07/09/2002 Entry: "Restaurant Politics."

In the Boyfriend's neighborhood, activists complain over the expansion of a local restaurant. I'm not fond of the fact that restaurant owners from the Marina open "sister restaurants" in the Mission, but at the same time I don't mind their restaurant in particular. I don't think that more expensive restaurants replacing taquerias is particularly friendly towards the working class, if that's part of the neighborhood appeal they're trying to save. (We joke that Andalu has heavy curtains blocking all the windows so you can pretend you're in the Marina instead of the Mission.) At the same time, if the working class has been pushed out already, maybe they're doing a fine job of serving the new local community.

Do I have a point? Probably not. I'm glad the Slanted Door is expanding. While I generally side with the slow-growthers, there's got to be a balance between gentrification and stagnation.