, tortillas and fried plantains.

 “Little by little, it is developing, but people enter here and do not feel out of place,” Christian said. “They feel like it's a comfortable atmosphere, a welcoming atmosphere for all kinds of cultures,” he said.

The Ramazzini’s have sought to establish a cultural mecca on a local scale. In the future, they hope to expand Little Guatemala to better facilitate these cultural connections.

 With the efforts of the Ramazzinis and their staff, Little Guatemala has woven itself into the fabric of the Morganton community and has become a local treasure for both Guatemalans and Americans alike.

Calli Westra is a resident of Morganton and a journalism student at UNC-Chapel Hill.