If you’ve ever eaten at El Farolito, you know that they have good food. They have two locations, one on 24th and Mission Streets and one in the Excelsior. They serve burritos, tacos, sandwiches, seafood and anything from a taqueria that you could want. The 24th Street location also has a bar. It’s better than the one located on Mission and Russia because their burritos are bigger and they taste better.
If you are a true El Farolito aficionado, you know they also have a soccer team. El Farolito’s soccer team has been around since the 1980’s. But this year El Farrolito had an almost winning run in the U.S Open Cup, making it to 3rd place for the first time in almost 30 years after beating two professional opposing teams. Sadly, their run was ended by the Oakland Roots soccer team.
El Farolito’s soccer club plays in the National Premier League. “El Faro,” the team’s name when the club was first formed in 1985, quickly became challengers to teams like the Greek Americans. The team was in the top division within five years and in 1991, the club won the San Francisco Soccer Football League championship and made it to the National Amatuer Cup.
Their recent winning streak in the Open Cup is just another time the team made history, by beating a division three major league soccer team. El Farolito beat the Portland Timbers 2-1.
El Farolito acts as a team that accepts overseas players who haven’t had exposure playing for major league teams and don’t have experience in professional leagues. The SF team is a good place for them to get noticed since they don’t have money to get onto professional teams.
The winner of the U.S Open gets $300,000. Money is a motivator for players. Player Gabriel Arias talked about being back at work on a normal Wednesday in his Cupertino cubicle working as an electrical engineer when just12 hours before he was celebrating the biggest achievement of his life after El Farolitos 2-1 win against the Central Valley Fuego FC. Such is the life of Arias and the other 30 players on the team. The El Farolito team is built of part time players, construction workers, Uber eats drivers, engineers, and college students who dream of being pro soccer players.
El Farilito’s 2-1 win against the Portland Timbers, a team composed of full time professional soccer players who have played in the MLS, makes this achievement even more sensational. For a soccer player like me, their win makes me like El Farolito, the restaurant, even more.
