Bay Area/ San Francisco
Published on January 19, 2011
Bi-Rite Market, With Scoop Shop, Opening Next Door to Nopa
Remember back in June, when we learned that Bi-Rite was opening a new market at 736 Divisadero? Well, we need to amend that. Though Bi-Rite is still planning to open a store on Divis, it'll actually be bigger, creamier, and two blocks further south than we thought.


Last week, reader John D. sent us the above photo from the window of 550 Divisadero which reveals Bi-Rite's plans to move into the space. Now, Tablehopper reports (and Bi-Rite owner Sam Mogannam confirms) that yes, they'll be opening at 550 Divis, not 736. As Mogannam tells Haighteration:
The new location is a bit bigger and much wider allowing us to incorporate an ice cream scoop counter into the space as well. We are still not sure what the plans for 736 D will be, but most likely we will rent or sell the space. We hope to have 550 open by end of summer, early fall. Septemberish.
To clarify, Mogannam explains that the ice cream shop will not be a stand-alone space like Bi-Rite's Creamery location on 18th Street, but "a scoop counter within the market with easy access in and out so as not to interfere with the market’s guests."
550 Divisadero is adjacent to Nopa, and as Aggressive Panhandler notes, it's currently the home of the oddly-named Divisadero Farmer's Market & Deli (not to be confused with the weekly Sunday farmer's market on Grove, of course).
If city records are to be believed, the space is double the size of Bi-Rite's original location, at 5,450 square feet compared to 2726. That could alleviate one tiny issue we have with the 18th Street market -- that it can be a little hard to navigate. This also means we'll soon have a San Francisco ice cream trifecta -- Three Twins, Humphry Slocombe (at Falletti's), and Bi-Rite -- all within a few blocks of each other. Indian summer scoop crawl, anyone?