Las Cuatro Milpas — a San Diego Mexican food institution for 91 years — has been temporarily closed by county health officials due to major violations.
A Dec. 30 inspection by the Department of Health identified the following six compliance violations:
- Vermin - Major
- Nonfood Contact Surfaces Clean - Out of Compliance
- Equipment, Utensils, Linens Storage and Use - Out of Compliance
- Plumbing - Out of Compliance
- Premises, Vermin-proofing, Personal/Cleaning Items - Out of Compliance
- Floors, Walls and Ceilings - Out of Compliance
A sign on the window of the Barrio Logan restaurant on Thursday morning said, "Closed, By Order of the Department of Health."
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Throughout the day, potential customers on foot or pulling up in cars who were hoping to grab some of Las Cuatro Milpas' food were not expecting to leave without eating. In a span of 10 minutes, NBC 7 saw customers pull up and say they didn't know about the temporary closure and were "very disappointed."
Lorena Guerrero de Campillo knew something was wrong when she drove up and didn't see the normal crowd of people outside.
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"There's always a line of at least 20-30 people," she said. "I was surprised to see it closed."
The closing is the latest in a long line of problems for Las Cuatro Milpas. In 2022, similar health violations caused a temporary closing. More recently, according to a spokesperson for the city of San Diego, the owners of Las Cuatro Milpas owed sales tax to the state and were delinquent on their property taxes.
Las Cuatro Milpas was founded by Petra and Natividad Estudillo in 1933, and it's still owned by members of the family.
Attempts to contact the restaurant's owners about this latest closing were unsuccessful, but in October of 2024, Sophia Estudillo, a sister of the one of the owners, told NBC 7 that speculation about the restaurants sale were not true.
"Everybody thinks it’s going to sell. But no, not yet, for years,” Estudillo said.
The family-owned restaurant is famous for simple, delicious Mexican food with their beans, rice, chorizo and homemade chorizo consistently being hailed for their authenticity.
Customers that were unable to eat Thursday at Las Cuatro Milpas are hoping the iconic restaurant reopens as much for its food as for what it means to the San Diego community.
"I think it means home," Guerrero de Campillo said. "A lot of people come here to settle and find a better life, and this tastes like home."
As for steps needed for the reopening, a spokesperson for the county sent the following to NBC 7:
"The place was closed because cockroaches were present during a routine inspection on Dec. 30. Inspectors recommended the business establish a contract with a pest control company and provided some educational materials. Milpas has not contacted the County to schedule their reopen inspection yet. Once the facility has verified that they have eliminated all vermin and have properly cleaned and sanitized all food prep surfaces, they will call environmental health to schedule their reopen inspection. Once County staff inspect and verify that there are no more vermin present in the facility, they will be approved to reopen."
