Estrada's Restaurant Closes After 102 Years of Serving Daly City

One of the Bay Area's oldest restaurants is saying goodbye after 102 years of operation. Estrada's Restaurant held a public closing celebration on Sunday.

The legacy of the restaurant, which has changed owners several times over the years, is partly tied to a menu that features Mexican and Caribbean cuisine.

"I have all the original menus from day one, but you're not going to get it for that price today!" said current co-owner Bernadette Aggen. Menu items like the sizzling salads originally sold for $1.25, but that price has changed over time.

"The sizzling, the smell, the flavor. It's a lot of food. Everything you want in a meal," enthused Marty Cobb, who worked at the restaurant 40 years ago as a waitress.

Cobb, who was with husband Rick celebrating their 17th wedding anniversary, is evidence that the restaurant is also about making memories.

"She's been telling me stories about this place for 20 years," said Rick Cobb, "and then we said, 'Let's just go,' and we looked it up and she said, 'Oh my god, it's closing!'"

It's partly a sense of responsibility for all of this history that kept exhausted owners Aggen and Julio Mercedes going for the past 12 years. Several years ago the restaurant was featured on Food Network's "Restaurant Impossible" show, and the remodel from that appearance helped bring them out of debt.

"You know, we made a promise to go to 100 years, and we work hard because we love it, but we also do it because we're crazy, and it's time now," Aggen said. "You have to stop and smell the roses!"

Aggen said the space will start a new chapter as a friend's Mediterranean restaurant this spring.