SF Original US Restaurant’s historic Italian restaurant closes, along with other October Bay Area closures
As part of our ongoing reporting on local restaurant closings, here is a list of Bay Area restaurants that closed in October or are expected to close by the end of the month. Closures include the historic North Beach Italian Restaurant, Original US, the popular Mountain View Hawaiian Restaurant, Pearl Cafe, and Santa Rosa pop-up 4th Street Social Club. Read on for a full list of restaurant closings. The Chronicle will publish a list of closures monthly.
North Beach Historic Italian Site Original American restaurant closed. A “for rent” sign now hangs on the window, and co-owner Alberto Cipollina has said he hopes someone will take over the remainder of his lease, which runs until next year. Cipollina attributed the closure to the pandemic, including the inability to find enough staff amid the ongoing staffing crisis in the restaurant industry, and the restaurant lacking access to parklets. At 77, Cipollina said, he is ready to step down from the business and his children are not interested in taking over. “It’s sad, but we have to let go,” Cipollina said. The establishment has been in the area since the 1890s and has closed and reappeared several times since it opened. It opened in its current location in 2015. The restaurant served its last meal just before the start of the pandemic-related shutdown in March 2020.
The casual spin-off of the upscale farm-to-table sandwich at Oakland Homestead has closed. Owners Fred and Elizabeth Sassen have announced Humble sandwich would close in an email to customers last month, according to the East Bay Times, which first reported on the closure. The sandwich shop had been operating inside Homestead since April 2020. The upscale restaurant closed for good in June.
Richmond Izakaya inland Halu closed. A “for rent” sign hung at the entrance last month. Calls and emails to the restaurant went unanswered.
Hawaiian restaurant with mountain views Pearl Coffee closes Sunday, October 31, after a 15-year race. The restaurant made the announcement on its website. The restaurant is open for take out and delivery until then.
Small Shanghainese Restaurant Jiangnan cuisine in San Francisco closed. The restaurant is slated to be replaced with a new tea room called Tea O ‘Clock, according to the What Now San Francisco website. Appeals to Jiangnan went unanswered.
San Mateo burger restaurant Burger Karaage is closing on October 30, the restaurant announced on Instagram. The burger spot ends after a five-year run.
San Jose Police Department permanently closed local sports bar Agave October 17. Since December 2020, the police had been called to the establishment for various incidents, including a car accident and a shooting.
Nob Hill Thai Restaurant Thai noodles closed for good. A “for rent” sign hung on the door at the end of last month.
Santa Rosa pop-up establishment 4th Street Social Club closed on October 17, a little over a year after it opened. The restaurant debuted just weeks before the pandemic. Owners Melissa and Chris Matteson told Press Democrat that the restaurant’s only investor ended the project due to losses from the pandemic.
After a 16-year run, Berkeley’s Imperial tea court quietly closed at the end of August this year. The owner of the Chinese tea house, Roy Fong, told Berkeleyside that the current staff crisis in the restaurant industry has contributed to the shutdown.
A must for the barbecue Longhorn Coal Pit closed for good. Sunnyvale Restaurant was open for 61 years before owners Dave and Jean Han decided to close the restaurant on October 10, according to SFGATE, which first reported on the closure. (SFGATE and The San Francisco Chronicle are both owned by Hearst but operate independently.) The couple haven’t ruled out opening a new restaurant in the city.
Popular French outfit Bakery Le Marais is closing its Marina neighborhood outpost on Sunday, October 31, the owners announced on Instagram. The bakery still has outposts in the Castro and Polk Gulch neighborhoods of San Francisco and Mill Valley. Owners Patrick Ascaso and Joanna Pulcini-Ascaso plan to open a new pancake restaurant in SF’s Ferry Building next month.
Burmese restaurant Beyond Burma closed. A photo shared by a reader shows the restaurant in Lower Nob Hill devoid of furniture and a “for rent” sign stuck to the window.
Tanay Warerkar is the Associate Food & Wine editor of the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @TanayWarerkar