By Neal Wong

My Tofu House, the restaurant at 4627 Geary Blvd. between 10th and 11th avenues, closed after nearly 25 years, with its final day of service on Aug. 3. It was the only restaurant in San Francisco that specialized in sundubu-jjigae, a traditional Korean stew made with soft tofu.

Owner Jae Hyo Sa, walking out of the shop on the evening of Aug. 4, said he was retiring. Reached by phone the following day, his son, Myung Jin Sa, said the lease had expired.

A notice taped to the restaurant’s windows thanked customers for a quarter century of business and described the closure as a difficult decision.

“We are deeply grateful for your loyalty and for making us a part of your lives,” the notice read. “We will miss you dearly and wish you the very best.”

The restaurant opened on Dec. 3, 2001. It specialized in sundubu-jjigae, a bubbling stew of silken tofu served in earthenware bowls, with variations on the menu and diners cracking a raw egg into the broth at the table.

Chiemi Uchiyama first ate there about five or six years ago and kept ordering from it, often sending her son to pick up takeout. She said the house kimchi, which tasted homemade to her, was what brought her back.

“Their food, the taste is good, and I like the kimchi,” Uchiyama said. “The kimchi is the best I ever had.”

Uchiyama said the prices were reasonable enough to make repeat orders easy. She did not know the restaurant had closed until she walked past the empty storefront.

“It was lively,” said Jack Gallagher, a resident of the neighborhood. “There were always people going in and out of it, so it always seemed like kind of a neighborhood staple.”

Gallagher said that he noticed that stretch of Geary Boulevard has grown quieter as businesses have closed in recent years.

He said My Tofu House had seemed to be an exception, holding its crowds even as neighboring storefronts turned over.

“These guys’ tofu has always seemed to have folks going in and out,” Gallagher said. “So sad to see it close.”

In 2007, Patricia Unterman reviewed it for the San Francisco Examiner, writing that she joined the nightly line for one of its partitioned tables after a friend recommended the soft tofu, and that the stew’s balance won over a guest at her table who had never liked tofu before. She singled out the fish egg and dumpling versions, along with the pork bibimbap, served in a stoneware bowl hot enough to crisp a layer of rice at the bottom.

Ten years later, Esther Mobley included the kimchi soft tofu soup with pork in the San Francisco Chronicle’s 2017 roundup of the best meals in the Inner Richmond for under $20. The listing recommended eating the complimentary banchan, or Korean side dishes, while the soup cooled.

People craving Korean tofu soup can still get it steps away on the same block, at Wooden Charcoal Korean Village Barbecue House. Restaurants specializing in the dish still exist elsewhere in the Bay Area, like Joodooboo in Oakland or Dae Jang Geum Tofu House in Daly City.