San Francisco, CA
San Francisco community rallies behind legacy restaurant after repeat break-ins
El Faro’s owner Raymunda Ramirez loves working behind the counter at her restaurant. She grins as she prepares burritos and chats with customers. Ramirez is proud of the food she serves and of the legacy of this San Francisco business, in fact, the business is officially registered as a legacy business in the city.
However, the restaurant on 20th and Folsom is dealing with the aftermath of several recent break-ins and Ramirez was considering calling it quits. But after the community stepped in, the owner is reconsidering.
Ramirez said this restaurant has been in the Mission for five decades and she has been working there for 45 years. For twenty of those years, Ramirez has been the owner.
But a big blow came this month when Ramirez said the restaurant was broken into on three separate occasions.
“I feel so sad and angry,” Ramirez said.
In total, Ramirez says the break-ins cost her more than $30,000 and rattled her sense of safety. Initially, she thought she needed to close the restaurant down.
“We are hearing that she might want to close the restaurant, and this is a staple, a legacy here in San Francisco,” said Cutberto Ramirez, a community member in the Mission. He and others in the community rallied as many people as they could for an event.
“We just want to uplift her spirits, help raise some funds, and hope she doesn’t close it,” Cutberto Ramirez said.
The community stepped in on Saturday, organizing a pop-up event with music, raffles and local vendors outside the restaurant. Neighbors and patrons were all encouraged to come out and support El Faro.
“This is one of the first places my husband brought me when we were dating, so it’s memories,” said Lani Montes.
Montes and her family drove two hours from Roseville to attend this event.
“We heard on the news [it’s] going to be closing down, and my son decided, ‘Let’s take a trip in the city,’” Montes said.
The outpouring of support from the community has left Ramirez with a change of heart. She said Saturday that she does not plan to close the restaurant after all.
Ramirez said that seeing all of the people who showed up to support her Saturday made her “very, very happy because I [didn’t] expect it’s going to happen like that.”
Ramirez plans to continue selling food and recovering lost costs. She and her family have started a GoFundMe page to raise money for this effort as well.
What’s New
Hilton hotel workers in San Francisco voted on Christmas Eve to approve a new union contract after a 93-day strike, according to the Unite Here Local 2 union.
The union, which represents about 15,000 workers in the region, announced that the deal settles the last of the city’s 2024 hotel strikes, covering approximately 900 Hilton workers.
Newsweek has contacted Unite Here Local 2 and Hilton via email for comment.
Justin Sullivan/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Why It Matters
The new contracts after this year’s strikes establish significant improvements in wages, health care and workload protections for workers at Hilton, Hyatt and Marriott-operated hotels.
The agreements conclude months of labor unrest that involved thousands of workers and disrupted San Francisco’s hotel industry.
What To Know
Hilton workers voted 99.4 percent in favor of the agreement on Christmas Eve, which includes a $3 per hour immediate wage increase, additional raises, and protections against understaffing and increased workloads.
The four-year contract preserves affordable union health insurance and provides pension increases. The deal covers workers at Hilton San Francisco Union Square and Parc 55, with 650 workers having actively participated in the strike.
This agreement follows similar contracts reached with Hyatt workers on Friday and Marriott workers last Thursday, covering a total of 2,500 workers who had been on strike since late September.
What People Are Saying
Bill Fung, a housekeeping attendant at Hilton San Francisco Union Square for 29 years, said: “These 93 days have not been easy, and I’m so proud that my coworkers and I never gave up. We stood together through the rain and cold, and even though there were some hard days, it was all worth it. We will go back to work with our health care, good raises, and the confidence of knowing that when we fight, we win.”
Lizzy Tapia, President of Unite Here Local 2, said: “Hilton, Hyatt, and Marriott workers refused to give up their health care or go backwards – and we proved on the picket line that we’re not afraid of a tough fight. As contract talks begin with the city’s other full-service hotels in the new year, they should know that this is the new standard they must accept for their own employees.”
San Francisco Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie said on X: “All those that have been out on strike will be back to work, and just in time for Christmas. So, things are looking bright as we head into 2025.
What Happens Next
Unite Here Local 2 said it would push for other full-service hotels in San Francisco to adopt the same standards established by the Hilton, Hyatt, and Marriott agreements when contract negotiations resume in 2025.
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