San Francisco's Schlok’s Bagels & Lox is set for expansion, launching a second location downtown. The new outpost at 315 California Street, nestled on the ground floor of the historic Robert Dollar Building, is scheduled to fire up the ovens late this summer. This marks a significant growth from its original takeout-only shop on 1263 Fell Street, which opened its doors in 2022, as per the San Francisco Chronicle.
Zack Schwab, co-owner of Schlok’s, expressed enthusiasm for downtown San Francisco's potential, considering the pandemic left vacancies now ready to be reinvigorated by local enterprises. "We believe in San Francisco, and we believe in downtown," Schwab said, as per the San Francisco Chronicle, "As terrible as COVID was for downtown, a silver lining is that there is now an opportunity for local small businesses to fill these vacancies instead of mostly formula retailers like we saw before COVID." The new location promises 20 seats and a vantage point for customers to watch as lox is meticulously sliced by hand.
The latest addition to Schlok’s arrives amid a bagel boom within the Bay Area, which saw Boichik Bagels opening nearby. According to SFGATE, this is a direct response to the area's revitalization and customer demand. Schwab aims to cater to downtown professionals with "one downtown that’s hopefully quite busy on the weekdays," contrasting with its NoPa location, which peaks during weekends.
On Instagram, Schlok’s Bagels & Lox confirmed the expansion, highlighting careful consideration in maintaining the quality amidst their growth. The post read, "This has been a long, thoughtful process over the past year, as we’ve all seen what quick expansion can do to quality. we had to be sure our team and product were in a good place, and it had to be the right location." The new space also aims to support the team by providing additional capacity, aiding quicker fulfillment of citywide delivery and catering orders.
