Grand Lake Kitchen lends helping hand to struggling SF Mexican restaurant

OAKLAND, Calif. - The Mier’s little kitchen in their San Francisco apartment is filled with the aroma of spices and masa, as Lili Mier fills pre-orders for tamales. It’s the one thing keeping her family afloat.

Hard times caused the owners of the popular authentic Mexican take-out spot in San Francisco, La Canasta, to close after more than 35 years of business. 

Months later, and just in time for the holidays, the overwhelming support from the community may allow them to reopen.

La Canasta, previously located in the Union Street District of San Francisco closed back in April after the owners, Alberto and Lili Mier, lost their home in a foreclosure, their restaurant and only source of income, and learned the patriarch of their family was battling cancer.

"Right now, I’m making the chicken tamales with green sauce," she explained.

The orders are coming from neighbors and friends, as well as customers at Grand Lake Kitchen in Oakland. 

May Seto, Grand Lake Kitchen’s owner, began hosting a pop-up tamale sale just before Thanksgiving when Mier’s nephew Antonio, a regular at her restaurant and family friend, told her about their situation. 

Grand Lake Kitchen’s website has a tab dedicated to the sale, where the Mier’s take pre-sale orders and deliver them to the restaurant each week. 

"We have the location where people can come pick up, and we have the infrastructure to be able to help," said Seto. "All of the proceeds are going to them, 100%."

Alberto and Lili Mier lost their home in Hercules in 2022 when the house was foreclosed. 

Meanwhile, they learned Alberto was fighting stage IV metastatic prostate cancer. 

In April, they closed their beloved restaurant, La Canasta, located on Buchanan Street. 

The Miers said their landlord, Rudy Colombini, forced out the elderly couple due to their age. 

The location has since been replaced by another restaurant, Mama’s Luncheonette.

Colombini said the couple was behind on their payments and owed about one year’s worth of rent. 

"The Miers are nice people who were my tenants for 30 years. We became good acquaintances during that time. I did everything I could and knew Mr. Mier wasn’t doing well, but he was late for about a year’s worth of rent. I wouldn’t advance their cost," he said.

Colombini also said he lowered their rent during COVID by 25%, but ultimately decided he could no longer do business with them.

However, support came from every other side. 

A GoFundMe created for them earlier this year raised nearly three times their goal of $35,000. 

Pre-sale orders are keeping Lili busy. 

"She’s a storm, making everything with her eyes closed," said her husband, Alberto.

"This is offering them a little bit of income and morale for them right now," said Seto, whose pop-up pre-sale may help them reopen.

"It was hard in the beginning, but then we started talking about where to move," said Alberto. 

The Miers are looking for a new space to reopen their business. 

They said the pop-up is helping them earn between $600-700 each week, but they need to earn closer to $2,000. 

Seto said she’ll continue to host the pop-up as long as the family needs it.

To order tamales from the Miers, La Canasta-style, you can visit grandlakekitchen.com. 

Customers must order by Sunday evening each week. 

Deliveries happen the following Wednesday at the restaurant’s Dimond location on Macarthur Blvd.