Good Taste tells you where to stick your fork in the Bay. This week, an exclusive: Miguel Escobedo is looking for a new home for Al Pastor Papi. Can we help him find one?
Union Square is sure to look really cute and active this weekend as a DJ-powered dance party brings some asses outside for a Sunday shakedown. And weekends like this usually provide a little bump in business to nearby Al Pastor Papi, chef-owner Miguel Escobedo told us. Super Bowl, World Cup, Pokémon World Championships—all awesome for sales.
“Is it better than last year? Yes. But when there’s nothing going on, it’s dead still here,” he says of the Union Square area. “I mean, literally, it’s dead. I took on the space as a challenge and not necessarily the ideal situation for longevity of a Mexican food spot. Nor did this location really allow me to culturally develop what Al Pastor Papi is about. We’re just kind of like the Mexican spot by Union Square for a lot of tourists.”
After closing his mobile food trailer in January 2025, Escobedo was matched with a space, a former Chipotle at 232 O’Farrell Street, and his business was helped into it by San Francisco’s Vacant to Vibrant program. I was honored to DJ at the opening event, a volunteer event with The City Eats in which 100 breakfast burritos were made and distributed to hungry people on the street in the Union Square area. Escobedo frequently hosts donation drives and other events with The City Eats and with Hijas del Campo; the latter helped get Al Pastor Papi Day declared in San Francisco back in 2021.
The building was recently sold and the new owner wants $25,000 a month for rent, which is almost triple what Escobedo pays, so Al Pastor Papi will close on O’Farrell Street when his lease expires on Dec. 31. He says he was told that there are some new potential tenants willing to pay that rent.
As for Al Pastor Papi, Escobedo would love to see spaces that have a hood and are ready to go without major fixing up. He’s open to locations outside of San Francisco as well as inside the city. The brand’s 42,000-plus Instagram followers—and maybe a few of my readers?—will hopefully be of some help in the scouting. In the meantime, there are two and a half months left to visit the location for a meal or hire Escobedo to cater.
He’s not sure when or where he might return, but he knows he will only do so if it doesn’t compromise the quality of his work.
“I’m looking forward to whatever possibilities and opportunities come along,” he says.
