Mission

The 30-year-old palm tree that served as the namesake for the Mission’s Lone Palm bar has met its demise, but a new palm tree is apparently in the works.

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.

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.

Next week, the Tenderloin community-based support organization Hospitality House will host its 36th annual art auction to support its Community Arts Program (CAP) in a new format that offers online bidding, a virtual live-auction event, and display of the works for sale at five local galleries.

A three-year saga on the fate of the ficus trees on 24th Street is coming to an end, as the removal of 33 trees has started, though most of the other ficuses are merely being pruned.

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.

The 7-Eleven convenience store at 3998 18th St. (at Noe St.) has permanently closed, and Hoodline has learned its last day in business was Thursday, March 4.

Starting Monday, Mission businesses Zeitgeist and Burma Love are offering a brand new lunch service at Zeitgeist (199 Valencia St.), with bento boxes delivered to the door of the beer garden.

Two bars, two different fates. Over in Bernal Heights/La Lengua, next-door bars El Rio and Virgil's Sea Room, which almost share a backyard were it not for a fence, have arrived at diverging moments in this COVID year.

A priest has died of COVID-19 at Saints Peter and Paul Church in North Beach, 27-year-old Muddy's Coffee House has closed at 24th and Valencia, and an East San Jose gym that had remained open in defiance of health orders has temporarily closed.

Like all neighborhood restaurants and bars around the city, the businesses of Bernal Heights/La Lengua need your support — and there's no better time to go check out the scene again than this sunny weekend in SF.

On Thursday, the Castro/Upper Market Community Benefit District (Castro CBD) launched its new unarmed Public Safety Ambassadors program, part of its new public safety initiative.

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.

The Castro/Upper Market Community Benefit District (Castro CBD) has extended the deadline on its security camera survey and delayed an upcoming virtual town hall.

The 27-Bryant bus route will restart on January 23, 2021, on a realigned route that aims to speed up service while still improving access to low-cost food and healthcare options for Tenderloin residents.

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. 

On Tuesday evening, the Castro's Parisian-themed bakery and cafe Le Marais Bakery (498 Sanchez) had its storefront window smashed and the business burglarized, leaving its owners frustrated and disappointed in what has already been a challenging year for small business owners.

After sitting vacant for a year and a half, the space formerly occupied by popular Mission District brunch spot Mission Beach Cafe at 198 Guerrero St. (at 14th St.) is now home to a new location of El Capitan Taqueria.

Reem's (2901 Mission Street), the Arab bakery-restaurant that opened earlier this year in the former Mission Pie space at 25th and Mission, just suffered another setback in a year of setbacks for the restaurant industry when its primary deck oven apparently exploded.

Castro barbershop Healing Cuts (3903 18th St.) has shuttered after just one year in the Castro. The barbershop's last day in this space will be December 1.

Although 2020 seems to be unending, the holiday season is upon us, and it’s worth remembering the wealth of small businesses scattered across San Francisco that offer the perfect gifts for friends, loved ones, and even yourself.

The City of San Francisco is seeking interest from qualified developers to build affordable rental housing at nine sites across eastern San Francisco, including an unassigned parcel at Pier 70 and several SoMa locations.

An unruly customer messed with the wrong grandmother at Panchita's Pupuseria, where the matriarch owner took matters — and a large wooden table — into her own hands.

The Bay Area has lost its only Deaf-owned and operated restaurant, Mozzeria (3228 16th St.), due to the ongoing pandemic downturn. Deaf owners Melody and Russ Stein say they will continue operating their food truck, but the time has come to give up the brick-and-mortar restaurant in the Mission.

After undergoing a complete renovation, a notorious Castro neighborhood building at 517-519 Sanchez Street (near 18th Street) has sold for $4.8 million.