Venezuelan restaurant Coco Frio is closed after just four months in the Mission District, according to SF Eater, after its owner decided to sell the business and spend a year traveling. The news comes just a week after Mission Local reviewed the restaurant at 2937 Mission Street and found the food worthwhile, but the ambience lacking.
Manny Torres, the chef behind other Mission ventures like Mr. Pollo and Roxy’s Cafe, and the Palace Steakhouse told SF Eater that the recent death of his father and a fire at the Palace Steakhouse affected his decision to pack up. He will reopen the steakhouse in a year, the amount of time he said he would need to make repairs at the burnt-out building at Mission and Cesar Chavez.
The decision may also have to do with poor business at Coco Frio, a fact Torres attributed to an illegal gambling den that opened up next to his restaurant some months back and was just shuttered on Wednesday.
According to SF Eater, Torres is looking to sell Coco Frio for half a million dollars — liquor license, lease, and all — and says a new restaurant could open up there soon.