San Francisco businesses stay busy during Fleet Week despite no Blue Angels

By Amanda Hari

It was a beautiful day in the Marina district on Sunday to end an unconventional Fleet Week.

“It was not its usual Fleet Week,” said the owner of Bonita Taqueria y Rotisserie, JJ Sweidan. “That’s for sure.”

Sweidan said Sunday would usually be an ideal day for Fleet Week, clear skies and warm weather, but with the government shutdown, the roaring engines of the Blue Angels airshow were nowhere to be heard.

“Definitely a little bit quieter,” Sweidan remarked. “The skies were quieter. It wasn’t as crazy as usual.”

Sweidan’s restaurant has been located on Chestnut Street, just blocks from Marina Green, for more than a decade. He knows what a normal Fleet Week looks like, and the crowds weren’t the same.

“The one thing I did notice is usually as soon as the plane shows end around 3 or so, everyone comes flocking down, we didn’t get that crazy rush on the street,” explained Sweidan. 

Fleet Week is his restaurant’s busiest weekend of the year. He anticipated a slower weekend because of the shutdown, but with the Canadian Snowbirds still putting on a show, he cautiously stocked up on supplies. 

“It was scary,” said Sweidan about the moment he heard the Blue Angels would not be performing. “For us businesses, especially in the Marina District, there’s a few weekends that we get that are our bread and butter; we know what to expect, so it was definitely devastating.”

While he didn’t get the number of customers he does for a normal Fleet Week, people still came out.

“We were hoping for the best, like I said, it could have been better, but it wasn’t as bad as anticipated, so we’re glad it turned out to be what it was,” Sweidan said with relief. 

Just across the street at La Fromagerie Cheese Shop, owner Dylan Fraioli had similar concerns.

“Yeah, yeah,” said Fraioli when she was asked if she was worried. “I had a lot of customers that called and said, ‘Let’s cancel for the event.’ I was like, ‘Oh, that’s so sad.'”

But she says in the end, they had plenty of foot traffic and didn’t feel any negative impact on their sales.

“Actually, this weekend was very busy,” Fraioli clarified. “The only thing compared to last year was there was no noise. We didn’t hear anything.”

While Sweidan is grateful for the business he did get, he’s hoping for an even better Fleet Week next year.

“I would hope there’s not a government shutdown,” said Sweidan. “I’m hoping San Francisco maybe changes its Fleet Week to not always fall when the government may shut down. That would help us. It’s definitely a big boost for the economy.”