Dieting Drunk

"A Mean Nut" Turning Cafe Que Tal Into "Healthy Tacos & Wine Bar"

Last summer, we were bummed to hear that the undeniably chill Cafe Que Tal was forced to close by their landlord jacking the rent by 200% with two weeks notice.  Now the same landlord is turning the beloved coffee shop into a “healthy tacos and wine bar” spot. (Which makes perfect sense because nothing quite compliments being healthy like getting shitfaced on wine.)

According to Tablehopper, the boring tacos/wine bingeing gimmick is from Luisa Hanson, a landowner dubbed “ruthlessly nutty” and “a mean nut” (she’s a nut!) by the many restaurant and bar tenants she’s preyed on over the years.

Much like Que Tal’s situation, when San Francisco was going through its last dive bar purge in 2007, Hanson had a dragged out fight with now-closed John Barleycorn Pub.  The Guardian summed up her sleaze at the time:

Unfortunately for the Barleycorn, its lease is up, and it’s part of a building that was recently purchased by Luisa Hanson, a controversial local entrepreneur who owns several other properties in the area, including Luisa’s on Union Street and Delaney’s in the Marina. Hanson refuses to renew the Barleycorn’s lease, and it’s rumored she plans to turn the building into a new restaurant. […]

But the notoriously elusive Hanson — who’s obtained licenses for more than 22 businesses in the past two decades, most of which closed within two years or never opened at all — wouldn’t discuss the future of the ‘Corn, much less consider their [patron’s] pleas.

She then tried to reopen the space as Duffy’s Irish Pub, but it ultimately became Contraband Coffee.

So here we go again: another half-assed attempt at foodie relevance from a serial failure.  Only this time, the predatory shit is dumped in our backyard.

[Photo: WBTC]

Comments (11)

Wonderful. Too bad she wasn’t smart enough to change her name before embarking on this next adventure of fail.

I lived a few doors down for almost ten years.. she opened a total of probably 12 different restaurants in the space which is now TUBA next door to the old Que Tal in a matter of 10 years.  Every imaginable type of restaurant over those years.  She would park her car outside the Lone Palm and it was filled to the brim with garbage, for the first few years i thought she lived in her car, didn’t realize she owned the buildling (and many more).

Ha barleycorn, forgot about that place.

 this concept of tacos and wine seems like it was hatched while drunk on tacos and wine.  Nevertheless wine is the healthiest booze option available, usually between 90-110 calories per 5 ounce serving,

a problem they will have is reputable wine distributors in SF will shy away from this place because of the odd concept. Likely they will get 2nd or 3rd tier wine options that you can find at any deli in the city

if Kev mo is right the nutjob will probably open and close this spot with new concepts that wont stick

nah, pur agave tequila is. wine’s not too bad though.

Who the hell drinks wine with tacos? That seems weird. Maybe Sangria. 

Remember when El Mariachi sold healthy tacos? 

This lady sucks–I loved the barleycorn and was pissed when it closed and was replaced by … an irish bar.  Thanks for the heads up, Kevin!

Is she also responsible for the ‘Small Bites and Wine Bar’ going into the vacant lot (that was a former pet store) right around the corner on 22nd? It’s almost the exact same sign.

I wondered the same thing. I like the idea that she’s going to compete with herself.

Luisa has emerged from bankruptcy and is as nutty as ever.  She has returned to the scene of the crime in Lower Nob Hill, and is trying again to take over the Front Room, the longtime neighborhood favorite restaurant she evicted along with the treasured John Barleycorn.  The Front Room moved to 1550 California Street, which is not a building at all, but an alleyway that was converted into a restaurant space some years ago.  We’re fighting her liquor license application, and if you have the opportunity, I’d do the same at 1005 Guerrero.  She is completely contemptuous of neighborhoods and community concerns, and based on her track record of ruining good establishments, bullying neighboring businesses, alienating her employees, and stiffing her vendors, supplers and contractors, she should never be granted a liquor license in San Francisco again.  The ABC has placed a “hold” on her application at 1550 California.