Jay Barmann
San Francisco NoPa
11-year-old Bistro Central Parc in NoPa to be revived under new owner
Bistro Central Parc, the popular French bistro at 560 Central Avenue in the NoPa neighborhood that closed in December 2019, will be reopening under new ownership but under the same name in June. Read More
San Francisco
San Francisco enters 'Yellow' tier; indoor bars can reopen without food on May 6
While many bars across the city have spent money on heat lamps and outdoor patio platforms, and partnered with nearby food businesses in order to abide by public health orders that drinking can only be done with a "bona fide meal" in front of you, the last of those rules for bars goes away starting on Thursday, May 6. Read More
San Francisco Castro Pacific Heights
Chef Melissa Perello on the reopening of Octavia and Frances: 'It's like opening two brand new restaurants'
It's been a long 14 months of total closure for a pair of acclaimed neighborhood restaurants, Octavia and Frances, both of which were opened by chef Melissa Perello in the last decade. And she says that the team is taking the task of reopening them one step at a time, with Octavia happening first. Read More
San Francisco Hayes Valley
Hayes Valley's 20th Century Cafe to close in June
Get your ten-layer Russian honey cake while you can. After eight years on Gough Street, pastry chef Michelle Polzine's ode to the cafe culture of Vienna and Prague, 20th Century Cafe, is calling it quits. Read More
San Francisco North Beach
Specs announces mid-May reopening in North Beach
Historic, beloved North Beach dive bar Specs turns 53 years old this week, and after nearly 14 months of being dark, the bar and museum of curios is planning to light up again next month and start slinging its cheap drinks outdoors. Read More
San Francisco Embarcadero
Anthony Strong's SuperStella Van, Red Bay Coffee and more new businesses arrive at the Ferry Building
A spate of high-profile closures at San Francisco's once-thriving Ferry Building is being followed by some more positive news, as four new businesses announce openings at the iconic shopping and dining complex. Read More
San Francisco Divisadero NoPa
Bay Area bagel boom continues with opening of Schlok's in NoPa
After months of operating a wildly popular bagel pop-up, Schlok's is getting set to open a brick-and-mortar shop at 1263 Fell Street, in a former laundromat off Divisadero in NoPa (in the same complex as RT Rotisserie and Nopalito). Read More
San Francisco SoMa
30-bed drug sobering center proposed for Howard Street office building
SF Mayor London Breed on Tuesday announced a proposal to lease an empty office building at 1076 Howard Street for use as a 30-bed drug sobering center, making good on a promise first made before the start of the coronavirus pandemic. The facility will focus on those living on the streets who are experiencing methamphetamine-induced psychosis. Read More
San Francisco Castro Duboce Triangle
2100 Market Street, formerly Home, Church Street Station, and The Truck Stop, makes appearance in 'Doodler' podcast
The one-story, flatiron-shaped building that once lived at 2100 Market was home to multiple businesses over several decades. One of its brief incarnations in the 1970s, a 24-hour diner called The Truck Stop, figures into the unsolved case of "The Doodler," a serial killer who preyed on gay men in San Francisco, and about whom Chronicle reporter Kevin Fagan has just done a new podcast. Read More
Oakland
New Latinx LGBTQ+ club Que Rico opens next week in downtown Oakland
A new nightclub catering to the LGBTQ+ Latinx community of the East Bay is debuting on Tuesday, April 13 — but for obvious reasons it's going to start out sort of low-key serving drinks and quesabirria tacos. Read More
San Francisco Ingleside
New Jersey-based Korean American grocery chain H Mart set to open at the edge of Oceanview
At long last, after about an 18-month delay, popular Korean American grocer H Mart is opening its first San Francisco location in OceanView Village at a near-term date still to be announced. Read More
San Francisco Excelsior
Neighborhood-serving COVID vaccine clinic opens in the Excelsior
A new neighborhood vaccination clinic at 20 Norton Street in the Excelsior District, similar to those that have opened in the Bayview and Mission in the last two months, just opened on Wednesday morning. Read More
San Francisco Cow Hollow Mission Russian Hill Tenderloin
News from the Bay 'hoods: Liholiho Yacht Club relocates, Cow Hollow gets a dispensary, and more
Liholiho is temporarily moving the Dear Inga space on 18th Street, a new Japanese fine dining spot from a former Californios chef is taking the La Folie space in Russian Hill, and Oakland is getting a new ghost kitchen food hall. Read More
San Francisco Outer Richmond Outer Sunset
More than half of SF residents surveyed say the Upper Great Highway should remain car-free
A majority of respondents to a recent survey by the San Francisco County Transportation Authority say they think the Upper Great Highway along Ocean Beach ought to remain closed to vehicle traffic post-pandemic. 53 percent of residents, many of them living in the Sunset District, said the four-lane stretch between Sloat Boulevard and Lincoln Way should remain the pedestrian and bicycle promenade that it has been for the past year. Read More
Oakland
An update on Oakland's internet-famous duck couple, now settled in at their "forever home" in Marin
They've been called "Oakland's cutest couple" and "Ebony and Ivory" and various other things, but a pair of domesticated ducks that were evidently dropped off at Lake Merritt last year to fend for themselves have officially settled into new digs at a rescue sanctuary for injured or neglected farm animals in Marin County. Read More
San Francisco Mission
El Rio reopens its patio for the first time since March 2020
Beloved Mission District bar El Rio is finally reopening its patio, 12 and a half months after it was forced to close along with the rest of the bars across the city in March 2020. Thursday, April 1 is the big day — and the patio will reopen for table service at 4 p.m. Read More
San Francisco Castro
Former Harvey Milk camera store in Castro may become National Park site as HRC vacates space
The storefront at 575 Castro Street, which for over a decade has been home to a Human Rights Campaign (HRC) merchandise store but which was once the home of the camera store out of which Harvey Milk did much of his early political work, may be destined to become a national historic site. HRC announced that they are vacating the space in April, and the landlord has hinted at something "much larger" on the way. Read More
Oakland
News from the Bay 'hoods: Worker-led restaurant Understory set to open in Old Oakland
As more businesses get to reopen around the Bay, we have news of some new ones opening for the first time, as well as a vaccination promotion from Krispy Kreme, and a Cal/OSHA fine for Alta Bates Summit Medical Center. Read More
San Francisco North Beach
Tapas spot Red Window opens Friday in North Beach
Boasting 100 seats outside on two sidewalks, a much anticipated new tapas bar is finally debuting in North Beach following several months of introducing itself to the 'hood via a takeout window. Read More
San Francisco Embarcadero Financial District
Cowgirl Creamery shuts down its Ferry Building store; Slanted Door will reopen after renovation
Sad news arrived late last week that Cowgirl Creamery is closing its Ferry Building store after 18 years of cheesemongering in the beloved food hall. Both the store and its next-door Sidekick Cafe will close on April 10, ending an era for cheese lovers across the region. Read More
San Francisco Noe Valley
Noe Valley Malaysian restaurant Mahila closes after less than two years
Sad closure news came this week out of Noe Valley, where local chef and food entrepreneur Azalina Eusope's first brick-and-mortar Malaysian restaurant, Mahila (1320 Castro Street), has permanently closed after just 21 months. Read More
San Francisco SoMa
Don Ramon's avoids closure for now, files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
The iconic, nearly 40-year-old SoMa Mexican restaurant Don Ramon's (225 11th Street) has skirted a permanent closure for now as it attempts to escape its current financial woes via Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring. Read More
San Francisco
News from the Bay 'hoods: Maven closes, Sweetgreen comes to Old Oakland, and so does Square Pie Guys
Nine-year-old cocktail-focused spot Maven is closing its doors later this month in the Lower Haight, one of the swans at the Palace of Fine Arts has died, and Old Oakland has a new pizza spot and a salad spot on the way. Read More
San Francisco North Beach
Tosca Cafe reopens parklet, indoor dining to come
102-year-old Tosca Cafe (242 Columbus Ave.) is coming alive yet again in North Beach, after a too-brief rebirth last year, and following its much bemoaned 2019 closure. Read More
San Francisco Noe Valley
Delayed pub project Mr. Digby's plans April debut in Noe Valley
Mr. Digby's, a casual restaurant and cocktail spot from a couple with established SF restaurant cred in the former Noe's Cantina space (1199 Church St.), is now aiming for an April opening after being delayed nearly a year by the pandemic. Read More