Big congrats to Guadalupe Guerrero and her daughters Brenda and Alejandra on getting their brick-and-mortar location of EL PÍPILA open in SoMa! We last got to enjoy their pozole verde and other authentic dishes from Guanajuato when they had a stand in The Hall on Market Street (you may also know their stand at Off the Grid Fort Mason).
Guerrero is a graduate of La Cocina’s business incubator program, and she has such an inspiring story. When she emigrated to the United States in 1998, she worked 12-hour days at a taqueria in Berkeley, seven days a week, in order to save up enough money to bring her two daughters here. She was accepted to La Cocina in 2012, and they have been working on putting together her restaurant for five years.
It’s located right across from Airbnb in a new building (condos), and thanks to Schwartz and Architecture, who offered their services pro bono, plus developer Equity Residential, various contractors, and in-kind donations from Fox Marble, Ceramic Tile Design, Ann Sachs, One Workplace, Delta Millworks, The Culinary Edge, Design is Play, and PritchardPeck Lighting who all helped bring this to fruition.
How incredible to pull this all off—and now we get to enjoy dishes like bigote dorado (a large corn masa pocket filled with carne asada, lettuce, crema, and queso fresco); classics like sopes topped with picadillo, chicken, or nopales made with fresh masa from Oakland’s La Finca Tortillería and crisped on the griddle; and enchiladas mineras: three corn tortillas filled with potato, carrot, and zucchini in a tomato-onion sauce topped with lettuce, crema, and queso fresco. You’ll also find tacos (their carnitas!), salads, chiles rellenos, and more on the menu.
Can’t wait to come in and salute these three hard-working women! Hours for now are Mon-Fri 10am-4pm, with hours extending to daily 11am-7pm in 2019. 879 Brannan St. at 8th St.
Some other openings for your radar:
The chicken and rice (khao mun gai) place opening in the former Sofia Cafe, GAI, is now open. Bring on the poached chicken, chicken fat rice, broth, and sauces! Open daily 11am-9pm. 3463 16th St. at Church. [Via Hoodline.]
I received word that there’s a new Chinese-American sandwich shop that has opened in the former The Chairman location on Larkin called PAPER ROOSTER. SF native and owner Stanley Yee has created a menu with awesome-sounding sandwiches, like Chinese roast chicken in six different sandwiches, with sauces like XO sauce, Chinese chimichurri, plus Vietnamese pickles, Chinese hot mustard (yes!), and more, along with a couple vegetarian sandwiches. There are also housemade chips, from shrimp to salt and pepper to sriracha, and housemade sodas as well, with his own syrups. I’ll be checking this one out stat, stand by for more. Open Mon-Sat 11am-3pm. 670 Larkin St. at Ellis.
The pozole verde from El Pípila. Photo by John Ater.
