— 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.
Comments (21)
This is a non-story. They’re holding out.
My point being that a $500k offer will change a few things. Its just a matter of time.
Well it gives me hope!
yeah, i mean if their food is delicious it’ll speak for itself.
Someone needs to start a band named Tortilla Wars and play a show there.
I don’t get this quixotic fondness for sub-par and also-ran establishments in the Mission.
Some Yelp reviews for Casa Sanchez :
“Went here for an early dinner with my family. It was awkward. We were expecting amazing from the reviews, but it seems things have changed. We would have gone somewhere else, but we were starving and getting grumpy. The chips were store bought and not very good. I don’t think the salsa was Sanchez. The menu had a different name on the front. They said they can only serve alcohol when a person from the Sanchez family is there. We had soft drinks from cans instead of the beer and margaritas we wanted. The food was just ok.”
“great patio. nice people, and good service. carne asada tacos were good- not great, but just a nice simple meal. the guacamole was stunning. and did i mention the fantastic sunny and colorful patio? i’d go back when in the neighborhood again…”
“I felt like I was robbing them by filling up a few small salsa cups. I was expecting them to have large containers of their own stuff. Instead it looks like somebody ran down to the local store and picked some up at the last minute. I always deduct a star for any Taqueria that doesn’t have a salsa bar. “
Fellas and fellinis, this isn’t La Palma ( although I’m miffed that they stopped making those most excellent Nacatamales ).
While I wish nothing but the best luck to operators, good service doesn’t wholly make up for middling edibles.
Although I admit there are some real asshole people serving great food in the Mission.
All neighborhoods need churn to stay vibrant.
We could certainly benefit from fewer taquerias on the 24th.
I would kill for a daytime place that served a Porchetta panini under 8 bucks.
Heck throw me a Veal Parm. Banh mi. Anything.
Obvious troll is obvious.
Thats right.
Sling mud instead of offering a sensible explanation.
Nice.
What mud? Just pointing out that obviously you were not serious. Nobody could be foolish enough to actually believe the garbage you were spouting.
Haha.
You find something disagreeable; so it’s garbage?
The rate at which changes are coming, you will find a lot of garbage to sift through in SF, in the days to come.
the food there is terrible. ive eaten better frozen mexican food without heating it up.
Amazing. Usually when the kids inherit such valuable real estate, they just cash out.
Let’s re-examine this in 5 years.
My ISP is blocking Al Jazeera America content.
https://www.torproject.org/
Seriously?! What the hell kind of crazy ISP is that?!
$200K seems like a laughable offer. The ratty house I live in around the corner sold for $1.8 MM a few years ago, and it’s not much bigger than this place.
I’ve gotta think a restaurant with all of its equipment, licenses, etc would net a much higher price.
Exactly! But good on them to get publicity out of the thing!
You’re not buying the physical building, just the licenses and possibly some of the equipment.
That makes more sense.
the 200K was a signing bonus separate from whatever monthly rent they would have charged. kqed ran the same story but included a little more detail.