The beloved Barrio Logan restaurant Las Cuatro Milpas is open once again.
Tuesday morning, there was a line of customers that stretched down the block and around the corner — and just kept getting longer and longer and longer, with people waiting for hand-made tortillas and tamales, rolled tacos and more.
“It’s a little home for people to come and enjoy and forget all the trouble out there. It’s grandmother’s cooking, it's grandmother’s food,” said Natividad Estudillo, the great-grandson of the restaurant's founders.
Las Cuatro Milpas was closed for almost six months after the Estudillo family sold the original property where they'd cooked up Mexican classics since 1933.
In February, they signed a lease for a new location at 1985 National Ave.
“The food is good and the food is delicious. I missed it,” Estudillo said.
Berry Thompson, a retired cook, said the secret to the success of Las Cuatro Milpas isn’t ingredients, or a recipe — it's time.
“You take your time with it. Let it simmer. You put your soul into it. You take your time with food, you don't rush it and you don’t try to over cook it. Let it simmer,” Thompson said.
He said he's been eating at Las Cuatro Milpas for a long time. He was one of the many who lined up for the reopening.
Estudillo said the family was moved by the public response.
"My aunt, she is just so grateful and happy. She was ready to break down in tears earlier from seeing just how much love we get from the community," he said. “We’re just grateful for the love the community has shown us.”
