By Sergio Quintana —
NBC News
A restaurant in the Mission District, in San Francisco, California, has attracted attention on the internet after recently raising the price of its most popular burrito, from $11 to $22.
The owner of
La Vaca Birria
assured that the increase is not an attempt to make more money, but rather to stay afloat as inflation hits the United States and raises all prices.
[Inflation rises to 3.2% due to gasoline and income, in a sign of resistance that may complicate Biden's reelection]
When you enter Ricardo López's restaurant, built in an old record store, it smells “like birria or coal,” says the owner, who has been running the establishment for two years.
Her vision is to cook the kind of food that her aunts, uncles and mother used to prepare at home, but in an improved version.
Her only problem is that the price of almost everything she uses to make her food has gone up.
For example, onions.
A burrito from La Vaca Birria restaurant, in San Francisco, California.
NBC Bay Area
“Before COVID-19, it cost like $9 a bag at Restaurant Depot.
During the pandemic, and after, it skyrocketed to $40.
Right now, the price is $80
,” López indicated.
Their star burrito is the most popular and the price of almost all the ingredients that make it up has doubled.
That led López to increase his price.
Latin businesses in the face of inflation
In fact, the most recent Consumer Price Index showed that food, gasoline and housing prices rose last month across the country.
To be fair, López has also made a conscious decision to purchase premium beef to make his birria, which is marinated Mexican beef.
And he has chosen not to buy prepared foods from suppliers.
That is, everything is made from scratch, except for the tortillas, which you purchase at a local store.
All that effort is also reflected in the prices.
“The food made in the towns of Mexico requires a lot of labor,” explains López.
“And the only way to get it here is in the fine dining restaurants, which make everything from scratch.”
Judging by the influx of diners last Tuesday, their decision
not to skimp on ingredients or cut staff seems to be paying off.
“If as consumers we have to pay a little more to support people's dreams and get quality food, that's fine with me,” says Rain Damon Espinas, a customer at the restaurant.
López says he knows that people can choose to go to the burrito shop a few meters down, where they cost $9, which he says are also good.
Meanwhile, for regular customers who have complained about their new prices, Lopez concludes: “It was either this or keep the old prices, not make money and go bankrupt at some point.”