NEWS
A ‘Selfless’ Life Cut Short Esteban Gonzalez’s unlikely journey into the hearts of Arcata By Thadeus Greenson thad@northcoastjournal.com
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steban Gonzalez, an Arcata restaurant owner beloved by many, known in equal parts for his tireless work ethic, his good food and willingness to offer a hand up to anyone who needed it, died Jan. 12 of pneumonia. He was 55. Amid an outpouring of support in the wake of his death, Gonzalez is being hailed in social media posts as a “local legend” and a “pillar” of the Arcata community, remembered as a ray of positivity who smiled easily and was quick to share what he had, whether it be a piece of wisdom or a burrito. Arcata Main Street set up a GoFundMe page Jan. 17 with the goal of raising $1,000 to benefit Gonzalez’s family. When this edition of the Journal went to press two days later, the page had collected more than $24,000, with donations continuing to pour in. The Mad River Union reported Gonzalez’s death stemmed from complications related to COVID-19, though the Journal was unable to independently confirm that reporting. That Gonzalez’s life saw him become a community fixture in Arcata is a testament to the power of a dream, having the courage to chase it relentlessly and what can be accomplished when hard work becomes a daily ritual. Born one of five siblings in Mexico City, Gonzlez’s father died when he was 7 years old and he and his family grew up in poverty. He never attended school, “not even kindergarten,” he told the Journal in 2016, but his mom used to make him help cook beans and rice for the family, telling him that if he couldn’t work or go to school, he needed to contribute somehow. At 11, he said he started walking his neighborhood, knocking on doors and offering to take people’s garbage to the dump for a tip. Newly married with a child at 18, Gonzalez told the Journal he realized that if he wanted to help lift his family out of poverty, he’d have to move north. He soon left his family, his mom, grandmother and siblings, and traveled to Tijuana, where he was homeless and worked odd jobs until he saved the $500 needed to pay a coyote to sneak across the border so he could get to Fortuna, where his uncle
lived. Once Gonzalez saved enough to buy a car — a ratty old Volkswagen — he moved out in the mid-1980s and spent four months living out of his car on the Eel River Bar and bathing in the river while working three jobs. He’d get up in time to milk dairy cows at 3 a.m. before reporting to a local saw mill by 8 a.m. to work a full day, after which he’d wash dishes at a local restaurant until 10 p.m. or later. Eventually, he saved up enough money to buy a home and, after becoming a U.S. citizen in 1993, he sent for his family, moving his daughter, wife and each of his siblings to the United States. It was a debilitating back injury that led Gonzalez to change careers, putting $1,500 down for a $50,000 taco truck. He spent weeks calling his mom back in Mexico to learn her recipes handed down through generations of his family. He listened as she walked him through how to make pastor, mole and chile rellenos. After about six months of barely breaking even, his business clicked. Over time it expanded to two trucks and, in 2013, a small restaurant on Arcata’s I Street that went by La Chiquita for awhile before changing its name to Esteban’s, which is how most knew it anyway, as he was always there, darting between the kitchen and the register, seemingly always with a smile on his face. In 2016, he told the Journal he arrived daily by 6 a.m. to start cooking and often didn’t leave until 10 p.m., after the kitchen had been cleaned and the next day’s food prepped. Over the years, Esteban’s developed a fiercely loyal following, devoted as much to Gonzalez’s friendly face and positive attitude as to his mammoth burritos, which came stuffed with a unique blend of whole and refried beans wrapped in a spongy, homemade flour tortilla. Esteban’s — as well as Gonzalez’s trucks — became a favorite of college and high school students, who were looking to fill their stomachs on a budget and found themselves drawn to Gonzalez’s adoration of kids and young people. “To my HSU friends, y’all know how much he supported us,” one longtime customer wrote on Facebook after learning of Continued on page 13 »
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