Long before Gilberto Cetina Jr. was sourcing seafood like fresh uni from purveyors like Sea Stephanie Fish in Santa Barbara for his Michelin-starred marisquería in Historic South Central or locally caught sustainable bluefin from the Channel Islands, he was loading up his mom and dad’s Astro Van with goods from Restaurant Depot as he stepped up to help his parents run Chichén Itza.
“I hope they keep it as it is,” he tells L.A. TACO. “Lots of restaurants make ends meet by shopping there. I know we did for a long time with Chichén Itza.”
Like thousands of others across the country, Cetina heard the news about Sysco, one of the country’s largest wholesale restaurant food distributors, and its recent $29 billion acquisition of Restaurant Depot.
The acquisition was announced in March, and restaurant owners from across the country took to social media to say it would not bode well for mom and pop restaurants, since they do not serve enough volume to justify ordering from Sysco, which has a reputation for charging higher prices.
"It was a place the little guy could go and get competitive pricing on just about anything that a restaurant could need to operate locally,” said this caption on a viral Instagram pizza post by a pizza maker.