Even though indoor dining is back on in San Francisco, albeit in tandem with a long list of COVID-19 safety protocols, locals have grown to love our city’s burgeoning al fresco dining scene.

In response to the police killing of a 21-year-old suspect involved in an alleged carjacking Saturday night, a peaceful protest was held near Hayes Valley Monday night to denounce police brutality.

We learned last week that SF’s program to house the homeless in SIP hotels is coming to an end, and the City will start transitioning some away to other types of housing.

The upscale-casual Daughter's Diner had hoped to open in downtown Oakland earlier this year — but then the pandemic derailed those plans.

Undiscovered SF's Sunday street markets continue to offer a COVID-19-safe weekend outdoor shopping experience in SF's SOMA Filipino cultural district, supporting small local businesses.

SF’s temporary parklets have proven to be good for businesses and locals looking for some pre-pandemic normalcy — but the City program responsible for them is set to expire December 31.

The past seven months have encouraged San Franciscans to reacquaint themselves with city parks — and now, there’s a new one to explore that even includes an accessible beach and two-acre grassy lawn.

Among an increasingly long list of imminent reopenings, the Mission District’s beloved cultural space and bookstore, Alley Cat Bookstore & Gallery, is set to open its doors Thursday, October 29 — with a curated vinyl collection and “new intentions” for the independent bookstore.

During a time of endless restaurant closures, East Bay Chef Leilani Baugh has managed to ascend the odds and will hold the grand opening of her new West Oakland restaurant, Magnolia Street Wine Lounge and Kitchen, this Friday, featuring well-priced “Casian-Creole” cuisine.

Over the weekend, multiple drop-off ballot stations across San Francisco opened for early voting — including nine at San Francisco Public Library (SFPL) locations.

With San Francisco eyeing to set a city voting turnout record, the vast majority of local propositions on this year’s ballot are expected to win as votes continue being counted.

Dishing out generously portioned, cross-cultural street food, Señor Sisig’s signature specialties are now available with a plant-based bend at their vegan food truck, Señor Sisig Vegano, which debuted over the weekend in the Mission District.

After shuttering its downtown Oakland location last October, Donut Savant debuted its new East Oakland store today to large, socially distant crowds.

Long-time San Francisco restaurateur and owner of Civic Center’s Soluna Cafe & Lounge, Rene Denis opened his latest venture, Chao Pescao, Thursday — turning the once Cuban-Colombian delivery pop-up into a permanent eatery.

Foothills Park, the notoriously inaccessible green space in Palo Alto that's been off-limits to the public for decades, is now open for anyone to enjoy — marking an end to its decades-old status as a private park.

It’s estimated that Indigenous people — those of American Indian descent — make up just about .03% of San Francisco’s total population. But a new American Indian heritage hub expected to be built near 56 Julian Avenue hopes to bring both awareness and support to the historically underrepresented population. 

The Grand Lake Theater — Oakland’s historic cinema famous for its attention-grabbing marquee messages — has been closed since March. And now most of its crew members have “run out of their unemployment benefits,” leading the theater to create a fundraiser that will offer some financial support for its staff.

The pandemic has cemented our love affair with comfort foods — chief among them pizza and to-go cocktails. DamnFine (3410 Judah Street), one of the newest restaurants to grace the Outer Sunset, is intent on being a one-stop destination for all that and more.

The SF Queer Nightlife Fund (QNF) — a Bay Area nonprofit geared toward supporting the region’s LGBTQ+ entertainment workers — has announced it’s accepting yet another round of applications for emergency grant awards.

After over 26 years in business, the family-owned-and-operated J. Georgie's Donuts & Chinese Food (2799 16th Street at Folsom) — which, over the decades, has been known for dishing out generous orange chicken plates and dozens of glazed donuts — is on the market.

Mirigian, an avid Giants fan who had lived in the same Balboa Park house she bought back in the 1950s, passed away Friday morning surrounded by friends and family. At 114, she was believed to be the oldest-living San Franciscan.

Last Wednesday, a three-block stretch of West Oakland's Ninth Street was renamed to pay homage to the co-founder of the Black Panther Party, Dr. Huey P. Newton — another example of recent acts honoring the legacy of the Black Panther movement.

Oakland’s dreamscape of bright colors and childhood nostalgia, Fairyland is set to reopen to the public on March 19 after being shuttered for over four months.

The Mission Community Market — an open-air farmers' market that regularly features local farmers, small neighborhood businesses, community programs, and the occasional live-music act — is expected to return Thursday for the first time in 2021.

In April, Red Bay Coffee — the Oakland roaster that’s known for its environmentally-conscious practices and globally-sourced beans — will come to the Ferry Building to bring their “fourth wave” of coffee closer to customers this side of the Bay Bridge.

Every Sunday through the end of June, a block off Noe and Market streets transforms into an outdoor art market, where passersby can purchase anything from potted succulents to psychedelic portraits from participating vendors.

The neglected greenhouses at 770 Woolsey Street in the Portola District were once part of a thriving flower nursery over 100 years ago. However, they might be restored as an education center for urban farming after the land was offered to be sold to a local nonprofit.

Spring is in full force — which means coyote pupping season is here. And to thwart unwanted squabbles with domestic canines, large sections of the Presidio’s Park Trail and the Bay Area Ridge Trail will be off-limits to dog walking starting Monday, April 5.

Sandwiched between Oracle Park and the Chase Center, New Belgium Brewing — one of the largest craft brewers in the country — officially opened its first company-owned and operated taproom and eatery, New Belgium, at 1000a 3rd Street in San Francisco on Friday. 

Red Bay Coffee — the eco-conscious Oakland coffee roaster that will open a cafe inside the Ferry Building later this month — unveiled its new public roastery and headquarters this week at 3136 International Boulevard in Oakland. And it’s every bit as gorgeous as you can possibly imagine.

EV battery startup QuantumScape has leased a massive production site in San Jose, hinting at the company’s intent to bring its “groundbreaking” solid-state battery products to market before 2025.

Beloved Korean grocery store H Mart has set an opening date for its first San Francisco location on April 21 — taking over a 42,000-square-foot space at 3995 Alemany Boulevard.

In light of India’s catastrophic second Covid-19 wave, ten local Indian eateries have partnered together to donate 50% of their sales on May 25 toward COVID-19 response efforts in India.

The pandemic has continued to devastate the Bay Area’s restaurant scene, and it is forcing Tanya Holland, chef-owner of Oakland’s beloved Brown Sugar Kitchen, to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

This $650,000 fixer-upper in Visitacion Valley is proof that reasonably priced SF real estate usually means something is terribly, terribly wrong.

In celebration of California’s Big Reopening Day next Tuesday, a Gold Rush-themed bar at 460 Larkin Street is teaming up with four other Tenderloin watering holes for a joint bar crawl that will be held the same day. And yes, there will be treasure maps involved.

Here 4 U, a happening described as an ode to chosen families and the inherent strength of the LGBTQIA+ community, will feature performances by local drag queen favorites Nicki Jizz, Dulce de Leche, and Yves Saint Croissant that will pedestal queer creativity.

After a five-day-long soft launch, the AAPI-owned bakeshop officially opened this past Sunday on Larkin Street — debuting its collection of beautiful, Instagrammable desserts.

Over 150 people gathered near the SAP Center in San Jose Saturday morning to celebrate the grand reveal of Barack Obama Boulevard, a newly renamed half-mile stretch of pavement that honors the 44th President of the United States.

In an effort to offer assistance to Afghan refugees, iniBurger has decided to donate a percentage of its earnings from August to September toward a relief fund.

After a 19-month hiatus, the non-profit venture UNDSCVRD SF will host its first in-person event on October 16, which will feature a culture crawl through the SoMa Pilipinas Culture District.

Estiatorio Ornos, a Michael Mina restaurant at 252 California Street, is the next iteration for the storied space that used to house Mina's eponymous restaurant.

The Vault Steakhouse — an upscale steakhouse by Hi Neighbor Hospitality Group — is set to begin serving downtown diners tomorrow, October 1, inside the 555 California Street building.

An influential figure of the Black Panther Party, Dr. Huey P. Newton was honored Sunday when a bronze bust debuted in West Oakland, simultaneously commemorating the political party's 55th anniversary.

Now in its 24th year, the San Francisco Transgender Film Festival (STFF) will begin on November 11 — and will continue to hold its title as the longest-running transgender film festival in the entire world.

The bioluminescent dreamscape that is Oakland Zoo’s Glowfari returned just before the weekend for the second year in a row, attracting thousands to the animal park to view the massive lanterns inspired by global fauna.

A new, sun-drenched yoga studio on 16th Street called HAUM will — after months of planning and preparation — debut to the public on December 3.

La Cocina, the beloved and award-winning kitchen incubator, is set to host its first in-person event since the pandemic began: a holiday pop-up at the Tenderloin's La Cocina Municipal Marketplace.

Rose Pizzeria — the East Bay pizza joint that was initially expected to debut earlier this summer — will open Wednesday, December 1, at 1960 University Avenue in Berkeley with pizzas that focus on thin crusts made from “heritage grains” and topped by high-quality ingredients.

Safeway shoppers inside the Castro location at 2020 Market Street were met with a new sight over the weekend: automated gates and fencing to help deter shoplifting.

What was once a SoMa pop-up restaurant in 2019, SF Chickenbox has since grown into a fully-fledged eatery with a permanent location at 464 Broadway. But without needed renovations, the North Beach business could go the way of the dodo bird. 

For the first time since 2019, nearly 600 bird watchers will take to Bay Area parks, shorelines, and their backyards over the next two weeks for the Golden Gate Audubon Society’s annual Christmas Bird Count (CBC).

With just two days left until Christmas, it’s still not too late to grab a libation at any one of these Bay Area pop-up bars that exude all the seasonal cheer.

Perhaps best known for its packaged chips and salsas, Casa Sanchez became San Francisco’s 100th legacy business back in 2017 — and its longtime location at 2778 24th Street might soon be recognized as a City landmark.

Van Cleef & Arpels — a centuries-old jewelry chain founded in Paris — and the luxury fashion company Chanel recently acquired new retail store locations in Union Square that are set to debut this year, each real estate investment existing as a sign that downtown SF is rebounding.

Amusingly named Meta Park, a 2.2-acre new bit of green space at the end of Chilco Street in Menlo Park debuted this past weekend to the public, featuring a sloped grass lawn and access to the 350-mile-long San Francisco Bay Trail.

Ora Wine Bar — a new spot at 1519 Polk Street that features a crafted menu of international wines — opened this past October from the husband and wife duo behind North Beach’s Bask tapas eatery.

To show gratitude for the store’s loyal customer base and support local writers, Bookshop West Portal is kicking off its weekend live-reading series Sunday, March 6, which will run until the end of the month.

Brickyard Cove became the newest public space inside the 1,833-acre McLaughlin Eastshore State Park over the weekend, adding a list of amenities — picnic tables, walking paths, bike racks, and more — to the area, as well as easier access to the SF Bay Trail.

Announced on Earth Day last week, SF Parks Alliance — San Francisco’s only citywide nonprofit dedicated to the municipality’s parks — relaunched its Heart Your Parks campaign that first debuted in 2020 to celebrate and show appreciation for SF’s 220 parks and open spaces.

Citing a list of financial concerns, the City College of San Francisco's Board of Trustees finalized 38 faculty layoffs during a virtual meeting this past Friday.

Less than a year after debuting its Mission District location, HAUM — the queer-owned, community-driven yoga studio currently at 2973 16th Street — is set to open its second studio inside the closed Yoga Tree Stanyan space (780 Stanyan Street).

The Palo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo hosted its official grand reopening this weekend, debuting at its new location at 1451 Middlefield Road.

Fermentation Lab, the San Francisco gastropub that’s beloved for its pickled foods and occasional strong brews, will expand from its 6,000-square-foot mid-Market location and open another eatery in Japantown soon.

The last Corgi Con held in San Francisco was in 2019, bringing with it hundreds of stubby dogs and thousands of humans eager to see corgis race one another, don cute costumes, and grab a picture with one (or several) of them. After a pandemic-spurred hiatus, Ocean Beach will again have many short tails wagging in the wind this weekend.

After months of construction and planning, HAUM — the queer-owned, community-driven yoga studio, which opened its first location in the Mission District last year — debuted its new Haight-Ashbury studio this week, complete with a plethora of plants and fresh indoor murals.

Coming off a two-year hiatus spurred by the pandemic, the San Francisco Art Book Fair (SFABF) at Minnesota Street Project will debut this Thursday, July 14, to the public — allowing local, national, and international publishers to exhibit their works to an estimated 50,000-plus visitors over four days.

Debuting back in 2017, UNDSCRVD SF — the Filipino night market that comes to SoMa come fall — will return for its sixth season on October 22nd for what organizers are calling its “biggest season yet,” complete with more artists, food pop-ups, and DJs than ever before.

The San Francisco SPCA currently has a good amount of adult dogs and cats up for adoption. In order to help them find their forever homes, the animal rescue is participating in the Clear the Shelters nationwide campaign, which aims to help older pets get adopted.

Called “Seize the Time,” the Oakland Museum of California’s upcoming exhibit will be curated around the influence of Angela Davis and includes over 130 pieces organized into four sections, each one themed around a specific topic around her advocacy work.

The first-ever Portola Music Festival — the two-day concert series that was held this past weekend on Pier 80 — included outstanding performances from famous acts like Charli XCX and Flume, but the festival's high points were kicked down a notch due to long lines and dangerous crowd conditions.

For the second time this year, Sunday Streets SF — an initiative of the non-profit Livable City that’s goal is to host programs that show the benefits of car-free spaces — will host another Phoenix Day event this Sunday, featuring eleven “Family Fun Hub Destinations.”

Taste of Denmark — one of Oakland’s oldest family-owned businesses — announced over the weekend that it would be closing up shop for good. The bakery served its last pastries Sunday at 3 p.m., with people lining up to get one last treat from the dessert shop.

Pop’s Bar at 2800 24th Street was named a Legacy Business in San Francisco last month, adding it to the list of over 120 legacy restaurants, bars, and shops currently recognized throughout the city.

Taking over the taproom once occupied by Fort Point Beer Company at 701 Haight Street, the owners and operators of Nopalito will debut a new cocktail bar inside the space in the spring of 2023.

About 20% of the population suffers from dyslexia, though many people go throughout their entire lives without a formal diagnosis. "Dyslexic Dictionary" — a new exhibit in the Presidio that features contributions from notable dyslexics like governor Gavin Newsom and author Sally Gardner — makes it clear that the learning disorder can also be a “hyper-ability.”

Returning for another year, Exploratorium’s annual light art show, "GLOW: Discover the Art of Light," returns on November 17 and will showcase works from six participating artists.