Jan 14, 2025
In Part 2, we pick up where we
left off in Part 1. The siblings use which school they were going
to estimate the date of the family's move to Valencia Street to
live above Puerto Alegre. Just one example: When Amparo was set to
attend Mission High, they moved the school to Poly out near Kezar
Stadium while Mission was retrofitted.
Then we turn to noteworthy
things that have happened at Puerto Alegre in the 50-plus years
that it's been open. Amparo shares how their dad, Ildefonso
Vigil, brought pinball machines and a pool table into the
restaurant. At one point, because Willy, Lorenzo, and one of their
cousins got into fish, a 55-gallon tank went up in the front
window. Their dad was also known to rescue dying plants he found
around the neighborhood.
Amparo got married when she was
16 and had a kid the next year. By 19, she had divorced and moved
back in with her family. She got a day job at an insurance company,
which gave her access to a typewriter. With that, she was able to
create the first typed menu for the restaurant. Prior to that, the
menu had been written by hand.
The brothers being boys and
all, they started to get into cars. They built cars and did some
(probably illegal) racing. Other siblings would go watch, but at
least one always stayed behind to help out at the
restaurant.
Over the years, the menu
evolved. The neighborhood was changing. The clientele in the
restaurant needed to pivot. Their parents introduced fried chicken
and milkshakes at one point, a carryover from the Mexico Lindo
days.
Their mom, Maria Refugio Vigil,
also made fresh flour tortillas. Willy and Lorenzo were big, big
fans of those. They'd grab them as soon as they were ready,
slap some refried beans on them, roll 'em up, and eat
away.
At this point, Amparo tells the
story of El Faro taqueria. Going back to the Mexico Lindo days, El
Faro was just down the block. Kitty-corner to that was a place
called Johnny's. The owner of El Faro would ask the siblings,
"What'd ya get over there?" Johnny's eventually made poboy
sandwiches, and the Vigils ate those up, literally. Those poboys
inspired the owner of El Faro to create burritos. This story is,
quite possibly, the burrito origin story.
Getting back to the topic of
other immigrants from Ayutla in San Francisco, Amparo tells us
about a club in the Mission where folks from that small town in
Mexico would get together. The wife of the owner of La Rondalla
(RIP) was from Ayutla. The owners of Don Ramon's and Taqueria La
Cumbre were from there, as well.
Back to Puerto over the years,
Amparo talks about how their dad always wanted a liquor license.
He'd served beer and wine since they opened, but he wanted to
expand. The owner of Vic's next-door (where Blondie's is today) was
retiring and selling his license, and Ildefonso bought it. That
changed everything.
Willy tells us about the
learning curve to running a bar. This was around 1982 or so. Their
liquor sales rep helped teach them how to set up a bar. Most
importantly—he taught them how to make margaritas. Willy says he
brought friends in to help "test" his new concoctions. It didn't
take him long to get it down ... with ample feedback, of
course.
One casualty of the liquor
license, unfortunately, was the fishtank. Next was the pool table.
A familiar site around The City today, but rarer back then, they
started to experience folks lining up for a table or a seat at the
bar.
We spend some time talking
about a specific host from Puerto's past—Tirso, who has been
beloved by me and my friends for decades now. We all talk about how
much we love Debbie Horn (former server at Puerto, current co-owner
of Royal Cuckoo Organ
Lounge).
Amparo tells us about the art
on the walls inside Puerto Alegre. It's not just for decoration.
Rather, the restaurant serves as a community art gallery. What
began as mostly neon beer company signs adorning the space turned
into regular art shows and events that add to the magic that is
Puerto Alegre.
Over the years, Amparo started
collecting posters and art of various aspects of Mexican history.
Figures like Zapata and Pancho Villa went up as framed posters.
That turned into Carnaval-related art. A friend who was a regular
patron of the place and a photographer himself helped with that.
This was roughly 20 years ago.
When Carnaval season was over
that first year, they wanted a new show. Another regular customer
and artist, Bird Levy, suggested a show to honor Frida Kahlo on her
birthday in July. That has become an annual show every
July.
The Vigils connected with
Mission artist Calixto
Robles to do a show at Puerto Alegre. They've done shows
with Calixto's wife, Alejandra, as well. They've done art shows on
women during March (Women's History Month). There've been shows on
resistance, climate, and Day of the Dead. And just as a true
gallery would, they throw art-opening parties.
Willy shares what the
restaurant has meant to him and his life. He met his wife there.
She worked for a time at Puerto Alegre. They have three kids
together. Lorenzo and Pattye follow their brother, talking about
the role that the restaurant fulfills in their lives.
Pattye shares the story of how
their dad, after Puerto was established, bought a second building
in the Mission—Puerto Alegre II on 25th Street. Idelfonso moved
over to run that place while Maria and all the siblings stayed at
the Valencia Street location.
Amparo again stresses the
importance of work, and how from a young age, their parents
instilled strong work ethics in them all. Of all his siblings and
cousins, Ildefonso was the only one to stay in the restaurant
business all the way to the end.