Closures
Black Sands Brewery (701 Haight St.)
Black Sands Brewery has recently announced they will close on January 1, 2020 for six months and reopen in mid-2020 as Fort Point Lower Haight.
According to a statement from Fort Point Beer Co., which owns the business, the city has requested building updates to "bring the property up to historic compliance." The company is using the closure as an opportunity to update the restaurant and expand on its brewery capabilities.
The brewery’s representatives said current Black Sands employees will “have the option to continue working through the end of the year, be placed at other Fort Point locations, and will be given priority hiring when the space reopens."
"We are excited to make some necessary updates to the Black Sands Brewery space — make it more comfortable for guests and an easier space to work for employees," said Justin Catalana, Fort Point Beer Co. co-founder and CEO, in a statement.
"We love our Haight Street community, we have a lot of regulars who I hope will join us at one of our other locations, either Fort Point Ferry Building, Fort Point Valencia, or Mill Valley Beerworks," he said.
FK Frozen Custard (791 Haight St.)
According to a note posted to its window, Lower Haight’s FK Frozen Custard closed on November 3. It opened in 2018 at 791 Haight St.
We spoke to Jason Angeles, who said the economics of operations in San Francisco made it unfeasible to be in the the Lower Haight.
“It didn’t have enough foot traffic to survive,” said Angeles, “and the rent was steep for the square footage.”
Angeles said that while the business had been hanging on since it opened, it started going into the red earlier this year. He did what he could to improve it, such as changing some flavors, but it didn't make enough of a difference. Angeles said he waited until after the summer to shut it down, for the sake of its fans in the neighborhood.
However, this isn't the end of the road for Angeles. He said the Frozen Kuhsterd food truck, the company's original venture that launched in 2011, is still doing very well.
The truck, which is currently undergoing a redesign, regularly caters Bay Area events such as Outside Lands, and several tech campuses around the Bay Area such as Facebook and Google.
"Frozen Kuhsterd is not dead," Angeles said, in fact, "it's still very profitable and we are going to direct our focus on it as well as doing some wholesale."
Updates
Wonderland (500 Haight St.)
Several tipsters have contacted us about changes going on at Wonderland.
According to the logo and design on its exterior, it will now be called YH Beijing.
Public records indicate that its owners are still Dragorse Inc, same owners as Wonderland, so it is likely just a rebrand. We’ve reached out to its owners but have not heard back. We will provide updates on this story when we learn more.
Thanks to tipster Nadia. If you've seen something new (or closing) in the neighborhood, text your tips and photos to (415) 200-3233, or email [email protected]. If we use your info in a story, we'll give you credit.
