SF News

SF's 'Doomed' Downtown Actually Back to Almost Normal at Night, Some Nights

A new dataset suggests that while SF still lags way behind New York and other cities in terms of daytime, mid-week foot traffic, people are now frequenting bars and restaurants in downtown SF almost at pre-pandemic levels.

Arts & Entertainment

Mayor Breed Proposes ‘Entertainment Zone’ Where Bars Can Sell Open Containers for Outdoor Events

SF Mayor London Breed’s latest gambit to get you to please go downtown and spend money again is her new proposed “entertainment zone” where establishments can sell alcohol to street patrons, and the first of these could be on the Financial District’s Front Street.

SF Restaurants, Food & Drink

Tadich Grill Celebrating Its 175th Anniversary This Month, With $1.75 Bloody Marys And More

SF’s legendary steak-and-seafood place Tadich Grill just kicked off its 175th anniversary celebration, and the third-oldest continuously operating restaurant in the US will get sweet and savory with $1.75 Bloody Marys and a “Tadich swag giveaway” every day all month.

SF Restaurants, Food & Drink

Lee’s Deli Has Closed Its Last Two SF Locations in the Financial District

Some will see this as worse than the closure of Macy’s, as the wildly affordable Financial District lunch and breakfast go-to Lee’s Deli has closed its last two remaining locations.

SF News

Yet Another Gaza Protest Shuts Down Major SF Financial District Intersection

After pro-Palestine protesters briefly blocked an SF Central Freeway onramp Monday afternoon, the protesters were back at it Tuesday morning, shutting down an intersection at Market and Montgomery streets.

Business & Tech

Big Investor and Protégé of Warren Buffett Looks to Buy 3 Million Square Feet of SF Office Space

A man whose family fortune was built in part on investing in New York real estate during the dark days of the 1970s in the city is reportedly bargain hunting right now in the San Francisco office market.

SF News

Mayor London Breed Hopes to Lure Historically Black Colleges to Downtown SF With New Program

On Friday, San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced a plan to begin offering summer classes through historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the city, and the intention of luring at least one of those HBCUs to establish a satellite campus downtown.

SF News

Modest-Sized Sinkhole Appears Next to Cable Car Tracks In Downtown SF; Motorcyclist Injured After Hitting It

A sinkhole appeared Tuesday evening along the California Street cable car tracks, near the intersection of Montgomery Street, but the situation appears resolved as of Wednesday morning.

SF Restaurants, Food & Drink

New Restaurants Opening In SF's Financial District Point to Optimism For Downtown Recovery

A bevy of recent and upcoming openings in and around the FiDi, including a new Osha Thai and a new Wayfare Tavern, point to some bullishness about things picking up downtown.

SF News

Meet the First 17 Pop-Ups That the City Will Pay to Live Rent-Free Downtown In Revitalization Effort

We learned in April that the city was offering to pay pop-ups as much as $8,000 to occupy vacant retail spaces downtown. We now know the first batch will include Devil’s Teeth Bakery, KALW, and a flea market called Sucka Flea.

SF Restaurants, Food & Drink

FiDi German Restaurant Schroeder’s to Celebrate Its 130th Birthday On Friday

Get your dirndl and lederhosen on as the oldest German restaurant on the west coast, Schroeder’s in the Financial District, is throwing a massive party for its 130th birthday Friday, with beer hall games, drink specials, and live music from Jazz Mafia instead of polka.

SF Restaurants, Food & Drink

Shuttered FiDi Bar Harrington’s Trying to Make A Comeback, Via Crowdfunding

There will be some sort of St. Patrick’s Day party again at downtown Irish pub Harrington’s, and the Financial District bar that’s been closed for two-and-a-half years is mounting a crowdfunded comeback bid.

SF Restaurants, Food & Drink

Local Celeb Chef Tyler Florence Plans New Wayfare Tavern In FiDi’s Former Dar Fatma And GNC Store

It’s unclear whether Wayfare Tavern is moving, or if they’re just opening a second space, but Food Network personality Tyler Florence is the latest to make a big new bet on downtown with reported plans for a new Wayfare Tavern location at Pine and Battery Streets.

SF News

Business Group Proposes Nebulous 'Reimagining’ of Downtown SF By ‘Reclaiming Street Space’

Would more street closings and beautified public spaces get you back to a moribund downtown San Francisco? One business group is betting so, but the plan is still mostly aspirational and does not yet have a price tag attached.

Business & Tech

SF Leads the Nation in Workers Who Don’t Want to Return to the Office

A Stanford analysis shows a 53% reduction in how much time San Francisco workers are spending in the office compared to pre-pandemic, the largest cutback on office time of any major city’s workforce in the country.

SF News

Friday Happy Hours Are Now Weak Sauce, and That May Be the New Normal for Downtown SF Bars

Friday Happy Hours remain on the rocks, but Thursdays are suddenly hopping, as hybrid work produces mixed results for SF bars’ economic recovery.

SF News

The Transamerica Pyramid Is Getting a $250 Million Renovation

The new owner of the Transamerica Pyramid has no interest in playing second banana to the taller and shinier Salesforce Tower, so they’re renovating the building and adding features to attract people who do not work there.

SF News

Mayor Breed Would Like You Back Downtown Working in the Office Again, Thank You Very Much

The mayor wants businesses to take a “pledge” to return their workers to offices, in a new Welcome Back to SF campaign that’s long on business interests, and short on public health concerns.

SF Restaurants, Food & Drink

‘Best Parklet in the City’ Trashed by a Vandal, and Police Reportedly Did Not Intervene

When a downtown wine bar's prize-winning parklet was thoroughly vandalized on December 31, security footage indicates SFPD approached the vandal, but then left and allowed him to continue.

SF News

Financial District Sees Estimated 20% Drop in Foot Traffic Since Omicron Was First Recorded in SF

Just when things were looking up for local commerce, Omicron made its way into San Francisco — taking the city more than a few steps back in its financial recovery from the pandemic. Fast forward over a month later, and car and foot traffic in downtown SF are still anemic.

SF News

Thieves Throw Party In Nearly Open Downtown SF Ramen Restaurant, Leave Behind Bottles, Vomit

Some burglars decided to throw a party in a soon-to-open restaurant in downtown San Francisco, and it appears they invited friends and hung around for a few hours, drinking whatever they could find and smoking weed.

Arts & Entertainment

Holiday-Themed Projection Mapping Will Display on Downtown SF Buildings

Animated ice castles, poinsettias, and polar bears are coming to the sides of four downtown buildings in December, as “the largest holiday projection mapping holiday in the U.S.” rings in the season.

Business & Tech

SF Tech Companies Losing Hundreds of Millions on Office Space They Can’t Rent

Dropbox alone dropped more than $400 million on empty downtown office space, as tech companies all over the Bay Area are bleeding billions to rent office spaces that are just cold sitting totally empty.

Business & Tech

SF No Longer the Top City for Tech Industry Office Space Leasing, Knocked Down Several Notches

San Francisco is now No. 6 in an annual study where we'd perennially ranked No. 1, as we fall from the top five in terms of how much office space the tech industry is leasing here.

SF News

FiDi Thieves Beat and Rob Elderly Man of Camera, as the Weekend Saw Something of a Robbery Spree

Though robberies are down 28 percent compared to this time last year, the slow return of gatherings and semi-normalcy may bring back both petty and violent theft.