After two years, Boogaloos reopens on Wednesday

We’re growing!

Mission Local is expanding, adding dedicated neighborhood reporters across the city. We’re also launching neighborhood landing pages with the latest news and resources. You can read more about it below.

Check it out!

At 8 a.m. Wednesday, after more than two years of dormancy, one of the Mission’s favorite brunch spots will reopen its doors.

While its interior is a bit cleaner, with freshly painted walls and new flooring, its menu will be the same.

Per a sign posted in its window, it will be serving all of its classic hits, including “Temple of Spuds,” “Big ‘ol Biscuit and Herb-Cream Gravy,” and “Black Beans for Days.”    

“We’ve been here since 1994,” said Boogaloos general manager Peter Hood, when pressed about any changes to the menu. “We’re Boogaloos.”

Boogaloos was very close to not being Boogaloos anymore in March 2016, when a small fire broke out in its second-floor office, causing water damage to the restaurant and forcing it to close. Things did not get easier when the building’s property manager almost quadrupled its rent.

But then, in an unusual change of heart, that property manager, J.J. Panzer, offered the restaurant something more reasonable: $7,500 a month (instead of $14,500).

Sitting at one of the tables, Hood said the restaurant’s closure allowed it to update its infrastructure and give the place a new look. Its tabletops are decorated with Boogaloo LP covers (printed by the Ybarra Brothers), and its walls are covered with art from Creativity Explored, a gallery for artists with developmental disabilities.

Instead of a flimsy-looking mezzanine that wrapped around the second floor, there’s a small indoor garden of self-watering plants. “We’re not completely finished,” Hood said, pointing to some areas that still looked a bit unadorned.   

On Tuesday, as the day was winding down, people stopped along Valencia Street to peek into the restaurant’s windows.

“A part of the Mission is being restored,” said Colette Houghes, who was a regular at Boogaloo’s before it closed.

She said she planned to check it out as soon as possible. “It’s very similar,” she said, looking inside. “We’ll see how it feels.”