BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
El Cerrito, a Mexican restaurant in the Sharon Heights neighborhood of Menlo Park, has been burglarized for the second time in five months.
Both times, someone broke in through a glass door in the middle of the night and left with an empty cash register.
“It’s been a little bit of a struggle dealing with this kind of behavior, honestly,” said Christopher Chavez, who is part of the family that owns the restaurant. “All of the customers, everybody, is surprised something like that happened here because it’s a beautiful area.”
The first break-in was in November. A burglar shattered a stained glass door, made a mess inside and left with an old cash register. The restaurant doesn’t keep any cash in the register at night, Chavez said.
The second break-in was on Saturday night (March 26) or early Sunday morning, between 9 p.m. and 4 a.m., Chavez said. A burglar broke the restaurant’s other stained glass door, just enough to reach the lock, and then took nothing but the new register, Chavez said.
The cash register is worth about $150, and fixing the door costs around $1,500 because it’s a custom fit, Chavez said.
The shopping center only has cameras in the parking lot. Chavez said his family has been pushing the owner to put more cameras in the hallways.
El Cerrito opened in 1999. The business hasn’t experienced anything like this before, Chavez said.
“We’re frustrated that this is happening here,” he said.
This is very sad- it’s a great restaurant and even better people who run it. Everyone should go eat there and help them make this up.