Mark Guerra arrived in America as a 17-year-old in 1946, fleeing war-torn Italy. He came first to Cow Hollow, where a man from his hometown in Lucca had set up Puccini Meats, a now-closed chain of markets that became a gateway of sorts for Italian immigrants. Mark started on the floor and moved his way up to become a partner in the businesses by 1950.

“We have customers who say they knew my father before he spoke English,” his son Robert Guerra laughs. Mark went on to open his own business Guerra Quality Meats in 1954 and raised his sons to take the reins. In 1992 his youngest son Robert joined older brothers Bill and Paul in running their dad’s shop on Taraval Street and 15th Avenue. Bill and Paul have both since retired, but the three brothers launched the butcher shop into the 21st century.