La Corneta is OPEN!

from the San Mateo County Times - March 27, 2007

La Corneta whets Burlingame's appetite
By Aaron Kinney, STAFF WRITER
Article Last Updated: 03/27/2007 06:28:15 AM PDT


JOEL CAMPOS, OWNER of La Corneta Taqueria, opened his new Burlingame Avenue eatery over the weekend. (Ron Lewis - Staff)BURLINGAME
THE SIGNS were there last week that La Corneta Taqueria would have a strong opening week of business.

As owner Joel Campos sat and talked at a table Thursday, a teenager walked in through the open doors at 1123 Burlingame Ave., his sunglasses resting on the back of his neck.

"Are you guys open yet?" he asked.

"No, I'm so sorry," Campos replied. "Tomorrow."

"All right, I'm coming back tomorrow," the boy said as he turned away. "I'm so excited."

"Tomorrow, buddy," Campos called out.

The lunch-hour line Monday wasn't quite out the door, but it was close, and Campos seemed well on his way to replicating the success of his first two restaurants in San Francisco's Glen Park and Mission neighborhoods.

The recipe for that success, which has made La Corneta one of San Francisco's most popular taquerias and garnered rave reviews on the Internet, appears to consist of equal parts business savvy, customer service and community involvement, with the requisite handful of high-quality food.

For Campos, 47, who grew up in the town of San Juan de los Lagos in the Mexican state of Jalisco, the first step toward this success occurred shortly after he moved to San Francisco in 1990, when he recognized that Glen Park was perhaps the only neighborhood in the city without a taqueria.

After a three-year wait, a spot opened up on Diamond Street, right across from the BART station. Then Campos, never trained as a chef, set out to learn how to make the best burritos and tacosin town.
He applied for jobs at some of the finest taquerias in the Mission, but Campos, who has a business degree from a Mexican university, was told he was overqualified. When he asked an owner of one taqueria to show him the ropes as an apprentice, the owner suggested, in a profanity-laced retort, that Campos consult the Yellow Pages.

"It was humiliating," recalled Campos, who responded by using his savings and some help from his family to hire away employees from some of the most highly regarded taquerias in the Bay Area, offering them higher wages to help him start a restaurant from scratch.

The team set to work in Campos's kitchen, where the new owner drew upon his experience growing up in a large Mexican family, where food was in a constant state of preparation. His mother, aunts and sisters cooked meals for gatherings of 40, 60 or even 80 people and compared notes on their favorite recipes, Campos said.

"We come from a big, big family," said Campos, the eldest of 12 siblings. "I am not trained as a chef, but I can taste the food and I can notice right away if I like it."

La Corneta quickly became a Diamond Street institution, which led Campos to open a second taqueria in the heart of the Mission district in 2000. He also began cultivating close community ties, providing free or discounted meals for schools and charitable causes.

Campos provided a free lunch Thursday for 400 people at San Francisco City Hall, where Supervisor Gerardo Sandoval was co-hosting a reception with Mayor Gavin Newsom for the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. http://www.maldef.org/index.cfm

That day, Campos accompanied San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin on a trip to Davis to discuss a North Beach property that Campos recently purchased and is looking to renovate.

In an e-mail, Sandoval described Campos as a "businessman actively engaged in the Latino community."

"Joel Campos gives back to the community in

Chicken cooks on the grill at La Corneta, the newest addition to downtown Burlingame's restaurant scene. more than one way," Sandoval said. "He supports community organizations either by catering their special events, free of charge, or by sponsoring certain programs."
Campos doesn't give away free quesadillas at his restaurants, but the food is reasonably priced, which is one of La Corneta's attractions, said Burlingame Councilman Russ Cohen, who stopped by the restaurant Sunday.

Cohen said he enjoyed the meal, which he called a "cross between fast food and fine dining." "We don't have a lot of venues (on Burlingame Avenue) where it's good, it's reasonably priced and it's convenient," Cohen said. "And I think that's the market that he's covering."


Staff writer Aaron Kinney can be reached at (650) 348-4302 or by e-mail at [email protected].

- Written by Constance

Comments

We ate at La Corneta last night, as loved it! The food was great, as was the atmosphere, but especially the service staff. It was packed every moment we were there. There was a very nice man (Owner Campos, I think)that was on top of everything and obviously invested in his guests satisfaction.

Great prices, and nicely done remodel.

I agree with Jean. Joel Campos was there Saturday night when we stopped by and it was as though we were stopping by his house. He shook hands and offered free items to many people. My high school son and his friends went in for lunch on Sunday and they loved the place. Especially the reasonably priced food. I think it may be the new "in" place to eat. Sorry "La Cumbre". It's nice to have another "fast food" place alternative on the Avenue.
By the way what is going on with Grandview Restaurant? Are they renovating or closing?

[Eduardo Sandoval]

I have heard exellent comments about the great food and service the restaurant provides to its customers.
Congratulations on your great succes Mr Campos.
If you by any chance take a look at this comment, I would be very get your email adress. I have a few questions to ask you..

[email protected]

[Steve K]

Since they opened a couple weeks ago I've eating there four times and am delighted that they are on Burlingame Ave. The make a delicious carnitas burrito and the prices are good.

But... The food is not hot (temperature wise) enough. By the time the burrito, wrapped in aluminum like most california burritos, gets to the cash register, is paid for and makes it to the table it is only luke warm. I think the rice, beans and meat sitting in the water heated bins aren't hot enough to start out.

Plus the layout of the place is screwed up. I wonder if it was designed that way or whether it has something to do with the construction permit delay.

But it's a good burrito and good addition to Burlingame Avenue and I'd give odds that this restaurant is going to make it -- unless the landlord screws them up.

Do they have a 'Comments' card? Burritos should be hot! Maybe an easy fix.......

[Jbennett]

Yes, I've noticed that too. By the time you place your order, get your food and pay for it it's cold. They need a quicker system.

[Chris]

I have eaten there twice. I think it is an excellent addition to Burlingame, and the food is more reasonably priced than my previous favorite Mexican place (Pancho Villa in San Mateo). They still seem to have a few kinks to work out in the timely delivery of the food, which is why it can be lukewarm by the time you get it. Welcome to Burlingame Mr. Campos.

[Steve K]

Yes, the food sometimes sits for a minute or two before it gets to the cash register and is rung up but I would think if it started out hotter the couple of minutes waiting at the cash register wouldn't make much of a difference in temperature when you got it to your table.

I will comment about this (in a nice way of course) to the owner when I see him next time.

I finally got around to talking to the owner of La Corneta about the comments we've made here at this site. I've probably eaten there about six or seven times since they've opened and the food is consistently lukewarm. I told him that I thought the meat might be hot enough but the rice and beans ought to be much hotter - temperature wise. He immediately walked over to the food and put some rice in a cup and then stuck his finger in it and agreed with me that it should be hotter. Then he went to the kitchen and talked to the cook and had him measure the water temp of the steam trays and I think they now realize they can turn it up a bit. I'm a little amazed that he appeared to be just then realizing this.

I commented how the very cold lettuce and sour cream also cools down the food and he said that it is something he has to do by law because he is afraid the health department would close him down if he doesn't keep it quite cold. That's maybe an over reaction but I suspect that nothing anybody says is going to change his view on that as he is pretty freaked out about Burlingame. - which brings up the next issue, which is the inefficiency or disorganized nature of the line at the cash register.

He knows its a problem but says that he intended a different layout but the city forced him to change it. From his explanation its not clear what really happened, who screwed up - him, his contractor, or the city. We didn't get into it but he did say the city made him to put in a fire exit to a separate hallway leading out to another door on Burlingame avenue. The exit and hallway are on the west side of the room in case you didn't notice. I agreed with him that it seemed pretty useless and that going out the front door would make more sense but code is code and I guess the intent is to provide a second exit in case of fire. (maybe third as there is probably something in the kitchen) But he says the layout flowed a lot better in his previous design.

The question is now how can he make things flow better given what he has to work with - since he is stuck with the layout, maybe he needs to change the process a bit. I suggested that he check out Pancho Villa for an efficient setup and he said he would.

Anyway he is a nice guy and the food is good and prices good and maybe it will be served hotter in the future. We'll see.

[Jbennett]

Yes, I agree the food needs to be hotter. By the time you pay for it and sit down to eat, it's cold.

At Pancho Villa they take your order, you then pay for it, sit down and they bring it to you.
Maybe that system would work better for him.

I agree the layout of the store is wrong.
You do not know if you pay first, and then order, or visa-versa.
Because of customers standing in front of the food case, from one end to another,(reading the menu), it is impossible to know where to go.
Our family went there last week, looked in and decided to go to Ole, just because of the effort it takes to order.