Ice Cream Bar's 'Castro Fountain' Pushed Back Until Summer

Ice Cream Bar's 'Castro Fountain' Pushed Back Until SummerPhotos: Steven Bracco/Hoodline
Steven Bracco
Published on March 04, 2016

It's been a while since we last updated you on the status of the Castro Fountain, the upcoming ice cream shop from the team behind Cole Valley's The Ice Cream BarBack in August, we reported that Castro Fountain would be opening sometime in the fall/winter of 2015, in the former L'Occitane space at 554 Castro.

Since then, it's been working its way through the permitting process, gaining approval in September for a change of use of from retail to limited restaurant. Other than that, it's mostly sat vacant, but some construction recently began inside, so we checked in on its status.

DrinkPR's Debbie Rizzo, who represents the Castro Fountain, told us that the delay is due to "major issues with PG&E." She wouldn't expand on what, exactly, those issues were, but told us that "our hope [for an opening date] is early summer."

Image: SF Planning

The Planning Department has some online documentation that shows what the inside of the shop is going to look like. It'll have both counter seating and general restaurant seating up front, along with patio seating on the sidewalk.

We also asked for some more details on the menu, including whether Castro Fountain will serve the Ice Cream Bar's "remedies" fountain drinks, which contain alcohol. Rizzo couldn't provide any info, but it appears that the new shop still hasn't filed for a beer and wine license, so there may not be any adults-only treats at this location. We'll be sure to update you with more details as we find out.