New SF taqueria opens in century-old tamale restaurant space
When the century-old Roosevelt Tamale Parlor closed its doors last year, the Mission District mourned the loss of a San Francisco institution. Now, new blood is moving into the historic restaurant space: Tacos del Barrio, as first reported by the San Francisco Standard.
Hector Ordaz told SFGATE that when he and co-owner Norberto Granillo first found the space on Craigslist, they weren’t familiar with the history.
“Right after we signed the lease, we started hearing from the neighborhood,” he said. “People would come in and they were telling us history, like, ‘I used to come here with my mom, with my grandpa.’ So that was when I realized like, oh man, this was an important place for the community.”
Out of respect for their predecessor, they decided to keep the tamale parlor’s neon sign up, which they’ll be getting repaired in the next few weeks. They also freshened up the building with a new paint job, but kept the colors the same.
“We respect the community, we respect the heritage of this place,” said Ordaz. “That’s why we are keeping the design and we are trying to keep it traditional.”
Tacos del Barrio, however, will be a completely different restaurant.
A michelada at Tacos del Barrio in San Francisco.
Courtesy of Tacos del Barrio
Carnitas tacos at Tacos del Barrio on 2817 24th St, San Francisco.
Courtesy of Tacos del Barrio
A michelada, left, and carnitas tacos, right, at Tacos del Barrio (Courtesy of Tacos del Barrio).
“Basically it is just a taqueria, but what we’re trying to do is different from everything you’ll find in the Mission area,” said Ordaz. “We’re from Mexico City, so we wanted to bring the street food scene from Mexico City here to San Francisco.”
This is Ordaz and Granillo’s first restaurant, but Ordaz is a chef who has worked in Bay Area restaurants including Gott’s Roadside in the Ferry Building. Tacos del Barrio’s menu will feature a variety of tacos and quesadillas, including carnitas, cueritos, buche, cabeza, birria, quesabirria, suadero, chorizo and tripa. There will also be ceviche and aguachile, as well as beer, micheladas and margaritas.
Tacos del Barrio’s logo features both a BART train and a Mexico City Metro train, with the Golden Gate Bridge as well as Mexico City monuments in the background.
“That’s what the name Tacos el Barrio means: where we came from and then where we are right now,” said Ordaz.
The restaurant is celebrating its grand opening Friday with a Cinco de Mayo party beginning at 5 p.m. Special deals on food and drinks are planned for the first 75 customers, as well as musical entertainment.
Tacos del Barrio, 2817 24th St., San Francisco. Open Sunday through Thursday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m., Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m.-11 p.m.
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