In less than a week, Tony & Alba’s Pizza and Pasta served meals to 150 kids whose federal food stamps are being cut. Monster Pho in Oakland has served at least 130 to-go bags of soup. Al Pastor Papi, a taqueria in San Francisco’s Union Square, handed out so many free burritos in a day the owner can’t keep up.
Along with the overwhelming demand from parents to feed their children as the government shutdown enters its sixth week, another interesting phenomenon is occurring:
Paying customers are lining up to support the restaurant owners, purchasing extra large orders, donating bags of groceries to give to parents and in some cases, handing over $100 bills to help the cause.
“It breaks my heart to think about these kids going hungry,” said Anna Tran, 45, who drove from Milpitas to San Jose to order extra pizzas from Tony & Alba’s, one of the first Bay Area restaurants to announce a giveaway program. “Our families that are working hard, they shouldn’t have to pay the price of what’s going on with our government right now.”
So many donations in cash and food have flooded into Tony & Alba’s, an Italian restaurant across from upscale Santana Row, that owners Al and Diana Vallorz are starting to share some of their unexpected bounty with other restaurateurs to help them extend their free meals through November. They’ve also discounted meals for parents.
On his Instagram page this week, Al Vallorz posted a challenge for other Italian restaurants, delis and pizzerias — along with the “white tablecloth” restaurants of Santana Row — to offer free meals to children whose parents present their SNAP debit cards. He was inspired, he said, by a taco truck owner challenging his fellow Mexican restaurants to do the same.
“I know it’s a tough time, but people are coming in and really need some help,” he said, videotaping a selfie in the parking lot outside the restaurant that he and his wife purchased in 2010 from her parents, Tony and Alba Salciccia. “Let’s do it. Have a slice day!”
Some 5.5 million Californians — about 13% — rely on the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) called Cal-Fresh in the Golden State. Nationally, 42 million Americans — or about 12% — count on SNAP. That’s about 1 in 8 Americans who rely on the government program that pays an average monthly benefit of $187 per person.
Because of the congressional impasse that led to the shutdown, the benefits were set to stop this week. After a federal judge’s ruling, however, the Trump Administration is being compelled to use an emergency fund to partially fund the program. That means most benefits are expected to be cut in half — to an average of $3 a day per person.
In the Bay Area, where rents are so high that lower income people have little left for groceries, parents are scrambling to make up the difference. In Santa Clara County, roughly 133,000 people — also about 1 in 8 residents — rely on SNAP. In the southern California counties of Tulare and Imperial, about 1 in 4 residents use SNAP.
In Alameda County, where more than 175,000 people, or 15% of the population uses SNAP, Tee Tran of Monster Pho is serving free to-go bags of pho for children. As a refugee with his family from Vietnam in 1989, his parents and two brothers all relied on government assistance to get by in those early years. He was inspired, he said, by Tony & Alba’s social media post to feed the children.
“We’re not a big restaurant, and I’m telling you, honestly, since the beginning of the year, we’ve lost about 30% of business,” Tran, 41, said. “But it makes me feel good to be able to give back to these families and to these kids.”
Numerous customers have brought in bags of groceries that he hands out to SNAP mothers. Sabrina Coleman brought in 5 bags of dry goods on Wednesday. And many more have also offered him cash donations, but he’s turned those down.
Instead, “I always encourage customers, if you really want to help us to continue doing this, either come in and eat and dine with us, or order to go,” Tran said. “When you do that, it helps me keep my doors open.”
Anna Beliel, who stays home with her two autistic children while her husband works as a cashier, brought her 8-year-old daughter, Marcy Smith, on Wednesday. She choked up when she talked about Tran, who handed her the pho.
“He shook my hand. He gave me a hug. It was the best experience I’ve had in all of Oakland, hands down,” Beliel said.
In San Jose, Amber Rivera was equally grateful. The single mother, who recently earned her teaching credential but has been out of work since she was injured in a car accident, said a friend told her about Tony & Alba’s.
“Honestly, I cried because I just thought, how amazing is that, that the community is stepping up in this time of need?” Rivera said.
She’s been going through “every little penny” to cut corners, she said. She explained to her daughter that “it might be just peanut butter and jellies for a while.”
To Al and Diana (pronounced Dee-awna) Vallorz, they are simply living their faith.
“Mother Teresa said ‘you don’t have to do great things, you just need to do little things with great love,’” Al said, paraphrasing the famous Catholic nun from Calcutta. “So I’m doing little things.”
Others have been doing small things that add up. Sysco, the multinational food corporation, donated sacks of flour to Tony & Alba’s. C’est Si Bon, a south San Jose bakery, donated chocolate chip cookies to hand out with the pizza slices and bowls of pasta.
In San Francisco, the demand for burritos was so high that Al Pastor Papi’s announced on social media it would have to impose a 100-burrito-a-day cutoff. Vallorz said he plans to write the owner a check to help.
The word is just getting out at Livermore’s Mornings on First, which is offering free breakfasts to children on SNAP. Although only about 10 families had taken advantage of the offer by Wednesday morning, 13 patrons had added an extra $22 on to their bills to “pay it forward” and help defray the expense of the free meals.
“I have never seen anything like this,” said server Megan Masters. “It’s really nice to be able to do something like this for the town.”
For the owners of Tony & Alba’s and Monster Pho, their mission is bittersweet.
“When you see the kids, it makes you feel good,” Al Vallorz said. “Then when they leave, you’re wondering if they’re gonna get a meal tomorrow.”
