Vallejo community turns out to help taqueria survive in declining shopping center

VALLEJO — A handful of classic cars, a DJ and a drummer showed up at Los Amigos Taqueria in the rain last Saturday afternoon, the first of a series of community efforts planned to draw business to the restaurant struggling to get by in the northern corner of Vallejo’s nearly-abandoned Meadows Plaza.

“We’re the last food vendor here,” said second-generation restaurant owner Martha Ramirez. “Year by year, all these businesses are just leaving the plaza, and now we're the last one standing.”

Joanne Gutierrez, owner of the neighboring Sushi Obsession restaurant, closed her family’s brick and mortar operations in November and switched to catering and popup events.

Gutierrez, Free Music Collective member Justin Calonia and Pete Duenas of the Chelu Car Club collaborated on the “Save Los Amigos Taqueria,” event as a way to help Ramirez. “Live events really generate and activate the community,” Calonia said. “You have to get behind a great business. They've been here for 22 years and we don't want that to go away.”

Calonia was undaunted by the rain. “This is not our first and last,” he said. “Look out for future events. We’re going to do game days, like Niners playoffs, the Warriors, we’re going to show them here.”

“We’re partnering with local car clubs to do this, like three Fridays out of the month,” Calonia said. “So whoever’s interested in joining us, you know, taking part of the community, come on down.”

The plaza’s businesses have been dropping off ever since Walmart, the plaza’s cornerstone business, closed in 2007. The next big business to close was the Food 4 Less, which cited the plaza’s high vacancy rate and dwindling foot traffic as the primary reason not to renew its lease in 2016.

Things looked hopeful when the V-Town Farms cannabis dispensary opened in the former Food 4 Less space in 2021, but their initial annual income projections were revised way down from $60 million to $9 million in 2022.

Visibility is poor from the busy stretch of Sonoma Boulevard, where drivers fly past at highway speeds.  The single plaza entrance is closer to the vacant and heavily tagged old Walmart building than to the restaurant. Barricaded sections of the parking lot make navigation feel like an obstacle course. 

“Unfortunately, due to the visibility of our location, it's hard. I only have 21 customers per day, and that can't really maintain a business anymore,” Ramirez said.

Ramirez said her father became ill before the pandemic. “I left my corporate job to come in and kind of help him out so he can go ahead and take care of his health,” she said. “And the whole economical thing that everything that's happening wasn't helping.”

Ramirez brought back old family recipes and cooks who were with the restaurant at the beginning to help the business recover. She said Los Amigos is best known for their carnitas. “We love our food, we love what we do, and that's why you should come,” she said.

Revitalization of the area is on the horizon. A new housing development of 16 buildings and 429 units is slated to replace the old Walmart building at the southern side of the plaza

Vallejo Planning Commissioner Donald Douglass said in an email that the commission recommended that Vallejo City Council approve the development in December, and he knows of no reason that the project cannot move forward.

Developer Jackson Square Properties did not respond to the Vallejo Sun’s question about a timeline for the project’s completion.

“We've been super excited for the new developments,” Ramirez said. “But as you guys know, the developments have been taking many, many years since the Walmart left us.”

Follow Free Free Music Collective @fmcvallejo and Taqueria Los Amigos @taqueria_losamigos_ on Instagram to learn about future events.