Hard work pays off for owners of Hela’s Kitchen

When Famous Taco moved out of its West Saginaw location in 2023, one of Angelita Cabrera’s friends told her it would be the perfect standalone spot for her restaurant, Hela’s Kitchen.

At the time, Cabrera was serving her authentic Tex-Mex food in the Lansing Mall food court and paid the suggestion little heed. But two years later, when she was looking to expand, she found the space still open and the realtor helpful.

“I feel like it was a sign,” she said. “Everything just fell into place.”

Hela’s Kitchen reopened Oct. 4, serving a similar menu of Tex-Mex classics. The business may have its own building now, but the food is still cooked by Cabrera and her husband and business partner, Pedro, with other families helping out.

Cabrera said the standalone space is a monumental achievement.

“We worked really hard — and I worked really hard — for this,” she said. “We didn’t get help from anyone. We did it all ourselves out of pocket.”

She noted that the restaurant has already brought in a lot of new faces, and regulars have been coming in more often.

“I’m not used to making so much food,” she said. “Now, I’m making twice as much food, if not more — which is awesome, I can’t complain about it, but we’re small and it’s just us.”

She said her customers have been understanding as she grows accustomed to the challenges of running a standalone restaurant, though service has stayed relatively quick. The new space has also presented its own challenges, becoming crowded more easily than the mall food court, which has led her to emphasize keeping the feel less cramped.

“I have moved the kitchen and the dining area around, no joke, 10 times,” she said.

While the menu is similar to the previous location’s, she has added birria tacos, which have become popular in recent years. They combine tacos with the meat from birria, a traditional western Mexican stew.

She also cooks specialty items on weekends and other occasions, which are typically announced on Facebook. She often makes menudo, a traditional Mexican soup she said is popular with older customers.

Older customers also love the standalone location, she said, because it allows them to come in and immediately sit down. They also enjoy that it’s more walkable for many of them, some of whom used to trek to the Lansing Mall on foot but live closer to the new spot.

Another benefit of the new space is the patio, she said, adding that she would love to set up outdoor tables during the summer. Then there’s the parking lot, which she hopes to use for Cinco de Mayo parties and other events.

She also wants to start serving breakfast tacos and burritos, she said. It’s one of many ideas she’s tossing around, but for now, she’s trying not to make any major changes to the concept that has already brought her success.

“I want to take steps before I throw everything in the basket, and then I have to take everything back out because I’ve got to rearrange the basket,” she said.