Rapper Bad Bunny and entourage visit San Rafael Puerto Rican restaurant
Bad Bunny and entourage of 80 dine at San Rafael's Sol Food
Bad Bunny was in the Bay Area for a performance in Oakland on Wednesday. But he and his entourage of about 80 surprised a San Rafael Puerto Rican cuisine spot. There were so many in his party, about half of them had to get takeout at Sol Food.
SAN RAFAEL, Calif. - The phone call to Sol Food, the Puerto Rican restaurant in downtown San Rafael, came late Monday afternoon.
"They're like, ‘Oh we have 80 hungry Puerto Ricans. Are you guys able to accommodate us?’ " said Elmer Montes, a shift manager at Sol Food.
Restaurant staff quickly set up the dining room.
A half-hour later, "they show up in black SUVs, they're parking and everything," Montes said. "Once they get in there they see Bad Bunny walk in, it goes crazy, security gets in there, they don't let anybody in."
Bad Bunny, the Puerto Rican rapper and singer, along with his entourage of 80 staffers, crew and back up dancers, were in the house.
"Bad Bunny's walking around like he owns the place," Montes said with a laugh.
The singer ordered mofongo, mashed plantains with olive oil and sautéed shrimp.
"Bad Bunny was actually serving some plates for them, he was helping the kitchen out. He was in the kitchen talking to the staff," Montes said.
The restaurant posted a photo on social media showing Bad Bunny with a couple of dishwashers.
That Bad Bunny chose Sol Food for his Puerto Rican fix certainly made for some good, well, PR.
Bad Bunny performed at the Coliseum in Oakland on Wednesday night.
"He makes really good music. Yeah, we love him," Montes said.
The feeling seems mutual.
"Bad Bunny's one of the most famous Puerto Ricans around, so that he's here and he comes to Marin and he comes to our Puerto Rican place, that just shows that we're well known," Montes said.
Customers agreed.
"I think it's really exciting to support you know local Puerto Rican cuisine, and it's really authentic, and think it's so cool that Bad Bunny and someone from Puerto Rico thought it was good enough to come here," said Christie Chenette, a San Rafael native.
Tim Dale of Corte Madera said, "Well, it's a very good restaurant and it's ethnically correct, so I could imagine how (Bad Bunny) would want to come here and bring his entourage." Dale added with a laugh, "I hope he treated."
The manager, Francisco Gomez said he bought tickets months ago to Bad Bunny's Oakland concert, never realizing that the singer would end up at his restaurant.