As you may know, the popular Proxy project on Octavia Street in Hayes Valley was built as a temporary placeholder on vacant lots owned by the city. Well, Supervisor London Breed just announced that we'll be hoisting steins at Biergarten at least through 2021, and this is terrific news.
Hayeswire is reporting the news, and Breed says she's happy for the city's decision. She calls Proxy, "a true asset to Hayes Valley, and... far better for the community, far more enriching, and more fun than a parking lot, which was the area's previous use."
Since they opened in 2011, the shipping container-based structures (dubbed "cargo-tecture") have been home to Smitten Ice Cream, Ritual Coffee, the Streets of San Francisco Bike Tours, the cool two-story Aether Apparel shop, and Suppenkuche spinoff Biergarten. (An early plan for an outdoor Pizzeria Delfina was scrapped.) And most of these businesses have seen lines and crowds, especially on nice days, since the day they opened.
Their current lease would have expired in 2016, with the initial three-year agreement extended last year to five years. But some have wondered how long the fun could last with land values rising in the city, the current housing shortage, and these vacant lots being earmarked for affordable housing something the city acknowledged was not going to be economically feasible back in 2009, when the idea for Proxy first took shape.
And you need to go to Biergarten on a Wednesday sometime for their extraordinary burger, with a huge and juicy Prather Ranch patty and toppings that change each week. It's only served one night a week, but occasionally there will be leftovers early on a Thursday.
