"It’s Good for Business, It’s Good for Life"
Marcelo Alvariza
Business owner, City of Aurora, Colorado
Orejano Casual Latin Cuisine
Interviewed and written by Lisa Gilman
June 2026
Marcelo Alvariza considers himself to be a citizen of the world. Originally from Uruguay, he grew up in the country’s capital Montevideo. His father was from Uruguay, and his mother is Bolivian. His grandparents migrated to South America from Spain, Italy, and Germany. Being descended from people from different national and cultural backgrounds and moving between places is part and parcel of who he is and always has been.
Mr. Alvariza grew up surrounded by successful entrepreneurs. Before leaving Uruguay, his mother owned a real estate company, and his father had a logistics business that operated across South America and Asia. As a young man, Mr. Alvariza joined his mother’s business.
The family’s life in Uruguay was what Mr. Alvariza described as “a U.S. middle class style.” Before he left, he could afford to live by himself and drive a new car. The 2002 banking crisis forced the country into a recessionthat destroyed the family’s economic stability. The destruction of the economy put their businesses at risk, and the buying power of Marcelo’s salary plummeted to the equivalent of around $100 a month, not nearly enough to support himself.
Marcelo’s brothers Fernando and Quique moved to the United States in 2001 before the crash. Fernando worked in flooring construction, and Quique worked for Home Depot’s corporate offices in Colorado. Though Mr. Alvariza loved Uruguay and had had no intention of leaving, the economic situation became untenable. In July 2003, he thus made the difficult decision to join his brothers in Colorado when he was twenty-four years old.
Mr. Alvariza had mixed feelings about the move. He loved his home country and was sad to leave. However, he had visited the United States previously and felt that he knew a lot about it from television, so was excited for the new adventure.
In Uruguay, Mr. Alvariza had been used to being surrounded by soccer, drinking mate (a caffeinated hot beverage popular throughout South America), and living by the ocean. His first years in the United States werechallenging. It was hard to “start over from zero.” He did not speak much English and was “away from everything I knew, our language, our culture.” Though there were lots of other Spanish speaking immigrants in Colorado, they were mostly not from Uruguay, so it was hard to get food from his country. He complained that many people in the United States assume that Mexican food is the cultural food for all Spanish speaking immigrants, but it is“very different” from what he was used to. He “had never seen a tortilla before,” and Uruguayan food is very European, “not spicy.”
After spending some time in Colorado, Mr. Alvariza wanted to move to someplace in the United States that was more like Uruguay. Living in a landlocked state was difficult for someone who had always lived by the ocean. He felt like he “was lost in the middle of the cement jungle.” After exploring some different locations, he returned to Colorado and decided to settle. That was, after all, where he had family. Though there is a not a large population of people from Uruguay, the City of Aurora, known for its international population, is a “perfect fit” for a family that includes members from “Bolivia, Uruguay, Peru, Russia, and Paraguay.”
As with many Spanish speaking immigrant men, Marcelo’s first job in the United States was in construction because it didn’t require him to speak English. He explained that it’s easier for Spanish speaking immigrants in the United States than those from other linguistic backgrounds because it’s easy to find other speakers.
Mr. Alvariza worked in construction for two years then as a driver for FedEx for three years. In 2009, he decided to return to Uruguay because “I was homesick.” He and his father had plans to start a restaurant, a dream they had long shared. But then his father died suddenly of a heart attack.
His plans dashed; Mr. Alvariza returned to Colorado in 2009, got married, and started his first business. He and his wife now have a fourteen-year-old daughter, and a thirteen-year-old son.
Already having expertise in the flooring industry, Mr. Alvariza’s first business was a commercial flooring installation company. Always maintaining the connection to Uruguay, he named the company MVD Flooring after theMontevideo airport code.
The business started small and did not require much financing. Little by little, Mr. Alvariza built it up, buying more and more equipment as he could afford to do so. Its focus was “big jobs,” such as airports and the Air Force base. It was tough at the beginning because he needed English language skills to talk to potential clients. By necessity, his English quickly improved, and he quickly became fluent. At its height, he employed around fifty people, most of whom he described as a mix, “lots of Americans, mostly Mexican Americans,” but also people from Mexico, El Salvador, Argentina, and one Nigerian.”
In November 2023, Mr. Alvariza had a heart attack. Thankfully, he survived. But this brush with death made him reevaluate his priorities and “want to do something that I love.” It was time to open a restaurant, in honor of “the dream that I shared with my father.”
Using the revenue from selling the equipment from the flooring business and his personal savings, in June 2025, Mr. Alvariza opened Orejano Casual Latin Cuisine, named for his father’s nickname Orejano. His brother, who is also in the flooring business, took over Marcelo’s customers and agreed to help support the business in the first year as needed.
Mr. Alvariza knew that selling his successful flooring company to start a business in an industry he didn’t know was a “lot of risk.” But then he reflected, “I started from zero when I came to this country, so I am not afraid.”When you experience something like a heart attack, “you realize that money is not everything.” Opening the restaurant “is a dream for me. It’s for my father. It’s a risk but there are other things other than money that are important.” A lot of people told him that he was “crazy to do this! But there is only one life. And I almost lost it.” He also realized that he could always go back to flooring if he needed to.
Everything about the restaurant is tied to his father and to his homeland. “It’s sad that he is not here.” The logo of the restaurant is based on the “last photo of my father in Uruguay.” The color of the restaurant is black and yellow for Montevideo’s professional soccer team, Peñarol.
The restaurant has a small dining room, 32 seats inside, and 24 outside. It caters mostly to people coming in to grab something quick or ordering food for office events. It is located close to many of his former clients, many of whom are now his customers. The menu boasts 18 different types of empanadas served with a choice of ten varieties of sauces. They also serve a delightful mix of steak and fried chicken sandwiches served with fries.
Still in its first year, the business is small and family run. Mr. Alvariza and his wife are the main employees. His mom contributes by making the flan how “they make it back home. Everyone loves it! It’s more creamy, like an Italian way.” The one employee who is not a family member is originally from Nicaragua. Once the business starts to grow, he anticipates hiring more people. This will allow Mr. Alvariza and his wife expand the business and add more jobs, an important contribution to Aurora’s local economy.
Orejano has only been open for nine months, but it’s already famous for its empanadas. It won “Best Empanadas” in Westboro’s Best of Denver 2026. The immediate success of the restaurant is a “big dream,” and the award “means a lot to me and my family.”
Reflecting on the obstacles for immigrant entrepreneurs, Mr. Alvariza emphasized language. Not knowing English makes it difficult to complete all the bureaucratic steps not to mention running a business. Understanding the complicated laws and licensing requirements is also difficult. Things are very different in the United States than in Uruguay. Here, “you need a permit for anything!” The tax laws are particularly opaque. Though there are a lot of resources to help entrepreneurs, many immigrants don’t know that they exist or how to access them.
Mr. Alvariza feels that the City of Aurora is “doing a great job” with its Immigrant Integration Plan. They have gathered all the necessary information in one place, making it easy to access. They also provide many opportunities for immigrants. Mr. Alvariza only recently found out about them and found the resources and staff to be valuable. The only problem, he says, is that many immigrants “don’t know about it,” and “we don’t know how to use them.” He highlighted that many immigrants come from countries where you can’t “expect much from the government.” It would not occur to them to seek information or guidance from government officials, whom they might not trust. He feels that the city could be more effective if it advertised its programs more widely so that more could benefit. As with other Aurora business owners, he also worries about security. At night, he explained, things sometimes get tough, and there are not enough police officers to respond when needed. But, “overall, Aurora is doing a good job.”
The City of Aurora has been a great place for Orejano because it’s known for its international restaurants. Mr. Alvariza is proud to have added the first Uruguayan one to the mix. That his customers come from all over the world inspired him to be creative with the “fusion of flavors.” The empanada menu integrates elements from other cuisines, such as the Steak Jalapeño seasoned with “Mexican spices” and the Spicy Mushroom with “Thai spices.” He strives to make the food palatable to his diverse clientele. For example, he chooses to use Halal meat, even if that’s not part of his diet at home, so that everyone can enjoy the food.
This approach is “good for business and for life.” The more people enjoy his food, the more empanadas he will sell. But more than that, “I grab my mate and go and sit down with them at the table and talk with them, it’s like a family.” He enjoys sharing something about Uruguay while learning about the home countries of his customers. By coming together, it reinforces that “even if we are from different countries, we are all here for one reason, to share food, share culture.” By integrating bits of others’ cultures into the menu, “they can see that we care about them as well.”
When asked what advice he would give to other immigrants wanting to start their own businesses, Mr. Alvariza answered “Believe. Work hard. There will be good days. There will be bad days. Sometimes you will want to walk away from everything. But if you are constantly doing the right thing for your company, working hard, trying to find your spot, it will work out. You need to believe. Don’t listen to most people. They will tell you, ‘don’tdo this, don’t do that.’ If you have something in your heart, just believe and go for it. This is the perfect country to do that. There's are so many opportunities here.”
Mr. Alvariza emphasizes that immigrants contribute significantly to the United States. They do a lot of jobs that others don’t want to do, such as working in construction, restaurants, and janitorial services. When he ran his flooring business, he said it was hard to find people to do that work. But somebody has to do it, and immigrants are willing. “That’s one way they make a big contribution.”
People need to understand that most people who immigrate to the United States come because “we want a better life,” Mr. Alvariza explained. He really loved Uruguay and was happy there. He would not have left if things hadn’tgotten so bad. He is grateful to the United States because “if you come here, work, believe, are a good guy, and you respect people, people will respect you.” He says, “I love Colorado, I love U.S. This is my place now.”
When reflecting on his future aspirations, Mr. Alvariza stated that his dream is to build and grow Orejano and share his food with more and more people. But, most importantly, he wants to do “something for my kids. That's all that we do in life. Even if they're going to find their own way or if they want to work with me, at least I want to leave something for them.”