La Lengua
La Lengua is the flat, southern-most section of the Mission and is often miscategorized as Bernal “Heights” or Noe “Valley”. It extends between 24th and 30th Streets, between Mission and Guerrero.
It is named for its tongue-like appearance and preponderance of Latin American and Mexican eating establishments.
The La Lengua Revolutionary Army (LaLeRa) recently expanded La Lengua’s northern border to 24th St, encompassing Pi Bar and Anthony’s Cookies. We are considering pushing along San Jose onward to 23rd or even 22nd for angularity’s sake (and since no one else seems to be using it).
La Lengua likes to keep a low profile to avoid hipster infestation and has thus been camoflauged by the New York Times as “having little scenic appeal” despite the ridiculous number of epic places to eat and drink.
The Chronicle recently identified it as a distinct neighborhood, but sadly tried to call it “San Jose Guerrero.” Because that rolls off the tongue (haha).
Wait, shouldn’t It Be Called SoCha?
Some provocateurs have suggested the name should be SoCha. We disagree. Mission Mission reader Lou puts our disdain of FiSyNeCo (First Syllable Neighborhood Contraction) best:
La Lengua? Love it. That’s a great name for a neighborhood sub section. Better yet, it says “No, we’re not trying to be like NYC because this is San Franfuckingcisco and we don’t need to try to do anything, asshole” (in Spanish, of course).
And then there was that whole SFGate SoCha debacle, especially comical since the new Walgreens would technically be in NoCha <sigh>.
Note that I do like SoCha the coffee shop, but that does not yield toponomynistic precedent.
Wait, isn’t it Bernal Heights?
Look up in the sky! It’s Bernal. Yes, up. “Heights”. There you go.
And Bernal is clearly an island. I obviously love it but let’s face it, Cortland is culturally distinct from La Lengua.
Outer Mission! Outer Mission!
I understand the logic, but sorry, no. Outer Mission = the area along Mission between Geneva Avenue and Alemany Boulevard to Daly City. And does anyone really say Inner Mission? I mean, they changed the name to Shotwell’s for a reason, no?
Anything south of Cesar Chavez is SoCal
OK, that was pretty fucking funny. But no. And 24th is the semi-permeable hipster membrane, thank you very much.
Trackbacks
- NYT Disses La Lengua « Burrito Justice
- Mission and CC: Same As It Ever Was « Burrito Justice
- The Sun Strikes Back « Burrito Justice
- Guns & Drugs « Burrito Justice
- 26th and Valencia Through The Ages « Burrito Justice
- Camouflage « Burrito Justice
- Name Brand Recognition « Burrito Justice
- Cartography Meets Gastronomy « Burrito Justice
- La Lenguans of the World, Unite! « Burrito Justice
- Good Morning Mission! – Mission Loc@l -- San Francisco Mission District's News, Food, Art and Events
- Minority Health Care Report – Mission Loc@l -- San Francisco Mission District's News, Food, Art and Events
- Minority Health Care Report II – Mission Loc@l -- San Francisco Mission District's News, Food, Art and Events
- Buenos Días Distrito de la Misión 24.3.10 | MissionLocal: Spanish Language Version
- Tea Time – Mission Loc@l -- San Francisco Mission District's News, Food, Art and Events
- We’re Not Much Smarter – Mission Loc@l -- San Francisco Mission District's News, Food, Art and Events
- No No SoCha, Si Si La Lengua « Burrito Justice
- Mission, C’est La Langue « Burrito Justice
- Full Moon Fever, Bernal Rising « Burrito Justice
- Viva La Lengua Libre! « Burrito Justice
- Día de las Lengua Muertas « Burrito Justice
- Memo to the Vassals of La Lengua: You Can Have It (And The Name Too) | Bernalwood
- A Proclamation for the Vassals of La Lengua: You Can Have It (and That Funny Name Too) | Bernalwood
- Inverse Square Law Lost Upon Board of Sups « Mission Mission
- La Lengua Dining / Drinking Renaissance « Burrito Justice
- Big Day in New and Old Media « Burrito Justice
- Lee.org » Blog Archive » La Lengua on Google Maps
- Lee.org » Blog Archive » La Lengua Neighborhood
- Neighborhoods of San Francisco visualized by residents
- Southern Creole in La Lengua « FlyingZukini
- Nervous Dog « Lunch and Laptop
- Changing Place Names to Change Historical Memory | Using San Francisco History
- Changing Place Names to Change Historical Memory | Using San Francisco History
- Hungry Man Seeks to Eat His Way Across La Lengua | Bernalwood
- Noe Doubt « Whole Hog
- Market and Ninth | 49 mile scenic drive
- Ancient Decal Reveals Primative Origins of La Lengua Identity | Bernalwood
- Riding Into The Sunrise | SuperPro Racing
- Streets of San Francisco – Bernal Heights « Arts Ed Igniter
- Emmy’s Spaghetti Shack | Breeders' Banquet: Dining Out with Kids in SF
- BART strike winners and losers: Cute kids dressed as BART trains « Better Costume Ideas
- New Merchant Association: “We Don’t Know What to Call It Yet, But It Will Certainly Not Be La Lengua” | Bernalwood
- Then & Now VI: More Mission Street Theaters | The Shattering of Time
- Guest Lecture: Yahoo Research Labs | NM3229 AY2013/2014 Blooog
- I MISS MY UGLY CITY | HILARY POLLACK
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- Bernal is the New Mission | Broke-Ass Stuart's Goddamn Website
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Burrito Justice 
I’m fascinated by the intense focus by apparent committee on my new neighborhood and the depths to which the committee has plumbed to excavate history.
I thought that neighborhood was called SoCha.
Only if you are from NYC or have just graduated from Stanford.
No.
Only the owner of the building next to me calls it that! Don’t encourage him! I am proud to be a Latina and homeowner in La Lengua… let’s keep some of the flavor, gringos!
Apparently the Chronicle wants to call La Lengua the San Jose Guerrero neighborhood. Doesn’t quite roll off la lengua, like La Lengua.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/03/21/MN4O1CIEIJ.DTL
No way! This hood is called Pierre Valley. http://sfist.com/2007/11/14/pierre_valley_a.php
I think the Pierre Valley website says it all:
“Not Found. Sorry, but you are looking for something that isn’t here.”
Pierre Valley, my choad. Never. That map to which you refer, Lauren, also has Diamond Heights as being right up in our business. No dice. Viva La Lengua.
that area has been known as the Outer Mission for 20 years.
Mission Terrace is the area beyond, along Mission st.
Do you even pay attention to anything before you get there?
And 150 years ago it was called Rincon de las Salinas y Potrero Viejo. Talk about not paying attention.
Now SFgate is calling it SoCha.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/04/13/BUC71CSHMK.DTL
Socha sounds like an exotic root vegetable, or the alcohol derived from its fermentation.
[facepalm]
you live in america. speak american.
Huh? America includes North & South (even Canada!) and is not a language.
What transplant hipster decided to call my hood La Lengua?
Me. And I bet I know SF history better than you do.
Amigo, aqui los hipsters tratan de acaparar el vecinadario. It is not called La lengua, go back to Valencia you hipster scum.
Are you implying hipsters don’t exist in Latin America? Try D.F. or Buenos Aires…
It will always be the Outer Mission. When you hipsters have had your fill of SF and go home to New Hampshire I’m sure a new bunch of carpetbaggers will show up and want to change the name of the neighborhood.
Do you ever get tired of shaking your fist at the sky?
GlenParker, no. I grew up in the Outer Mission in the 70s and lived there for twenty years. There is no debate about this except among people who don’t know what they’re talking about. The Outer Mission is roughly the area between Mission and Cayuga streets from Geneva to the Daly City border.
Outer Mission in the house!
From what I can tell, the southern neighborhoods are lost upon most SFians.
This this handy map for local bloggers (by yojess) pretty much nails it.
Perfect, especially given the easy availability of lengua tacos in the neighborhood. Death to the landlords that attempt to claim that it is “Baja Noe.”
And death to that !@#$% parklet. Yeah, I want to sit along San Jose and inhale exhaust fumes. They seriously couldn’t have better used that money on fixing up the dangerously jagged sidewalks a couple of blocks away?
For what it’s worth, I was born here – and I don’t think that it *should* matter. Maybe if you’re fourth generation SF or beyond.
yeah. i can’t believe that parklet got a write in the NYTimes even. while it may cut down on traffic, it sure is not by any means a ‘park’ and is certainly not pretty. I could’ve rented a few jackhammers for the weekend and really pimped that bitch out with some perennials and sod. Who wants to sneak out with me and paint over that heinous green and yellow?
i’d love a more substantial park, but do you have any idea how expensive it is to take out and lay down concrete?
It’s a good start, and much better than the triangular wasteland that was there before.
I have seen some real estate postings calling this area “Baja Noe”, presumably to make it sound fancier. But I kind of like the name due to its shapes resemblance to Baja California.
The new real estate maps have everything south of Caesar Chavez as being in Bernal Heights. Which is so wrong, but at least the new “Bernal Heights” Post Office is now officially in Bernal Heights.
I suggest that this thin little appendage be known as “The Burrito Triangle”..
Surely some lost souls have disappeared in it, when looking for Mitchell’s Ice Cream.
If you are looking for real culture, try the Inner Sunset, which should be called “Pill Hill Valley”, as the most comon uniform seen on sidewalkers is “blue scrubs”, with stethoscope slung over the shoulder for added “elan”. I could elaborate, but the facts militate against it..
The one spot worth a trip here is THE GREAT OVERLAND BOOK Company, on Judah, a few feet east of 9th Ave…. best Used Book Store in the city.
Trust me. I’m a Realtor…. We always tell the truth, if cornered.
jack barry
I live in this hood and started calling it BerNoe. I don’t like “Outer Mission” as it connotes that it is just a less important hinterland, SoCha is just a directional indicator, and while it is creative, I’m not feeling la lengua. I’m sticking with BerNoe until we find something better.
I give you points for creativity and panache. If it’s Outer Mission, so be it, but I kinda like “La Lengua.” It rolls off the, uh…
I first moved into the Mission in 1985. I have been in the same apartment on 21st near Valencia for over twenty years. Used to be that there was “The Mission”, “Noe Valley”, and “Bernal Heights” in these parts and nothing else. People in Bernal knew who they were. Same with the folks over in Noe Valley. The rest of us lived in the Mission. All of this “La Lengua” guff and all the rest is very recent and completely unnecessary (at best). It’s the Mission, people. Be here now.
We love Guff! The LaLeReNaCo (La Lenguan Revolutionary Naming Council) has determined that Guff is obvious and necessary!
Uh oh — 21st and Valencia is suspiciously close to Medjool, which is not actually part of the Mission.
The here and now is that names change. 21st and Valencia used to be farmland, right next to a giant ravine. And 21st was named Alta for a while.
We *are* here now, thank you very much.
50s & 60s? Precita & Florida. Le Conte, not Flynn. It was the Mission back then; yeah, even south of Army.
BTW, Precita not in the Mission? Horace Mann & Mission HS, the old (& gone ) Safeway @ 24th & Potrero, movies on Mission street, swimming @ Garfield… We lived the Mission! :) Welcome to the Mission, La Lengua!
Note: Bernal was something you saw or climbed; No cachet to Cortland!
i think we should ask the native san franciscans who grew up in that neighborhood what it is called…i bet you it would not be this “la lengua” bullshit or even Socha or whatever you dirty hipsters are trying to call it
OMG DIRTY HIPSTERS ARE IN YOUR MAPS
Have you noticed that Google Maps now proudly displays “La Lengua” as a neighborhood? It’s official then. Look see
Oop! I should follow my Burrito Justice more closely! This story has already been reported!
https://burritojustice.com/2011/03/25/la-lengua-wins-the-internet/
https://burritojustice.com/2011/04/18/la-lengua-in-the-news/
Thanks Friscolex for pointing that out
you’re map sucks; you’re obviously from somewhere else; “el corazon” really, those are the borders; no REAL mission-native will actually come on to any website to defend what the reality of the ‘hood is; que pobre that we all we have are these kids searching for something to relate to but all you end up doing is raping MY culture in MY ‘hood; yes we are friendly, but to post and then publish sh*t that isn’t even researched… like my mom used to say… “que poca madre”…
Hey, I can’t tell — are you Italian or Irish?
I lived in the literal heart of La Lengua–Tiffany Ave–for a few months before a change of circumstances forced me to move up the hill into Bernal Heights proper. B-Heights is nice, cant beat the views, but I miss being a part of the Lengua Revolution. :(
what would you consider the block between church and sanchez on 16th?
That’s a tough one. Kind of a Venn diagram going on there.
you know who makes all these bullshit neighborhoods up??
fucking real estate agents to sell houses in “hip” new neighborhoods.
BARF.
I vote for Bernal Depths, but it’s use is sufficiently rare I don’t think it will catch on.
amazing! indeed creativity at its best
I like to call my area “the groin of the Mission,” mainly because it pokes fun at those stoopid “heart of the Mission” designations.
But more recently, it’s to counter those calling it “la lengua,” which is equally, if not more, ridiculous.
At any rate, I am probably the only one who calls it that, yet people usually know what I’m talking about.
Using “groin” it can pretty much mean anywhere in the Mission.
New development on Google Maps’s recognition of La Lengua: They just added boundaries to their map when you search for towns and neighborhoods. If you search “La Lengua” you can see they’ve recognized La Lengua as extending north, interestingly, to the line of the former railroad tracks extending diagonally from Guerrero to Mission.
La Lengua? Fucking transplants and their cutesy names
Mission High Grad, class of 93
Are you Ohlone?
Hey, where’s the little thumb-thing I’m supposed to click?
Comrade JohnnyO, Tierra Mia Coffee is coming to the neighborhood, this week got the keys the old Way Out Café space at Mission and Valencia. People have asked what part of the city we are setting up in and have I struggled with this answer, because the area is not Mission and its not Bernal Heights, and it doesn’t want to be! Its La Lengua! As a Latin coffeehouse we will help carry the La Lengua flag for all denizens of the La Lengua district, and will contribute faithfully to the efforts of all the fine Latin eateries in the area. Viva La Lengua.
While I’m sad to see Way Out Cafe go, I’m glad to see you there. Viva Tierra Mia! Viva La Lengua!
I guess we need to work on the flag.
Burrito Justice, Tierra Mia Coffee is opening next week! We are doing dry runs this Saturday and Sunday with our new baristas and will be open for any passerbys who come in and want to try some free café. Feel free to drop in this weekend and say hello. We hope we are a nice addition to La Lengua. 3188 Mission St at Valencia.
Maybe Hipster Valencia could be the “Valencia Beard.”
La lengua is a stupid ass name that only a non latino outsider would come up with. Sounds ridiculous in spanish. Anybody who is really from the area like myself calls it the upper mission or bernal heights and thats it.none of this bullshit ass hipster non sense
thanks!
i’d like to know who died and left you boss? no outside agitators. cortland is not the core of bernal it’s just another street in bernal heights as is mission street between Randall and CC. stop making claims about what doesn’t concern you. maybe bernal flats would be more appropriate.
as someone said earlier “names come and go” here’s hoping burrito justice will go just as it has already come – and take la lengua with it
I know this general area as Noe Sur, kinda like Baja Noe. I like ‘La Lengua’ too, and your efforts are admirable.
Noe Sur refers to the south end of Noe Valley that the realtors assign to Glen Park. Glen Park is the valley, not over the ridge of Fairmont, not Laidley or the Harry St. Steps; that’s clearly part of Noe Valley but yeah, you’re right the part close to Mission is different and deserves ‘the tongue’. Call it the Mitchell’s District and I’d be pleased as well. It’s also part of Noe Sur, IMO. Partly but not really the domain of Bernal. It’s kinda like Outer Mission but not quite.
I’ve been almost 25 years in the general neighborhood and am a bit of a map nerd myself:
map of The Haight 1989 (hasn’t changed much):
San Francisco fog map (1989-2014):
San Francisco neighborhood map 2015 (will be updated with added labels soon):
google maps version:
https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=z1Nd6siXLSVM.knAPqLpedL2Y
No. I grew up in the Outer Mission in the 70s. It’s roughly the area between Mission and Cayuga streets from Geneva to the Daly City border. Not the Excelsior. Not “Mission Terrace” (which is a smaller subset of the Outer Mission, along San Jose Avenue near Ocean. It’s the Outer Mission. Thank you.
Last week I walked into a condo for sale around the corner from my apartment on San Jose between 24th & 25th in the north Lengua. The brochure reads “Unbeatable Noe Valley location…” Hurumph. You can see the nine hundred thousand dollar listing at 286sanjose dot com. Fucking hipsters? No, fucking YuDINKs!
Ahh now we may actually see where all that bubble gum fell from, Maybe now it will stop ending up on Bernal sidewalks? Maybe trash cans will be present and utilized in La Lingua! Since1946 my grandma washed down her sidewalks until she could no longer risk going outside. So much pathetic pride evaporation. Finally! The entire area was overrun only a few years ago. I love little La Lingi or whatever its called, for this means Bernal is finally back!
These grapes are *so* *sour*!
I love Techies too!!! Thank you all for “Perestrioka”