Restaurateur Ernesto Delgado strode to a lectern at a Sacramento City Council meeting and spun a vision for a safe urban core after he said his downtown restaurants suffered repeated break-ins on the night before.
Delgado’s eateries serve Mexican regional cuisine across California’s capital city and West Sacramento. The theft at Octopus Peru, a seafood cevicheria, and Mercado Urbano, a lunchtime bodega, prompted frustration for Delgado, who said the incidents happened after staff closed up on Feb. 22 at the restaurants, which are both in the Park Tower building across from Cesar Chavez Plaza.
So Delgado implored the council to focus on reducing crime at its Feb. 24 meeting.
But before elected officials could act on the Feb. 24 plea, Delgado’s La Cosecha restaurant, at 917 Ninth St. in Cesar Chavez Plaza, suffered what he called another overnight break-in after closing up on Sunday, March 1.
He came again to the City Council meeting on Tuesday to speak directly with the city’s leaders. The incidents weigh on his love and enthusiasm for doing business, he said during the meeting.
“I’m starting to get very frustrated,” Delgado said in a phone interview, while noting he has not given up on doing business in downtown.
The Sacramento Police Department said officers arrived at the 900 block of Ninth Street to investigate a burglary at about 8 a.m. on Feb. 23, according to a police spokesperson. The spokesperson said officers did not receive a report to investigate the incident at La Cosecha. No arrests have been made.
Crime in all major categories dropped in 2025 from the year before, according to police data.
Delgado has long been an advocate for Cesar Chavez Plaza, across from City Hall. Since La Cosecha’s opening in 2017, he envisioned transforming the square, which is just blocks from major downtown landmarks Golden 1 Center, the state Capitol and the Sacramento County Main Jail.
He said he hoped opening its doors would lead to a welcoming plaza filled with couples stealing a kiss or older residents meandering through. The vision has yet to be fulfilled.
Delgado estimated his downtown restaurants suffer break-ins or vandalism about two to three times per year. Thieves shatter windows and snatch cash registers. Vandals deface locally commissioned artwork. A person cleared an entire bar of alcohol at one of Delgado’s restaurants, some of which are known for specialized tequila and agave selections.
“It seems like it doesn’t matter what I put out there,” Delgado said. “It gets damaged, vandalized or stolen.”
The incidents affect staff morale and feelings of safety inside his businesses, he said.
The back-to-back crimes sparked action for Delgado: “Where effort goes, energy flows.” He said he met with Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty, City Manager Maraskeshia Smith and others to brainstorm ways to make the area safer.
McCarty did not respond to a request for comment.
Sacramento’s downtown has faced hardships in recent years. The COVID-19 pandemic hollowed out office buildings, and protests over police brutality after the murder of George Floyd were followed by vandalism of local businesses. The urban core became a refugee for homeless people as an affordability crisis struck. Some owners packed up their businesses and shuttered doors.
Through it all, Delgado said he kept his businesses open.
“A lot of people just choose to not do anything, or stay away or ignore,” he said. “But I am still fighting.”
“With time and consistency, I hope to see change.”
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Ishani Desai is a government watchdog reporter for The Sacramento Bee. She previously covered crime and courts for The Bakersfield Californian.