But over lunch at Las Cuatro Milpas on Logan Avenue in Barrio Logan part of his Eighth District Vargas is explaining how the whole area s perceived image is not a depiction based on reality. Take a look around this restaurant, he directs. It s down-home cooking for a good price, and it s just a great attraction. It s magnificent. Magnificent seems hyperbolic.
Food is ordered buffet style and carried from the cash register on plastic trays.
Unfortunately, tourists and locals are warned not to come to this area, says Vargas. Look around this restaurant again. Look at the people at the tables. Right here, these people are white. And over there.