El Farolito, a family run restaurant and family run team, are looking to shake up the U.S. Open Cup once again
The most likable team in American soccer doesn't even have a pitch to play on. It doesn't have a regular practice time. It can't afford to host the biggest game in its history.
Well, in reality, it really isn't a soccer . It's more than that.
This is the tale of El Farolito, an amateur soccer side from San Francisco's mission district, affiliated with – and proud representative of – a very successful local Mexican restaurant. The club's monikers – "Tacqueria Team" and "Burrito Boys" – write themselves. But what from the outside seems like either a quick laugh or something designed for the deepest corners of soccer social media is, in actuality, something far more
El Farolito is a family run restaurant. It is also a family run team. They are a power of the West Coast amateur scene. And yes, every game ends with a trip to the restaurant and a good meal.
And as the semi-pro side takes on a professional opponent for the second straight year in U.S. Open Cup, they're fighting for something more. Yes, it's fun. Yes, it's rag-tag. But El Farolito deeply care about their connection to the local community, standing as evidence of the staying power of grassroots soccer. And they're not bad at this sport either.
"We hear a lot of like these nicknames – the Burrito Boys or the Taqueria Team and all that stuff," head coach Santiago Lopez told GOAL. "And the whole team knows about it, but we're just focused. It doesn't matter."
U.S. Soccer'No attention'
For years, El Farolito were something of a local secret. They were the Mexican joint that attracted some good footballers, a burrito place that played soccer on the side. Relative anonymity – at least on a national scale – suited them. But recent successes thrust them into the spotlight.
The U.S. Open Cup is the closest thing the United States has to an amateur-pro tournament. It's not dissimilar to the FA Cup in England, or Copa del Rey in Spain. As you might expect, most sides that enter from the semi-professtional ranks are fairly easily brushed aside by a pro franchises.
But El Farolito, for two straight years, have sprung an upset. Currently members of the NPSL – essentially the fourth tier of American soccer – they have had a knack for beating those higher up in the pyramid. The first big win came in the first round in 2024, when they beat Portland Timbers 2. They went one better a few weeks later, downing Central Valley Fuego FC.
The dream ended with a loss to the nearby Oakland Roots in the third round – even though they outshot the USL Championship side on the night.
"The day after we got eliminated in the third round with Oakland, we're back to normal, and there's no attention," Lopez said.
So much for that. This year, they are back. And once again, the upsets are underway. Real Monarchs were comfortably dispatched in the first round. El Farolito came from behind to beat Monterey Bay in the second round two weeks ago. The buzz has returned.
AdvertisementGetty'We have nothing but appreciation'
But El Farolito aren't a plucky upstart with no history to speak of. Rather, this is a club engrained in the San Francisco community. Founded in 1985, "Faro" was originally comprised of former pros from overseas and employees of the restaurant chain – which now has 12 locations in the Bay Area. Salvador "Don Chava" Lopez – who passed in 2021 – started the whole thing, drawing on a love for soccer from his native Mexico.
Success came quickly. They started in the lower ends of the wonderfully-named San Francisco Soccer Football League (SFSFL), before being promoted to the top division. By the early '90s, they were regular local division champions, and had reached the final of the National Amateur Cup.
El Farolito were rebranded as Club Deportivo Mexico in 1993. Even more success followed. They won the U.S. Open Cup that year, beating teams from San Jose, Milwaukee and Philadelphia on their run. That tournament victory earned them a spot in the 1994 CONCACAF Cup Winners Cup. This club founded in a burrito restaurant in Northern California was suddenly playing against top-tier Mexican sides.
Lopez remembers the 1993 final, and was there in the stands at just eight-years-old as his Dad coached his side to a 5-0 win. Ever since then, he has felt a sense of responsibility to the brand.
"We're very privileged that he learned the bad way and the right ways in this country," Lopez said. "We have nothing but appreciation. And we're very fortunate for that, and we want to preserve that and take care of all the decades of work that my parents did."
After that, the club faded into relative irrelevance – at least on the national scale. They were still successful in the SFSFL – 11 division titles from 1995-2017 is nothing to sniff at – but Don Chava's health was declining. His children steadily took over the restaurant, while Santiago became full-time manager of El Farolito.
"We noticed that he needed some help in the business," Lopez said. "My sisters came in and we take some responsibilities away from him so he could be more focused on making some more difficult decisions. But for us, it was just the more routine stuff, like payroll management, scheduling, bills, accounting, all of that."
Getty Images'It's Open Cup, Open Cup, Open Cup'
But then, in 2017, things changed. The NPSL, founded in 2003, had always handed out automatic qualification to the U.S. Open Cup. In an homage to the club's history, Lopez insisted that El Farolito move divisions – and start thinking bigger.
"That's why we decided to go into the NPSL, because we wanted to go to a national stage. And because it has a direct qualification to the Open Cup, if you do well, that was the main intention. It's Open Cup, Open Cup, Open Cup," he explained.
That came with its own challenges, though. El Farolito had to get bigger, better, and more talented. Lopez, who was already helping out with some of the business duties at the restaurant, had to increase his scouting and coaching workload. The problem? El Farolito were – and still are – semi-pro. There is no real budget for these things.
Pedigree helps, of course. El Farolito are well known in the area. Talent has never really been a problem, with ex-pros from as far as Columbia, Honduras and Ivory Coast – as well as some talented local youngsters – all in the mix. But the pipeline is always moving.
"I'm the one who's focused with the with the soccer decisions. I go and I look for certain tournaments or certain players," Lopez said.
It gets difficult, keeping track of everything, Lopez admitted.
"I have a business to run. I have a family. I have my things to do. I want to prepare myself with coaching courses or do scrimmages and practice with the team or the group once or twice a week," he said.
Throw in the fact that Lopez and his wife have just welcomed a child, now less than a month old, and this whole thing gets even more complicated.
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Getty Images'We just have to adapt'
One obvious issue: El Farolito don't always have a place to play. There are a limited number of fields in the area, Lopez said. And there's something of an arms race for permits to rent them. El Farolito regularly competes with flag football and frisbee teams for fields on which to practice. Often, there will be scrambles on a midweek night as to where, exactly, training will be the next day.
And sometimes, fields aren't available, regardless. It's not an uncommon occurrence for Lopez and Co. to show up to their scheduled field and find another group running into their allocated time slots. Warmups sometimes have to be conducted in tiny slices of turf behind a standard pitch. Daylight is also an issue; once the lights go off on a public-use pitch, then practice ends.
Lopez has a remarkable level of efficiency to it all, though. Everyone is always on time. Drills are flexible and adaptable. El Farolito has a separate goalkeeper coach and five registered goalkeepers – they always get their own area. On some nights, the team will have to accept that it won't be able to train on a full field. But that has never been a problem.
"We can't complain, because we we live in a city that that has a lot of freedom, and historically, has always been like that," he said. "So we just have to adapt to it. And I'm very fortunate the players, regardless if it's playing on a small field or on a large they're there to work and have a good time."