The popular eatery on Park Street in downtown Alameda seats 200, and is open until 3 a.m, so Guzman and his cousin, co-manager Silvano Hernandez, were busy and didn't notice the painting was missing until Friday morning.
"20 years, we've been here for 20 years," said Hernandez, joking with customers Saturday night, "it's like a good luck charm, so you can't take it!".
The frame is rough-hewn wood, and the oil painting depicts a wizened old man in a sombrero, smoking a cigarette. Its origins are unknown, its monetary value questionable, but it has been in the family for as long as they've been in business, so its nostalgia value is priceless.
"Yes, he just walked by, saw it, took it, and left," declared Guzman, "it's easy, and its just paint, but sometimes that has meaning too."
Security video of the hallway revealed the heist: a customer strolling toward the restrooms plucked the picture off the wall and kept walking out the back door of the restaurant.
"We were ready to go, we were ready to go find who had this painting and get it back," exclaimed Hernandez.
But instead of a police report, the surveillance video and freeze-frame of the thief went up on La Penca Azul's Facebook page, and was instantly circulated. In one day, it received more than 46,000 views, including the young man's family who recognized him.
Before the dinner rush Friday, they had him back at the restaurant, with the painting and an apology.
"His own mom was like, 'that's my son, I'm gonna fix this'," recalled Hernandez, "She told us you can call the police on him if you want, you can have him work here a month for free, I don't care what you do to him."
The managers didn't make him wash dishes; they say they didn't want to make him feel any worse about swiping the painting.
"He just said he really liked it," noted Guzman, "and I told him, if you had asked, maybe the owner would just give it to you!"
The managers say the 23-year-old man has been an occasional customer, and is still welcome to return.
"More it goes to show, that people care about us, and we're part of the community," they emphasized.
But many customers aren't so forgiving.
"Yeah, people like a lot of things, but you don't just take them," Marcus Swinford told KTVU, as he arrived with his family for dinner Saturday night. "I'm glad they brought it back, but that doesn't make it right, it's still low life."
"I can't believe people are so bold to say I want that and walk out with it,” marveled customer Donna Helling, "was there tequila involved?"
The restaurateurs are taking the high road.
"It's not a big deal, but I'm glad we have it back," smiled Guzman, "and I hope we can keep it for another twenty years."
About the Author