Fans will be sad to know that longtime Inner Sunset staple Pomelo has closed. Pomelo served customers for the final time on April 30th, as first reported by Tablehopper. The closure comes after nearly 25 years in business at 92 Judah Street (between 5th and 6th Avenues).
Its shutdown was triggered mainly by complications that stem from coronavirus. “In addition to the loss of our lease and a financially devastating 2 years of the pandemic, it has become an insurmountable challenge to keep up with ever-increasing costs and supply chain issues, secure qualified staffing, and work through the city red tape,” the restaurant said in an Instagram post.
Photo Credit: @pomelosf/Instagram
Pomelo was known for its creative dishes that were named after well-known cities across the world. It had a robust brunch menu that literally offered something for every taste palate. The range of the menu was impressive featuring dishes like the Sukabumi, an Indonesian rice and chicken porridge with fried soybeans, Chinese celery, yellow curry, shrimp chips, and fried shallots, or the Miraflores which featured crispy Afro-Peruvian bean and rice pancake with Peruvian yellow pepper sauce, topped with marinated grilled skirt steak, fried plantains and an egg sunny side up.
“It was our great joy and privilege to take your palate around the world! We will miss all of you and want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the loyalty, friendships, and sense of family that we so generously received from you,” the Instagram post from Pomelo’s owner Rolf Bachmann said. Pomelo also once had another location on Church Street in Noe Valley from 2001 to 2016.
Photo Credit: @pomelosf/Instagram
Pomelo was named after a large type of citrus fruit from Southeast Asia and a replica of the fruit hung from the front of the location on Judah Street. Pomelo’s legacy and its unique recipes may live on in the form of a cookbook. “Keep following this account for a possible announcement about a collection of recipes which we might publish in the coming months,” the restaurant posted on Instagram, so, keep an eye out for that.
