La Posta Restaurant was evicted from its previous location by the construction of new condos, but Casa Sanchez has opened its doors, inviting La Posta into the restaurant and the family.
The restaurant opened June 15, a month later than originally planned. There will be an official grand opening on a Sunday yet to be announced.
Joey Sanchez, ex-husband of Marta Sanchez, is in charge of the new light fixtures in Casa Sanchez. What used to be florescent lighting is now remodeled with mood-setting, dimming lights.
“It’s totally like night and day,” Joey said, referring to the remodeling. “You’ll be amazed.”
La Posta’s original menu will now be featured, but the famous Casa Sanchez chips and salsa will remain. The sign will read “Casa Sanchez” and “Ayutla,” because the name “La Posta” was registered by another business.
“They have a great kitchen,” said Marta Sanchez, who initiated the merger. “Ayutla has a five-page menu—all the meats, all the fishes, all the soups, all the breakfast—everything.”
Marta Sanchez attended grade school with Martha Banuelos, who ran La Posta for the last 35 years. When Sanchez heard about La Posta closing down, she reached out to Banuelos because her restaurant was also struggling.
“We just kept realizing what a perfect match we were,” Sanchez said. “What we lacked, they had. What they lacked, we had: they’re a family business, we’re a family business; we have homies in our family, they have homies; we have OG’s they have OG’s; we have grandmas, they have grandmas—so we made it happen.”
Casa Sanchez is family owned and family run and has been since it first opened in the ‘70s. Sanchez said she remembered having to go to the restaurant to work after school.
“I’d have to stand on milk cartons and ring up the register, not knowing what I was doing,” Sanchez said. “But it kept me out of trouble, so now we’re glad that we did it. We’re keeping the same tradition with my grandson.”
Sanchez’s mother, Martha Sanchez, and her late husband Robert Sanchez Jr., were the ones who first started the restaurant.
Since the passing of Marta Sanchez, the family has worked to recreate the image of a family business.
“When my mom was here, the restaurant was losing money but we had it open for her anyway, and we didn’t really mind because she was here,” Sanchez said. “The family would always come here instead of visit her home—this is kind of our living room.”
After her mom passed, the family wasn’t sure what to do with the restaurant, so they started bringing in bands to help make money. The music includes traditional salsa, Cuban music and a whole lot of punk rock.
“[Punks] bring in a lot of business,” Sanchez said. “Who would have thought that punk rockers were the best tippers? But they are. Straight up: one beer, $1; 30 beers, $30—you know, in tips. And they’re really nice, and they clean up after themselves, so it works for me cause I’m an ‘O.P.’ [Original Punk].”
“Midget Mike,” who gained notoriety on the “Jackass” films and television series, has a punk rock band that plays there on occasion.
Sanchez said that when Midget Mike was taking a shot of tequila there, he “snorted some salt and squeezed lime in his eyes.”
The people who come in to see the bands have to pay a cover price at the door, which ranges anywhere from $3 to $9 depending on the band, but those who just come to eat won’t have to pay it.
“Everybody that plays here has something about them that’s special, which is again, part of our philosophy in keeping in touch with the Mission and just being very grassroots,” Sanchez said.