Chile Lindo, Empanada Joint On 16th Street, Burglarized

San Francisco CA

21 May, 2021

4:35 PM

Description

By Julian Mark, Mission Local May 20, 2021 Chile Lindo, an empanada restaurant on 16th and Capp streets, was burglarized on Monday night, according to owner Paula Tejeda. Early Tuesday morning, an employee called her to the store, where she discovered her windows had been shattered and locks broken. The cash register, which she estimated carried around $500, was missing. Tejeda wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday that she was at her "wits end" and was considering shuttering the restaurant. But speaking to Mission Local on Thursday, she said "I'm over the worst part" and does not plan on closing. When she learned of the burglary, she said, "I was very shocked and exhausted." Tejeda, who has long sold empanadas and coffee out of the window in the 105-year-old former union hub dubbed the "Redstone Building," said the burglary was an unwelcome ordeal — especially after having to fight to stay afloat through the pandemic. But she was reassured as community members supported her with calls and notes. A community member started a GoFundMe on Tuesday. It is at $3,200 of its $10,000 goal. "It's very uplifting," she said. "You have to keep going," she added. "You have no choice." Mission Local covers San Francisco from the vantage point of the Mission, a neighborhood with all of the promise and problems of a major city. You can support Mission Local here.