Wake Up and Smell the…Gentrification?
We love how warm and unpretentious the 24th and Bryant area is. We especially love the harmonious balance between the hipster and Latino cultures which is threatening to become less and less harmonious due to the construction of various sets of condominiums in the area. Each business has its own distinct personality that enhances the overall vibe of the neighborhood, and that's the way we like it.
So, we were surprised a couple of Monday mornings ago to see what seemed to be a hipster oasis that sprouted up over night on 24th St near Bryant. It's a spacious venue with very cool vintage, modern furniture accessorized by perfectly complementary, abstract art. It’s so in-your-face cool that we wondered whether it was a furniture store or a café. Then we vaguely thought, "Well, that would be silly if it’s a café because it’s directly across the street from another new café."
Upon further investigation, it was discovered that the place does indeed serve coffee and that it’s a coffee lounge. And its name is Sugarlump. It's puzzling as to why they set up shop in this particular neighborhood. For one, the sterile, modern/kitsch style of the place seems more appropriate for Hayes Valley or SoMa, and two, Bryant isn't exactly the most central part of the Mission, like Valencia or Mission Streets are. Most people who frequent the area live right around there, which would make it a challenge to fill that large of a space on a regular basis, especially when there's a more established joint right across the street.
SFist Leanne, contributing
On the other hand, it has also been lamented that 24th St needs another coffee shop. L’s Café, the café across the street from Sugarlump, packs the house with art and music events several times a month, but their coffee is kind of watery. Philz coffee, which is very popular in these parts, is way too strong for some people, and those same people can't seem to stomach the odor it emits. St. Francis Fountain has good coffee, but we always forget we could just get coffee-to-go from them.
When we checked out Sugarlump last weekend, we found it had lots of good qualities but lacked personality. The people are nice, the décor is impeccable, the coffee is pretty good, and the menu is interesting but limited: along with pastries and bagels, they have various pies, such as meat pie, chicken curry pie and vegetarian pie. It was observed that the style of the lounge is similar to the cafés in Vancouver and Singapore, and the word "contrived" also came up, which is an accurate description for how the place fits on the block.
Contrary to our humble opinions though, some people don’t find Sugarlump at all creepy, and it's been well occupied most evenings and weekends the times we’ve walked by.
We will probably stop in at Sugarlump here and there, but it would be nice if they tried to take on some of the flavor of the neighborhood. L’s Café had a Latino heavy-metal cover band playing out front a couple of Saturday afternoons ago. Sugarlump, may we suggest you get a Latino heavy-metal cover band of your own. Battle of the Bands, perhaps?