Casa Sanchez Resists Cashing In, Retains Latino Roots
— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |
Al Jazeera America reported on the dreaded gentrification situation (UPDATE: Al Jazeera deleted the previously-embedded video for unknown reasons) at the east end of 24th Street, telling the encouraging story of Casa Sanchez turning down $200k offers from 5-star chefs in favor of keeping location a taqueria and part-time punk venue.
KQED also reported on the situation last week:
When their mother passed away two years ago, Bob and his sister Marta inherited the old Casa Sanchez restaurant on 24th Street, between York and Hampshire streets. The siblings decided they didn’t want to just rent to the highest bidder. Instead, they rented to a local family of Latino restaurateurs who had been displaced from their previous restaurant, also on 24th Street, when the owner redeveloped the building. Marta Sanchez says she and her brother wanted to give them one last shot in the neighborhood. […]
This stretch of 24th Street has had a tumultuous past. It was known in previous decades for gang violence and drug dealing. Marta Sanchez says that in the ‘80s, tortilla companies fought for turf at the street’s taco joints in what came to be called the “tortilla wars.” She says it grew so heated that tortilla delivery men were said to carry guns.
Today, upscale restaurants and cafes have popped up. On weekends, a long line forms at Wise Sons, a Jewish-inspired deli where Mark Zuckerberg has been seen dining — he is reported to have bought a house several blocks west toward Noe Valley. Tour groups now come through to see the murals, and Google employee buses stop near the BART station on their way to the tech campuses on the Peninsula and in the South Bay.
