Good Taste helps you eat well in the Bay Area. This week, we share details on Al Pastor Papi’s last week as a trailer and a vision for the future.
After six and a half years in business, the Al Pastor Papi taco trailer is ceasing operations, owner Miguel Escobedo announced on Instagram on Sunday.
“I will take this time to rest, take care of my mental and physical health, be with the kids, and create time and space to plan the next move, so please stay tuned,” he wrote.
Escobedo is a close friend, and I feel honored that I got to document this business from day one, which was on July 18, 2018 at SPARK Social in San Francisco. Before day one, actually, as I accompanied Escobedo to Modesto earlier that summer to witness the birth of the trailer from a design on a computer screen to an actual trailer, and cheered him on as he went to Mexico City to learn all the aspects of making perfect al pastor from classroom teachers and from acclaimed taco trucks on the street.
At the time, he envisioned that this project would run for about five years. Al Pastor Papi stayed open all through the early pandemic until now. Like other mobile businesses, it was an asset to serve food to-go. Business has slowed down as people became more comfortable with restaurants again, and with the perception that the trailer was always thriving. That was helped in part by Escobedo’s social media savvy; his Instagram account has more than 36,000 followers.
As he did in his previous business, SF’s Papalote Mexican Grill, Escobedo has taken every occasion to give back to the community in the Bay Area and beyond and to raise money and supplies for nonprofits doing incredible work. One of his favorite organizations that he has supported often is Hijas del Campo, a Contra Costa County-based org that helps migrant and seasonal farmworkers and their families. This commitment to charitable work was recognized with a proclamation of Al Pastor Papi Day in San Francisco on July 13, 2021.
The Al Pastor Papi trailer will serve from 11am until sell-out in front of Paul’s Flowers (1150 El Camino Real, Colma) on Wed/8 and Thu/9, move to SPARK Social (601 Mission Bay, San Francisco) on Fri/10, and will go back to Paul’s Flowers for the final service on Sat/11.
Escobedo isn’t giving up on the brand. He announced in the Instagram post that Al Pastor Papi will return in another form at another time, and a little birdie told me that the brand is exploring possible future opportunities in Oakland and Union City.
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In the meantime, Escobedo advised in a P.S. that consumers should stand behind the businesses that they want to see survive. Don’t take them for granted even when they appear to be super successful from the outside.
”Times are challenging for all small businesses in SF,” he wrote. Support your local business. Shop local. Support local. I can’t stress this enough.”
Tamara publishes the California Eating website, newsletter, and zine.
