In Washington, family traditions have a way of finding their way onto the menu. From the original chili recipe at Bill’s Hot Dogs, served since 1928, to the homemade Mexican flavors inspired by family and tradition at El Palacio de los Sabores, food has a way of carrying stories from one generation to the next. For this month’s Small Business Spotlight, we’re featuring Karla Ortiz, owner of El Palacio de los Sabores, located at 613 John Small Avenue in Washington, NC.
Karla Ortiz, a wife and mother of three, was born in Mexico and moved to the United States when she was young. In 2005, her parents, America Chavez and Santiago Guerrero, decided to take a chance on their dream of owning and operating a tortillería, a specialized shop or small factory that makes and sells fresh tortillas.
In Mexico, fresh tortillas are something many families grow up having on the table every day, and tortillerías are common and an important part of everyday life. Karla’s parents saw an opportunity to start a business while also bringing a little piece of their culture to Washington by opening Tortillería Yineth.
Karla’s mother, America Chavez, had worked in a tortillería in Mexico when she was in her twenties, so she understood the process of making tortillas. However, knowing how to make tortillas and owning and operating a business are two completely different things.
The early months and years were difficult, Karla said. Her parents had to learn how to manage money, order supplies, maintain equipment, serve customers, handle problems, pay bills, and make difficult decisions. They had to learn many aspects of running a business as they went along.
Little by little, their hard work began paying off. The business grew, and what started as a dream became something they were able to build a life around. In 2012, Karla’s father, Santiago Guerrero, took another big step and opened a second Tortillería Yineth location in New Bern.
Then another idea came to Santiago: an ice cream shop. He kept the idea in the back of his mind while dealing with the ongoing demands of running both Tortillería Yineth locations. In 2023, Santiago asked Karla to research equipment, suppliers, ingredients, products, permits, prices, and everything else they would need to open an ice cream shop.
As the research progressed, Santiago asked Karla if, should they decide to move forward, she would be interested in running the ice cream shop. The decision put Karla in a difficult position. At the time, she was already running her own business as a licensed nail technician and had worked hard to build her nail salon.
After months of discussing the decision with her husband, Omar, they finally said yes and opened the ice cream shop in 2024. At first, that meant closing her nail salon so she could focus on helping open her family’s new business venture.
Karla and her husband soon experienced many of the same stresses and struggles her parents had faced when they started their business in 2005. They learned as they went, worked through the challenges, and eventually found a way to balance their growing businesses and family life.
Today, Karla has been able to return to her nail business in a smaller, private setting while also managing El Palacio de los Sabores, helping with Tortillería Yineth, and working with the family’s mobile ice cream truck.
When people walk into El Palacio, they may see a colorful shop filled with ice cream and Mexican treats. When Karla looks at it, she sees so much more.
“I see my parents’ sacrifices, my dad’s dream, my mom’s years of hard work, my husband standing beside me, and the future we are trying to create for our children.”
The name El Palacio de los Sabores means “The Palace of Flavors,” and that is exactly what Karla said her family wants it to be: “a place where there is always another flavor, snack, or experience waiting for you.”
Hours: Monday–Sunday, 11 a.m.–9 p.m.
If you could create a flavor inspired by Washington, what would it be called, and what would be in it?
I would call it "Pamlico Sunset". One of the most beautiful things about Washington is seeing the sunset over the Pamlico River. The sky can have so many beautiful shades of orange, pink, red, and gold, and I would want the ice cream to represent those colors.
It would have a creamy sweet-cream base with swirls of mango, peach, and strawberry. The peach would add a flavor that feels familiar to North Carolina, while the mango would represent our Mexican roots. The strawberry ribbon would give it that beautiful pink and red sunset color.
I would also add small pieces of golden waffle cone for a little crunch. To make it feel even more like El Palacio, it would have a light swirl of chamoy and a touch of Tajín. It would not be extremely spicy—just enough to create that sweet, fruity, tangy flavor combination that makes people want another bite.
The colors would look like a Washington sunset in a cup and tell a story. They would represent the Pamlico River, the community we now call home, and the Mexican flavors we are proud to share. They would also tell the story of how Washington gave our family a place to grow our businesses and raise our children, while our Mexican heritage gave us the flavors, traditions, and ideas behind El Palacio de los Sabores.
What advice would you give to someone trying to start their own business?
My first piece of advice would be to understand that owning a business is not as easy or as glamorous as it can look on social media. People normally see the finished product. They see the grand opening, the pretty decorations, the customers, and the exciting announcements, but they do not always see the stress, bills, mistakes, long hours, broken equipment, slow days, or nights when you wonder if you made the right decision.
Before starting, do as much research as possible. Learn about your equipment, suppliers, permits, insurance, taxes, pricing, payroll, and everyday operating expenses. Do not only calculate how much it will cost to open the doors. Calculate how much money you will need to keep the doors open while the business grows.
Know your numbers. You can have a busy business and still lose money if you do not understand your costs. Know how much each product costs to make, how much inventory you are using, how much is being wasted, and whether your prices are covering your expenses.
I would also tell people not to be afraid to start small. Start with what you can manage, pay attention to what your customers want, and improve as you grow. Be prepared to make mistakes. We have made plenty of them. The important thing is to learn from those mistakes, make changes, and keep going. Customer service is extremely important. Customers may forget what they ordered, but they will remember how you treated them. Listen to feedback and always be willing to improve.
I would also tell new business owners to protect their family time. A business will take every hour you are willing to give it. There will always be another order, message, problem, or task waiting for you. Money and business opportunities are important, but time with your children and family cannot be replaced. You have to create boundaries and remember who you are working so hard for.
Most importantly, remember why you started. Success usually does not happen overnight. It is built through consistency, sacrifice, patience, and many small decisions made every day.
What do you enjoy most about being part of the Washington community?
What I enjoy most is the connection we have built with the people of Washington. This community has been part of my family’s story for more than twenty years. Washington is where my parents took their first chance on becoming business owners, where our family built a life, and where my husband and I are raising our children.
Many customers have supported my family since Tortillería Yineth first opened in 2005. Some have watched me grow up, and now they are supporting El Palacio de los Sabores and watching my own children grow up. That type of support means more than people probably realize.
I love seeing familiar faces walk through our doors and watching children get excited about all the ice cream flavors and toppings. I also love when someone who grew up in Mexico tells us that something on our menu reminds them of home.
As an immigrant and a Mexican business owner, it also means a lot to me that we can share our culture with the community. El Palacio is a place where someone who grew up with these flavors can feel a little closer to home, while someone else can discover something completely new. I love that food can bring people together, and that is one of my favorite things about being part of Washington.
Are there any family recipes or homemade specialties on the menu? Who started them, and what are the ingredients?
Food is connected to memories. A certain flavor can remind you of your childhood, your grandparents, a street vendor in Mexico, a family celebration, or a place you have not visited in years. Our homemade recipes are a very important part of El Palacio de los Sabores. We did not want to open a shop that only served the same ice cream and basic products people could find anywhere else. We wanted our menu to represent our culture, our family, and the flavors we grew up enjoying in Mexico.
While the original idea for El Palacio came from my dad, developing the menu and recipes became a family project. We spent a lot of time researching, tasting, adjusting, and learning. Some recipes took several tries before they had the flavor and texture we wanted. Our goal was for everything to taste fresh, flavorful, and different from what people might expect from a traditional ice cream shop.
Of course, I cannot give away every measurement because we have to keep a few family secrets! But what makes our recipes special is not only the ingredients. It is the time we have spent creating them, the memories behind the flavors, and the love our family puts into what we serve.
Our homemade ice creams and paletas are some of our biggest specialties. Depending on the flavor, we use ingredients like milk, cream, sugar, fresh fruit, cookies, chocolate, nuts, and traditional Mexican ingredients. Our fruit paletas are made with real fruit, with some being water-based and others creamy and milk-based.
Our fresas con crema is another homemade specialty. We start with fresh strawberries and add our homemade sweet cream, then top it with whipped cream and strawberry ice cream. We also offer different versions, including our Biscoff fresas con crema.
Our mangonada is one of the items that best represents the flavors we love. It combines homemade mango ice cream, fresh mango, chamoy, Tajín, Valentina, and a tamarind straw. It is sweet, fruity, spicy, sour, and refreshing all at the same time. We also serve homemade aguas frescas and other Mexican-inspired treats, including horchata, jamaica, cucumber and lime agua fresca, café de olla, esquites, tostilocos, chicharrón preparado, and churros. These recipes allow us to share our culture, memories, and love of food with our community.
