Oakland’s Top Gordita Maker Is Sewing Hundreds of Face Masks to Make Ends Meet | Eater SF

"A tiny Mexican restaurant run by Cecilia Chairez was one of Oakland’s dining scene’s great success stories before the COVID-19 crisis. It was the only spot in the Bay Area specializing in the cuisine of the north-central Mexican state of Zacatecas and had amassed a large, loyal following despite its remote deep East Oakland location thanks to Chairez’s homestyle cooking: slow-cooked stews, enormous handmade tortillas, and especially fat, freshly griddled gorditas widely hailed as the best in the city. Closed during shelter-in-place, Chairez pivoted to sewing reusable, 100-percent cotton face masks with her sister, setting up a workshop in the spare bedroom of her San Leandro home, and has made and sold about 900 masks at $10 apiece ($5 for kids), even filling a large hospital order in Mountain View; customers say the masks are comfortable and the income has helped her pay rent and bills. Mi Zacatecas had been slated to move into a larger new location in March, but hood installation and inspections were delayed by the shutdown; the new spot at 6633 Bancroft Avenue still needs finishing work and won’t open any earlier than three or four weeks from now, though Chairez is hopeful and glad the setback happened before opening so she can start with a clean slate." - Luke Tsai