More than 30 years ago, Joel Campos met a friend in a bar – and the rest is Glen Park history.
“After leaving Glen Park Station, I took a moment to look at the neighborhood. Peaceful, attractive and not a taqueria in sight. It seemed the perfect place to open my new restaurant.”
September, 2025, marks the 30th anniversary of La Corneta Taqueria. The restaurant at 2834 Diamond Street has been an enduring success, serving a remarkable variety of Mexican fare from an ever-expanding menu.
According to Campos, even the 2020 pandemic had relatively little impact on his business. With fear of COVID-19 at its highest, customers switched to delivery services like DoorDash.
Originally from the province of Jalisco, Campos could pass for a Mexican film star or the president of the Guadalajara Chamber of Commerce. Personable and outgoing, he fondly recalls the many customers and employees he has met over the years.
Today, the taqueria has grown into a small regional chain. La Corneta’s locations – Mission Street in San Francisco, Burlingame and San Carlos – will soon add another, on Palo Alto’s University Avenue, next to The Apple Store.
A neighborhood fixture
Glen Park’s La Corneta gets more than 1,000 customers a day, said Campos. About 70% of its orders are in person and about 30% for delivery through GrubHub and Door Dash.
The restaurant is almost always full of long lines of customers who flock to its rich offerings of burritos, tacos, quesadillas and entrees. It’s open between 10:00 am to 9:00 pm, and until 10:00 pm Thursday through Saturday.
Back in 1995, Campos opened the first La Corneta in a space that had been a small produce shop which had been empty for quite a while.
By 2000, business was so good that when the space next door became available, formerly a donut shop, he acquired the lease. The restaurant closed for a few months while workers knocked down the wall and re-opened as a sparkling new space that was double the size.
The wall features a mural by Shelley Masters of La Virgen de Guadalupe, the patron saint of Mexico and one of the Angel Gabriel blowing his trumpet.
The space is still small by restaurant standards, just 1,800 feet, but manages to produce a remarkable amount of wonderful food.
Campos’ staff tend to stay with him for years and several have been there since the beginning.
As for the critical art of folding a burrito so that it stays together while offering the exact right ratio of rice, meet and fillings in each bite, Campos says “it’s easy!” but then admits “well, maybe it takes a week to get it perfect.”
La Corneta’s food remains a neighborhood favorite. But Campos is always tinkering with the menu to fit changing tastes. “I might slow down on the rice a little,” he said. And he’s got a new recipe for his frijoles he’s working on.
Over the course of a half hour interview, Campos stopped multiple times to greet and often hug long-time customers, high-five a vendor or chat with passers-by.
Looking around the interior of the first in his growing empire of eateries, he grinned like a kid at Christmas.
“I’m so blessed,” he said.
