El Paraiso on the corner of 25th and Treat
Those that have spent any real time around the Mission know how a fresh mural can transform a blank wall or even an entire business. That is precisely the idea behind the bright new mural you may have noticed local artist Benedicto Brigada (“Beni”) painting on the corner of 25th and Treat caddy-corner from Garfield Park in late March.
The new Café El Paraiso is the dream-come-true of mother- daughter team Blanca and Gloria. Blanca first arrived in the U.S. over 30 years ago, though she jokes she just arrived last year to explain her lack of confidence speaking English. Prior to opening Café El Paraiso the women had worked for over ten years in positions like hotel housekeeping and supervising at McDonalds. Needless to say, leaving their former jobs to work for themselves at the café has been, in the words of Gloria, “like a love story.”
But, developing the café has required more than just love. Despite its location on the corner of busy Garfield Park and a diligent renovation to enliven the interior space, the location was haunted by echoes of its past. Neighbors may remember that two generations ago, prior to its former life as a taqueria, the property was a seedy bar associated with drugs and prostitution. According to Blanca, even after their grand opening, “older women would still walk past the corner staring at their feet” unaware of the fresh smoothies, papusas, and espresso within. When Beni came knocking, as he often does at local businesses, to propose a fresh new mural for the Treat Ave. wall Blanca and Gloria jumped at the opportunity to transform their café’s image.
Inspired by the scene of a rural outdoor restaurant common in their home of Chalatenango, El Salvador, Beni went to work painting the mural as he has at 200 different locations around the area. Gloria points out how they made sure to include traditional Salvadorean and American food in the mural’s details to reflect the overlapping cultures that contribute to the identity of the neighborhood, the restaurant, and themselves.
How appropriate in this everchanging neighborhood so rich in cultural diversity that this hardworking mother-daughter team could uplift the image of a popular public space adjacent to the park with the scent of freshly brewed café latte’s and the painted image
of a table laden with both papusas and bagels.
