There are two more permanent restaurant closures to rack up in SF. One is the 21-year-old East German restaurant Walzwerk in the Mission, and the other is nine-year-old Dobbs Ferry in Hayes Valley.
Dobbs Ferry had bars on two different sides of the block at Gough and Hayes with a dining room hidden behind. The restaurant opened in late 2011 as a tribute to its owners' history in upstate New York.
As Hoodline reports, owners Lee Ann Frahm Izzo and Steve Izzo — a pair of Waterbar alums who took over from the original owners in 2018 — have decided to cut their losses after failing to renegotiate their lease. They say they're looking for a retail space where they could open a wine bar, hoping to find a way to turn a profit as the pandemic stays with us for however long.
And Walzwerk opened as a charming, bare-bones German restaurant back in 1999 when that part of the Mission — South Van Ness and 15th — was a pretty different place. Owner Christiane Schmidt wanted to specialize in the affordable, hearty fare of the former East Germany, as Eater explains, and the result was a cozy and unique restaurant that always stood out from its counterparts like the more raucous Suppenkuche.
Schmidt also opened a spin-off beer and sausage hall nearby called Schmidt's, and that closed in 2018.
"Our world has changed and we understand why,” Schmidt writes in a closure notice, noting that Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday are your last chances to grab some schnitzel at Walzwerk. "The only way to turn sadness into new beginnings and new adventures is to adjust and move forward!... Proudly looking back on 21 years of serving German food to this amazing city, community, and neighborhood."