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ANTIOCH — Her first business venture in the United States ended badly with a surprise visit from the health department.

Maricela Gutierrez was selling raspados — flavored ice — from a small table she propped up in a Bay Point grocery. The inspectors snapped photos and threatened fines.

“They told me I’m not in Mexico,” she said.

Gutierrez could have done what most people do — give up and go work for someone else. She was in her 20s and had just arrived to California with almost no English skills.

“One of my friends said, ‘If I were you, I’d throw in the towel.’ I told her, ‘I’m a single mom. I have to take care of my two kids.’”‰”

So she learned the system. Almost 10 years later, sticking with the sweet and light side of Mexican cuisine has paid off for Gutierrez, owner of Antioch’s spacious Antojitos de Jalisco restaurant and a same-named food truck that her husband operates in Bay Point.

The company’s name translates to snacks or cravings — literally, “little whims” — from her home state of Jalisco.

The shop was recognized as one of nine “Women-Owned Businesses of the Year” in Contra Costa County this month by the Women’s Initiative for Self-Employment, an organization that encourages and trains women to be entrepreneurs.

“She’s not one to boast or really talk about what she’s doing. She’s just doing it,” said Carmen Angulo, a Concord community relations manager for the

San Francisco-based group.

Gutierrez, 33, was one of two of the honorees who took a business class hosted by the organization after it expanded into Contra Costa County two years ago. The English- and Spanish-language classes are geared for women who could use extra skills.

“The biggest issue for women is confidence,” said Julie Castro Abrams, CEO of the organization. “Men are pretty likely to just dive in, think bigger, and not as likely to seek training. Women have kind of a tendency to feel like they need to have everything in place before they can start.”

Before she took the courses, and after her run-in with the health inspectors, Gutierrez decided on her own to meet with officials to figure out how to run a business that followed the rules.

She bought and licensed her own mobile food trailer and abided by local ordinances that required her to move it from one spot to another every two hours. She later bought a small yogurt shop and in 2007 moved into her current shop on Delta Fair Boulevard.

“After so much work, it’s great to see that my clients are happy, that my efforts were worth it, because it hasn’t been easy,” she said in Spanish last week.

Hailing from Mexticacan, famous throughout Mexico for its homemade Popsicle-like snacks and ice cream, she uses her grandmother’s recipes to make shakes and other fruit-filled snacks and drinks.

She said about 60 percent of her customers come for the bionicos — a parfait of tropical fruit soaked in yogurt or Gutierrez’s secret cream sauce.

The entrepreneur said she still has business challenges — her 13-year-old daughter assists her with English, which she has not mastered. Her kids also help her navigate the computer when she needs to use it for work.

But after a decade juggling challenging business experiments and raising her children, Gutierrez said she is finally feeling comfortable. Even in a recession, people want sweets, she said.

“She’s completely resilient and has definitely taken her life in her own hands,” Angulo said. “It’s a ripple effect. It’s really affecting the people in her life and the community she’s in.”

Other Contra Costa women recognized for their businesses were Jane Lee of Sway Clothing Store in Concord; Maribel Delgado of Mi Oficina Computer Cafe in Concord; lawyer Patricia Rowe of Martinez; Rose Winter of Winter Chevrolet in Pittsburg; Menbere Aklilu of Salute E Vita Ristorante in Richmond; Sadar Kordahi of the Women Empowerment Initiative in San Ramon; Sheena Shastri of Sacsies in Orinda; and Bonnie Waters of Changes Salon in Walnut Creek.