International Smoke, the Michael Mina and Ayesha Curry barbecue restaurant at the base of Millennium Tower in SoMa, has gone quiet in San Francisco as of last Wednesday. The Mina Group has pulled reservation availability and posted a short note saying the space is being readied for a new concept. The restaurant first opened in 2017 and was Curry’s first brick-and-mortar venture in the city.
The official statement
In a brief message on the restaurant’s site, the Mina Group said it has made the decision to close International Smoke to finalize renovations for an exciting next chapter, and thanked staff and guests for their support. The post does not name a replacement concept, though local outlets have reported that a test-kitchen project is expected to move into the space. The message appears on the homepage, according to International Smoke’s website, and KTVU has covered the closure.
Mina: pandemic and construction hit the location
Chef Michael Mina told Eater SF that the SoMa location never fully bounced back after pandemic shutdowns and lengthy exterior construction tied to the Millennium Tower’s long-running foundation work. "I feel like that location got caught between two things," Mina said, pointing to the pandemic and a construction wall that kept foot traffic away. Eater SF also notes that Mina Test Kitchen, the rotating pop-up that originally helped launch International Smoke, paused operations in 2019.
Neighborhood Test Kitchen is planned
Mina and his team plan to revive that test-kitchen model with a new Neighborhood Test Kitchen in the Millennium Tower space, hosting rotating chef residencies and family-style meals, according to Eater SF. Mina intends to keep the pricing 'approachable,' with meals in the $55 to $65 range, and the Mina Group projects a fall 2026 opening, depending on how construction plays out. The refreshed concept is expected to feature a renovated dining room, private event space and an expanded kitchen designed to support longer chef residencies.
Where the brand stands
International Smoke expanded to multiple markets over the years, but several locations have already gone dark. SFGATE reported that the Las Vegas outpost closed in January 2025, and Houstonia covered the CityCentre Houston closure in 2019. That contraction, combined with the pandemic and the drawn-out Millennium Tower construction issues, helps explain why Mina has opted to retool the SoMa site as a testing ground for new ideas. For now, the Mina Group says it will use the space to pilot concepts before deciding whether any of them will grow beyond the tower’s ground floor.
