Photo by Deb Gau Swany Ramos Castillo, one of the co-owners of Sazón Catracho in Marshall, said she hopes the new restaurant will be a welcoming place for people to eat. It’s also a place where people can try Honduran food, she said.

MARSHALL — A formerly vacant restaurant in Marshall is open with new owners — and they’re serving up food with flavors from Honduras.

On Friday, Swany Ramos Castillo, one of the owners of Sazón Catracho, said she felt “very happy” to be able to serve customers. Speaking to the Independent with the help of an interpreter, Ramos Castillo said she hoped the new restaurant would be a welcoming place.

“I want it to be a good place for people to come sit and eat, and feel really welcome,” she said.

Business partners Ramos Castillo and Yony Reyes officially opened Sazón Catracho in mid-March. The restaurant is located in the former Four Seas Buffet location at the corner of East College Drive and Jewett Street.

The new owners bought the former Four Seas building in May 2023. Since then, they’ve worked to redecorate and paint the building, and get ready to open the restaurant.

Ramos Castillo said she enjoys making food, and she has been cooking “since I was little.” Opening a restaurant was also a way to offer diners something new in Marshall. There weren’t any restaurants in town serving Honduran food, she said.

Some of the dishes at the restaurant might be ones that Marshall residents aren’t familiar with yet, Ramos Castillo said. The menu at Sazón Catracho includes dishes like Honduran-style crispy tacos, chicken with plantains, carne asada, and baleadas. Baleadas are folded flour tortillas that are stuffed with beans and other fillings like cheese, egg and avocado.

Ramos Castillo said the dishes at Sazón Catracho use spices and ingredients that help make Honduran food unique. Ingredients like plantains are also used in traditional Honduran cooking, she said.

Ramos Castillo said the food at Sazón Catracho is prepared fresh, so it can take a little longer.

“We prepare the food, and it’s fresh,” she said.

People have been curious about the restaurant, and wanting to know if it was open, Ramos Castillo said. She said people were happy to try something new.

Ramos Castillo said she “wants to give it her best” to serve customers at the restaurant.

Sazón Catracho is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.