Restaurant turns to crowd hungry to help

Like many businesses, Vallemar Station was hit hard by the pandemic and has yet to see customers return to the dining room in numbers similar to the experience before COVID-19. This has meant that the restaurant has been struggling to make enough money for appliance repairs and replacements and to keep up with regular costs. 

“The pandemic really hurt us a lot and it hasn’t gotten back to what it was before,” said Hal Ash who shares ownership of the venerable eatery with his wife, Barbara. “Paying bills was difficult and, when all this business slowed down, a lot of our equipment started taking a hike. … Everything just kinda one at a time went out.” 

However, after talking with Ash, longtime customer Mike Day brought up the idea of a crowdsourcing effort to help cover costs. So far the GoFundMe fundraiser has received $22,350 toward its $50,000 goal. 

“I know so many of you, just like me and my family, have enjoyed the incredibly delicious food and warm hospitality that Hal and Barb bring seven days a week. Some of the hardest-working folks I know!” Day states on the funding website. 

Day explained on the page that he hopes to raise the money to ease the financial burden of the “loss of so much business during COVID, the amount of damage from the recent storms and multiple equipment failures they have found themselves in.” 

The Vallemar Station building is 109 years old and was originally used as a train stop back when the Ocean Shore Railroad was running from San Francisco to Santa Cruz. After the train line stopped, the building was then used as a residence. It was a series of businesses before becoming the Vallemar Station .

Day and Ash were both proud to talk about the community aid that the Vallemar Station has provided for multiple organizations in the area. 

“We always try to do good for our community, fundraisers, stuff like that,” Ash said.

In the past, the restaurant has raised money for Pacifica Little League teams, several of the schools in the Pacifica School District and the Pacifica Resource Center. 

“We try to give back to the community, and so far we’ve done well with the GoFundMe. We have been here a while and we get people who say it’s their first time here,” Ash said. “Any customers we get we appreciate.”