When a Guatemalan family left its country to find safety from a bloody war, it took about 25 years to get back their dream

However, Maria Luisa was able to cook again Aug. 8, when her family opened Chapinlandia, a Guatemalan bakery and restaurant, in downtown Renton.

“It was a dream for a long time,” said husband Urbano Santos. “When she moved, she left everything.”

Owning a restaurant in Guatemala City, the nation’s capital, Santos learned to bake beautiful sweet breads, often decorated with seashell-looking shapes.

In the 1980s, civil war tore the country in what many are now calling a genocide.

“It was hard times,” Santos said. “It was called a civil war, but it was a dirty war.”

Santos moved to Los Angeles in 1984, and in 1993 he settled in Renton with his family in search of a climate similar to home.

“In my country it rains six months a year,” Santos said.

An enlarged photo of a Guatemalan river surrounded by a dense forest covers the back wall of the restaurant.

“That’s why we like Washington. It’s really close to our home. It’s so green,” said Willy Santos, a son who works at the restaurant.

Two sons of the five siblings work at the restaurant, he said. “We do everything as a family.”

With some help, Luisa cooks everything from tamales wrapped in banana leafs to plantains.

The tortillas, made fresh in the restaurant, are thick as pita bread but dense and flavorful like tortillas.

For a change of pace try an enchilada, which looks nothing like the Mexican favorite.

A salad of lettuce greens, cabbage and beats top a crisp corn tortilla and is then layered with shredded pork and a mild tomato sauce.

The entree is finished with an egg slice and crumbled cheese, tasting more like a light salad than the saucy alternative.

Wash it down with Jamaica juice, which tastes like a tropical cranberry.

The menu is as authentic as the native language it’s written in, though most can get through ordering with a basic understanding of Spanish.

Unlike Mexican food, Guatemalan food is mild, using few spices, Urbano Santos said.

“In Central America, we do the same things with a different taste,” he said.

Most Guatemalans make tamales Saturday night for dinner and eat them Sunday for breakfast, so naturally they’re the restaurant’s staple.

In the dining area dolls dressed in traditional regional clothing are pinned against a wall.

“We try to show them our culture and our food,” Willy Santos said.

At lunch hour a group of construction workers gather to eat while two women chat over empty banana leafs. Customers slowly empty a glass case of baked goods.

“We are happy, because we left our country to get a better life,” Willy Santos said. “With the restaurant, we made the American dream come true.”