"I have no money," Landeros, 32, said with a laugh to the mechanic from down the block, "so it's either sex or food. To keep up the pace, energy drinks help.Īsk Paco why his mother goes to McDonald's at night. On Sundays, she tries to catch up on sleep. ![]() She sleeps in the mornings between the two jobs, trying for three hours' rest. The McDonald's gig pays her around $267 a week. To eat and pay her most pressing bills, she's taking about $200 a week out of the restaurant. Sunday through Thursday she works at McDonald's from 11 p.m. Here's Landeros' schedule: Monday through Saturday she's at Sophia's from 11 a.m. Without Jose around, she's both server and cook.Īfter two months of looking for extra income, in February she got the manager's job at McDonald's, making $9 an hour. Her delivery man works not for a paycheck but for a room in her house. She has cut back everywhere at the restaurant and no longer pays a window washer or a knife sharpener. She's trying to negotiate with the bank to reduce the mortgage of $831 a month. Jeannie Landeros is still there with her two kids, 3-year-old Francisco, called Paco, and 1-year-old Cristian. In February, the bank foreclosed on their home. The dispute strained their marriage the couple separated in December. Jose Landeros wanted to close the restaurant. Dinner regulars who had been coming twice a week began coming twice a month. There were fewer people around to buy lunch at Sophia's. Then came the recession and area businesses closed. Money was tight, but the couple had a future. ![]() There were long days with Landeros working the tables and her husband in the kitchen, and within five years they had paid off the remaining $50,000. In 2002, seven years after Landeros began work at Sophia's, she and her husband, Jose, had the $30,000 down payment they needed to buy the restaurant from its original owners. The two married, bought a house, saved their money. She fell in love with a Mexican immigrant who worked in the kitchen. Landeros started as a server at Sophia's, 1710 N Hercules Ave., Clearwater, when she was 18. It may not be enough and Sophia's could be lost, a possibility Landeros can't imagine. Landeros owes more than $8,000 to her landlord, and she has taken a second job, managing a Safety Harbor McDonald's overnight, to save the restaurant. ![]() But Sophia's is gasping for breath in today's economy.
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