San Carlos’ La Corneta

La Corneta is a Mexican restaurant with locations throughout the Bay Area, including San Carlos, San Francisco, and Burlingame. The San Carlos manager, David Campos, explained some of the obstacles he’s dealt with running the business.

Campos has been managing La Corneta for around six years and has prior experience working in the restaurant business, such as his family business in ’94 and working in La Corneta’s San Francisco establishment.

“Employment is one of the struggles I have running the restaurant,” Campos said. “I have to rely on my employees to show up and do the work they are supposed to do.”

Campos also has noticed that several other restaurants around him are understaffed and suffer from not having enough employees to work, a problem exacerbated by the spread of COVID-19 and the resulting necessary quarantines. If one employee does not show up for the job, someone has to cover up for that person’s tasks. Campos typically comes into work for those who took the day off, which puts him in a stressful spot.

“When an employee does not show up, I have to make up for their work,” Campos said, “The only stressful times I have working for La Corneta is when an employee does not show up for work.”

While employment and finding adequate employees is a problem seen in La Corneta, they have some advantages, such as their an inexpensive menu. 

“Having a cheap menu allows me to get fewer customer complaints since it does not take too much work to make a new meal for the customer or give them a refund,” Campos said. “Also, the supplies I get are not expensive and easily accessible so making a couple of extra orders won’t harm my supplies.”

Ultimately, Campos has been able to successfully manage the restaurant with minimal issues.

“I haven’t had many problems when it comes to managing the restaurant financially,” Campos said. “I’ve been taking care of things very well, and there haven’t been many problems besides employment.”