Mission District taqueria El Faro faces steep rent hike, future at risk

A rent jump from $3,250 to $7,500 a month has put El Faro, the Mission District taqueria at 2399 Folsom St., in immediate danger of losing the space that helped define one of San Francisco’s best-known street-food traditions. The restaurant is now listed for $225,000 on Facebook Marketplace, and owners Raymunda Ramirez and Patrick Kocourek have said they want a buyer who will keep the business open.

El Faro’s future carries weight well beyond one dining room. Founded in 1961 by Febronio Ontiveros, the restaurant is widely identified as the home of the Mission-style Super Burrito, a dish that helped turn the corridor around 20th and Folsom streets into a destination for generations of customers. The current owners bought the original location in 2007, after Ramirez had already worked there for decades, starting in 1979. Laura Kocourek said the family is trying to avoid bankruptcy and preserve the restaurant’s legacy.

The city has recognized that legacy, but recognition has limits. El Faro was added to San Francisco’s Legacy Business Registry in 2024, joining a roster that reached 416 businesses as of July 2024. The program gives longstanding businesses publicity, technical assistance and grants, but it does not guarantee affordable rent. San Francisco also moved to strengthen its rent-stabilization grant program, with changes set to require landlords to share at least 50% of the grant with tenants. Even so, the tools stop short of blocking a steep rent hike or forcing a landlord to renew a lease on terms a neighborhood institution can afford.

That gap is why El Faro’s case has become a test of whether the city can do more than celebrate the businesses that give the Mission its identity. The restaurant has already been battered by crime: in 2024, it suffered three break-ins that caused about $25,000 in losses. Roughly $20,000 was recovered through GoFundMe, but the family still spent about $5,000 replacing windows and installing iron bars. For a small restaurant already facing higher rent, those extra costs can quickly turn into a closing notice.

The broader Mission context makes the stakes harder to ignore. City planning documents have described the neighborhood as facing Latino population loss, homelessness and pressure to maintain economic vitality. If El Faro disappears, it would signal that even one of the Mission’s most recognizable staples can be priced out of the corridor it helped build, a warning for every legacy business still hoping history alone can keep the doors open.