Latin flavors come to Washington with new shop, Mango Jaziel Refresqueria

WASHINGTON - After enjoying treats reminiscent of their culture while visiting Chicago, Jacqueline Arreola and her husband Cuauhtemoc Arreola Castañeda decided to bring the Latin flavors back home with them. The pair are the owners of Mango Jaziel Refresqueria, a new shop that will offer homemade smoothies, popsicles, yogurt and ice cream.

Located at 109 North Iowa Avenue, across from the Frontier Family Restaurant, the shop will be open seven days a week from 8:30 a.m. until 6:30 p.m. for the first two weeks with the grand opening taking place Friday at 3 p.m. Once they have a better idea of what hours would be suitable, permanent ones will be put in place, she said.

Arreola said the idea for the project came three months ago when the owner of the building approached her and asked if she would like to move her insurance business, Jacqueline Arreola, LLC, into the space. Comfortable where she was, she declined but talked to her husband about the new opportunity. Castañeda then reminded her of a trip they took before the conversation.

'It happened that a month ago we had gone to Chicago and went to The Village and we visited a place very similar to this and when we got in there we thought, ‘this is really good. I could get used to this,'” she said.

The wheels in his head began turning and he came up with the idea to open a shop that would offer the same flavors; pineapple, guava, mango, back home in Washington she said. With a growing Latino population in the area, he felt the new shop would be a good fit.

The name was chosen based on the things that would be sold inside. Mango, to represent the Caribbean flavors; jaziel, a word that means 'the vision of God” to represent their Catholic faith; and refresqueria, a Spanish word that describes a shop where fresh and refreshing foods are sold.

Arreola has personal experience being a small-business owner but never in the food industry. However, she has no fear but instead full confidence in her staff.

'I knew there were going to be challenges but I kept saying, ‘That's OK. Challenges are good. They help us learn and make us stronger,'” she said.

'I have the best right hand,” she said of store manager Diana Arreola, her sister-in-law.

Diana has extensive experience in the food industry and will create flavors and treats that are unique only to their store.

'This is definitely family oriented and something you will not find anywhere else,” she said. 'Anyone can enjoy the flavors and the items you can find here. You'll be amazed once you try them and the richness behind them and just the fact that it's something different.”

Water based popsicles, yogurt and smoothies will all be homemade from scratch with fresh ingredients. The yogurt and smoothies make a great breakfast for people who are on the go and looking for a healthy alternative to turn to, she said.

In the future, Arreola said she hopes to expand the business to include hot food as well but for now is just taking things one step at a time. Looking forward to the grand opening, Arreola said she hopes the community embraces the variety and enjoys everything they have to offer.

'This is something that's not going to just help us as a family but also the community. I feel like why not add more? Even though the flavors are different, this is for everyone,” she said.