Meet Ehab and his brother Eddy, the owner/operators of Mid City Market. It’s also home to Los Hermanos Taqueria. Ehab and Eddy pride themselves on recognizing their neighbors, knowing their customers by name, and providing an establishment to not only shop and eat, but also to stop and say hello.
“We like to know all our customers and when there’s a new person, we make sure to introduce ourselves and introduce them to the store. We make it a point to know their name. Believe it or not, when you know people by name, they feel more comfortable. They come back. Yes, we want to make a living, but it’s also important to us that we are part of the community.”
Originally from Palestine, they moved here in 1993 with their sisters and parents. They had $2,000, just enough to start renting an apartment in Daly City. An uncle helped them work odd jobs. Ehab worked at a sewing factory on Mission St, between 5th & 6th Street, and then a deli and at one point was steadily working three jobs. Despite the need to constantly work, they didn’t compromise on their education.
“We all went to SF State—my brother, my sisters, and myself,” Ehab said. “I studied computer information systems back in 2001, right when there was that dot-com crash. I did four years at SF State while also working as a taxi driver. My brother was a manager at Burger King. We saved money like crazy.”
With their savings, the brothers bought a liquor store in Daly City and then sold it. They secured a loan and bought Mid City Market. Later, they bought the taqueria and updated it.
Ehab shares that having good communication and never holding a grudge is how they’ve made things work for all these years. “Both of us work hard. We split up the work. We communicate very well. If we ever get into an argument we get over it. We don’t carry on. We’re brothers and he’s really a best friend.”
They’re proud of how the market has evolved, becoming a go-to for people. “We have a big Mexican community around us and they know they can find anything they would want here. At the beginning, we didn’t know anything about Mexican food or where to buy the stuff. In the first year, we learned A LOT and it was pretty hard. But now we’ve got it down for sure.”
On top of the stocking and managing the store, the taqueria is a fully-staffed operation. “We have a prep lady who comes in the morning to cut the meat, make the guacamole and salsa, preps the cheese…she does everything to get ready for the day. We also have a cook and a cashier. We used to have two cooks to keep up with the orders. We were very busy. But since the pandemic hit, we’ve been barely getting by.”
They have noticed that some of their regular customers in the neighborhood have moved out since the pandemic hit but they’ve still been able to keep the business running, keep the staff paid, and still support their parents and families. The two brothers are a year apart in age and married a year apart—right around when they also took over the lease for Mid City Market. Ehab has two daughters and a son. Eddy has one son and one daughter.
Ehab with his family
While times are tough, they still make it a point to give back to the community. They often donate food to the nearby shelter. For a Black Heritage Month event at the hotel across the street, they donated food. “We want people to know that when they ask us for things, we’re happy to support them.”
Los Hermanos is currently open for takeout and the Mid City Market grocery store is fully up and running. They also have some outdoor seating in front. Stop by for a burrito and some fresh fruit, and say hello to Ehab, Eddy, and Mish Mish, the store’s cat.
You can visit Mid City Market & Los Hermanos Taqueria in person (868 Geary Street), order online, or check out their Facebook & Instagram.
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