There’s a Big Dia de Los Muertos Party Going Down in the Outer Sunset — And Everyone’s Invited

Nomar Ramirez, the owner and operator of Indigenous Mexican pop-up Molcaxitl, is working with the Outer Sunset Mercantile to throw a tremendous Dia de Los Muertos party at 37th and Ortega avenues. The free-to-attend event on November 1 will run from 6 to 9 p.m. and is a riff on the To Be Latino series Ramirez piloted with the farmers market in 2020. This’ll be the second Dia de Los Muertos event Ramirez and the group have put on, and he says if it’s anything like last year’s it should be quite the party. “It was a surprisingly good turnout,” Ramirez says. “We were worried nobody would come, but all the vendors sold out within the first hour. Then, for three hours after that, Molcaxitl had the full line.”

Vendors at the shindig will include folks from Sunset Mercantile’s weekly market, but also contacts from San Francisco State and a number of Bay Area food creators and producers that Ramirez has invited. Semilla will roll Northern Mexican-style burritos Nixta will sell vegan pupusas, and Crockett-based Calaca Coffee will dish up cafe de olla cold brew riffs and vegan sweet breads. Ramirez also locked in Mission District panaderia La Victoria to join and sell the staples: pan de muerto, conchas, and various sweet variations. For music, Ramirez is excited about the DJ lineup: Rick Ryan, who does a lot of Sunset DJing, will spin records, as will OG Space Cholo of the Frisco Gang. Caja Magica, a couple from Mexico City, will spin vintage Latin American records, too.

The idea of the To Be Latino series, which ended officially December 2021, was to highlight the Mexican American community in the Bay Area every Tuesday with food and music. Ramirez says he feels confident about this year’s party; they’ve been planning for about a month, unlike last year which was much scrappier and off-the-cuff. While it’s in celebration of the Mexican holiday, the young entrepreneur reminds members of the community that anyone can celebrate and honor Mexican culture. “Some people have hit me up saying they feel like they can’t go, which is crazy,” Ramirez says. “People feel like they need to be Mexican because the vendors are Latino-owned.”

When it comes to his own business, Ramirez says Molcaxitl has been on pause as he thought he’d leave the city to start a new project after a stint at Bombera. But, as life goes, the move didn’t end up happening and now he’s cooking part-time at Nari. He’d like to run Molcaxitl again once he graduates from San Francisco State in December 2022, now with a stronger foundation of business management and kitchen experience. “It was just hard to go to school, work, and do Molcaxitl,” Ramirez says. “That was hellish. But now I want to keep cultivating connections and grow.”