Nestled between shops along the Irving Street corridor west of 19th Avenue lies Smokin D’s BBQ, which is “Bringin’ Texas BBQ to the Bay,” as is noted across its bright orange awning.
Shane Curnyn and Josh Lowe left the East Coast separately, chasing the same vision: a city dense enough to support an architecture practice and an ocean close enough to surf before work. Fifteen years after founding Juniper Architecture, the two principals run their firm in a former motorcycle repair shop on Balboa Street, blocks away from their favorite surf spot near the Cliff House.
Along Judah Street in the Outer Sunset, steps away from the ocean, lies an unassuming establishment near the corner of 39th Avenue. This cozy spot has been a fan favorite to locals in the Sunset District since it first opened five years ago.
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.
Chikako Kuramoto’s mother packed her a bento box every morning, kindergarten through high school, on a street of small family-run shops in Mitaka, a suburb of Tokyo, where everyone knew each other.
In a time where big corporations are the immediate answer for aesthetic needs, Shlomit and David Heller keep things local with the Beauty Network. The two have been providing beauty services for the past 40 years and continue to offer guidance to those who inquire.
For the past 35 years, a beloved Indian restaurant has stood at 6127 Geary Blvd. between 25th and 26th avenues. Now, under new and changing leadership, Ocean Indian Cuisine is beginning a gradual transformation, one menu item at a time.
When Frank McGinn opened Amazing Fantasy in August 2000, he thought it would take weeks of painting, cleaning and stocking before the comics shop would open. But on the Sunday he took possession of the storefront, Irving Street neighbors poked their heads in to see what was replacing the old Comics and Comix location. They immediately dove into to help: cleaning and painting, whatever it took. One neighbor brought his truck to take away loads of rubbish. On the following Saturday, the shop opened. Community, it seems, has always mattered here.
Valeriya Romashchenko opened Cuprum Bakery in 2024, offering sourdough and other baked goods produced in her home kitchen in the Inner Richmond. The popularity of Romashchenko’s cottage bakery, like her sourdough bread, is rising in the Richmond District and beyond.
Walk up to a plum-colored house, just steps away from Golden Gate Park and you will find fresh sourdough bread stacked neatly on a white rack on the stoop, waiting to be bought. Here is where Inna Pak, a Richmond resident and full-time mom, operates her new microbakery, Plum Perfect.
Instead of waiting for their orders by the pick-up counter, customers of Constance Tea & Matcha often flock to the back of the studio, where three granite stone mills are actively grinding tencha leaves into the fine green powder that will fill their drinks. At most cafes in the U.S., this step is done thousands of miles away, but at Constance, it happens just 20 feet from the register.
A San Francisco restaurant owner closed his Richmond District business on July 28 after he was put in a chokehold outside of it in March, in what he said was a racially motivated attack, and after prosecutors declined to file charges.
The window of Yvonne’s Southern Sweets sat shattered after vandalism. For Yvonne Hines, the owner of the Bayview shop, this was not merely cosmetic; it was a threat to her business’s ability to operate. For many small businesses, a broken storefront can mean days or weeks without customers, repair bills and uncertainty about whether reopening is even possible.
There has been palpable excitement in the Richmond District ever since Rose Pizzeria, the popular Berkeley-based casual pizzeria opened in the neighborhood. The new San Francisco branch began serving lunch and dinner in late April, on the corner of Clement Street and Arguello Boulevard, in the former Village Pizzeria space.
A new Vietnamese sandwich shop, also offering coffee drinks and iced teas, has begun its soft-opening on Balboa Street near Fifth Avenue. Ghien Banh Mi & Cafe was started by Tuan Luu and Uyen Vu, who also own Luxury Spa.
