On the @tenderloin_eats Instagram, a fork punctures the bright yellow yolk of the egg perched on top of Son and Garden’s loco moco.
Steam wafts from a bowl of shrimp and rice noodles at Larkin Restaurant in Little Saigon. Chicken wings doused in sauce, melty cheese pulls, and frosty drinks make frequent appearances, as do hungry diners, who slurp ice-cold cocktails and chew on hot curries, fried pupusas, and powdered sugar-laden croissants.
Hungry yet? That’s the point.
With 31,500 followers, the purpose of @tenderloin_eats is to get people hyped up about dining out in the Tenderloin. The account is the invention of Rene Colorado, 39, the executive director of the Tenderloin Merchants Association.
“It ruins my week when I have a bad meal,” Colorado said, sipping on a pineapple soda, and wearing a sweatshirt with the word “TENDERLOIN” emblazoned across the chest.
The sweatshirt was from Titled Brim, a local designer that specializes in Tenderloin-branded merch and that also happened to be right across the street from where Colorado was sitting — Catrachita Yucateca on Larkin Street.
The small businesses of the Tenderloin have marked the highs and lows of Colorado’s life. There’s the corner deli where the owner used to give him a free sandwich when he was too tight on cash to buy a meal.
A few doors down is Lers Ros, where Colorado once worked, starting as a host and eventually managing the opening of sister restaurant Esan Classic. Just south is a burger place, Embers Grill, that makes frequent appearances on @tenderloin_eats; Colorado managed its construction before it opened.
Both sides of the street are lined with tall Italian cypress trees in three-foot planter boxes, a gift from Colorado to the neighborhood that he cares for.
A few years ago, he was recently released from prison and sleeping on the streets. Today, he dines out for every meal, and posts most of them on Instagram.
The Tenderloin has some of the best food in San Francisco, Colorado insists. Restaurants can’t afford gimmicks or elaborate decorations, and can’t rely on a regular flow of pedestrian traffic to their doorsteps. Instead, they rely on repeat customers and word-of-mouth recommendations. @tenderloin_eats is part of that ecosystem.
On the Wednesday when we met, Colorado was already planning for the weekend: A multi-stop food tour with a crew of 12 friends, creating content along the way.
He plotted the strategy for approaching the menu at Kinara, a Pakistani/Indian restaurant at 607 Geary Blvd., near the north end of the neighborhood. Should they try everything on the menu? Or aim for about three-quarters of it?
The videos make a real difference. Restaurant owners report that after a feature on the account, they see crowds of new customers.
The @tenderloin_eats crew doesn’t tell a restaurant that they’re coming in advance, and they don’t accept free food. Colorado makes only an occasional appearance in front of the camera. He prefers to keep the focus on the luscious dribbles of sauce.
That said, people in the neighborhood know who Colorado is.”You would notice him, the confidence in him when he walks around,” said Cristina Wu Feng, the owner of Tenderloin Chinese-Venezuelan restaurant Cantoo and a friend of Colorado’s.
Colorado agrees. “I’m my biggest fan. I believe in myself,” he said.
The reviews on @tenderloin_eats are never negative; that would go against the spirit of the account. If the food is bad, Colorado just won’t post about eating there. He’ll come back, too, and give the spot a second chance to impress him.
Sometimes Colorado gets into a routine of going to a restaurant two or three times a week — like he did recently with Son and Garden — and that spot will become a series regular.
Wu Feng estimates that Colorado has been to Cantoo at least 30 times since it opened almost three years ago. The restaurant has been featured in at least 10 posts on @tenderloin_eats.
“Every single time, it gives me goosebumps,” Wu Feng said.
At the Tenderloin Merchants Association, Colorado’s work is more prosaic. He helps fledgling business owners navigate the city’s notoriously arduous permitting process, hire vendors, and coordinate with contractors.
Sorting through logistical headaches requires the same obsessive attention and focus as video editing, he says. He subsidizes his restaurant excursions, in part, with the proceeds of a sideline as a day trader.
Colorado started video editing before TikTok and Instagram reels existed, at a time when restaurants would hire videographers or marketing firms for social media promotions. Lers Ros was his first client, while he was working as a host there and just getting into permanent housing.
Perhaps one of the reasons Colorado dedicates a huge portion of his waking hours to supporting the restaurants of the Tenderloin is that he knows what it’s like to have far too little to eat.
“One of the things I think about all the time is, how many people have actually experienced hunger pains?” he said, suddenly tearing up. He paused to catch his breath and took another sip of pineapple soda. “These memories are so vivid. Just being so hungry that you go to the ER.”
During those rough years, Colorado said, he would save change until he had enough money to buy a joint and a burrito on Polk Street. A $10 meal was the ultimate indulgence.
As Colorado walked out of Catrachita Yucateca and down Larkin Street, past the cypress trees, a pair of Colorado’s friends from the street stopped him. They stood there for a while, exchanging jokes. Colorado told them he’d bring pizza out this weekend. They’d know where to find him.
He loves being able to give food out, he said. “That makes me feel like fucking Bill Gates.”
There’s so much potential amidst the despair in the Tenderloin. As a nearly 20-year resident living here on Larkin Street, I can see it. And, the neighborhood’s juxtaposition with Union Square, the city’s priciest neighborhood, makes it all the more reason why city officials should zero in on Tenderloin’s long overdue and neglected revitalization. Sure, it’s a troubled neighborhood but there can be solutions if you try. From, obviously, the food to the historic architecture in the Tenderloin, I see it as a “diamond in the rough” neighborhood. Thank God for Rene Colorado’s Tenderloin Eats role in the ecosystem of awareness and change for a neighborhood that always gets a bad rap when in reality it is one of the most diverse neighborhoods in the city—if not THE most diverse local community.
We need more street cleaning, more humane approaches to clearing homelessness from the streets, and more police officers walking the beat—day and night —to curtail crime, drug trafficking, and graffiti vandalism.
Meanwhile, let’s all lend our support to the small businesses and food establishments in the Tenderloin by following Tenderloin Eats’ lead to “eat our way through the Loin!”
I know Rene and the man is LEGIT.
THE TL’s lucky to have him.