Stonemill Matcha on Valencia Street in the Mission Is Closing on August 27

Filed under: A running list of notable Bay Area restaurants and bars that have permanently closed in summer 2023 If you buy something from an Eater link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our

Filed under:

A running list of notable Bay Area restaurants and bars that have permanently closed in summer 2023

If you buy something from an Eater link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics policy.

This is a curated list of the Bay Area’s most notable and permanent restaurant and bar closures, with new updates published once a week. See a closing we missed? Then drop us a line.

MISSION — Fans of Stonemill Matcha, the Japanese cafe and beverage destination on Valencia Street in the Mission, have just a few more weeks to pick up iced strawberry matcha lattes and Japanese pork katsu sandwiches. The business announced on Instagram it will close after Sunday, August 27. “After five amazing years of operation on Valencia Street, we will soon be closing our doors for good,” the post reads in part. “We are so incredibly grateful for our community and for embracing our vision. Your support and love for us has been appreciated since day one.” It’s the latest in a string of high-profile restaurant closures on the Valencia corridor in the Mission.

OAKLAND — Chop Bar, a popular bar and restaurant in Oakland, closed permanently after 14 years in business, East Bay Nosh reports. The owner tells the outlet the decision was “not made lightly” but closure seemed the best way to “preserve the integrity and memories created by everyone who loved Chop Bar.”

SACRAMENTO — A bar in the Sacramento area is closed after having its liquor license suspended by the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, the Bee reports. Dolan’s Bar and Grill in Folsom was served a 15-day liquor license suspension stemming from an incident three years ago when a “customer who was intoxicated was served alcohol,” as well as for “violating its license conditions,” per the paper.

MARINA — Wacky cocktail bar Rendezvous is vacating 2030 Lombard Street after the space was sold to a new owner. Saturday, July 29 will be the last day at this location, but owner and craft cocktail wiz Shaher Misif is already looking for a new venue.

MISSION — Pizza parlor BrewVino will close on July 27. The San Francisco Standard reports the business owners, who opened the restaurant in 2021, did not give a reason for closure in an email sent to the outlet. The space was previously home to Almanac Beer Co. and Sous Beurre before BrewVino.

MISSION — La Ventana, the pop-up coffee window at Donajji, is soon to be no more. The Latin-influenced menu will move on as of July 29, according to an Instagram post from the owners, though the business’ coffee truck will continue selling cafe de olla and horchata lattes around the Bay Area.

OAKLAND — Jack London Square’s Chop Bar closed on July 9 after 14 years in business, East Bay Nosh reports. An initial note on the business’s website indicated a temporary closure, but in short order, the pause proved permanent. “In the end, we decided that closing would be best to preserve the integrity and memories created by everyone who loved Chop Bar,” management told the outlet.

OAKLAND — Slug Bar, the sister business to Michelin Bib Gourmand wine bar and restaurant Snail Bar, will close on August 4. The team wrote on Instagram that it seems like time to move on and that the space will be leased as “turnkey.” The natural wine bar was well-loved for hosting pop-ups and beloved parties.

OAKLAND — Pagliacci the clown has good reason to cry now that clown-themed bar Stinky’s is kaput. Bar staff took to Instagram to say a lack of funds as well as an insurance payout from severe water damage that never came means the bar, which opened in 2021, will close after about two years in business.

BERKELEY — After almost 20 years, Shattuck Avenue’s Sunnyside Cafe closed in July. East Bay Nosh writes the business never regained its pre-pandemic level of business, and newcomer Eggy’s Neighborhood Kitchen is already dealing breakfast in the same location.

SACRAMENTO — Pho Ivy’s Elk Grove location remains open, but its outpost Pho Ivy II at 501 Broadway closed a few weeks ago, according to the Sacramento Bee. Los Inmortales Taqueria Cocina Mexicana will open its fourth location at the same location.

TENDERLOIN — The major public-facing project from La Cocina, its Municipal Marketplace on Golden Gate Avenue and Larkin Street, will close on September 1. The Chronicle reports the nonprofit, which only had a four-year lease at the location before the site is razed to make way for an affordable housing project in 2025, was simply not capturing the downtown lunch market it hoped to. The nonprofit will still run its La Paloma bar and a lunch pop-up out of the space.

BAYVIEW — Run from a ghost kitchen at 90 Charter Oak Avenue, $6 Bowl Shop closed sometime in the last three weeks. Specializing in cheap bowls of donburi and ramen, the business’ website now reads “store permanently closed” and Yelp reviews petered out in late June 2023.

DOGPATCH — After more than 127 years in the Dogpatch, Anchor Brewing ceased operations on July 12. The company is selling its assets through a process called Assignments for the Benefit of Creditors (ABC), which has already brought a few hopeful speculators looking to purchase the company. That’s nothing new for the historic company as it has already gone through a few major sales in its lifetime, notably an acquisition in 1965 and a major purchase by Sapporo USA in 2017.

SAN JOSE — San Jose’s first and only Michelin star-holding restaurant Adega is closing after eight years of service. The Mercury News reports the business is folding in anticipation of spin-off sister restaurant Petiscos’ opening; that restaurant has already earned a spot on the Michelin Guide as a Bib Gourmand. Adega’s last day will be in mid-December.

MISSION — As of late June, Luna, the neighborhood restaurant and bar on Valencia near 18th Street, has closed. A spokesperson confirmed the closure to Eater SF via email but, at the time, the ownership team was unsure what they’d do next with the space. The restaurant debuted in the Mission in 2021 after taking over the longtime Luna Park location and reopened in January 2023 following a refresh of the menu and space.

POTRERO HILL — VinePair was first to report the sudden closure of legendary San Francisco business Anchor Brewing on Wednesday, July 12. The brewery, which is widely considered to be the oldest craft brewery in the United States, is being liquidated, per an announcement from parent company Saporro USA. Production of the company’s famous steam beer has already ceased though the company’s tap room in Potrero Hill will stay open until at least August 1.

BERKELEY — Poulet, a 43-year-old Berkeley restaurant and deli, will close at the end of the week on Friday, July 14, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The business owner made the announcement in an email newsletter and did not provide a reason for the decision.

PALO ALTO — The final Bay Area locations of Fish Market, a 50-year-old California business, will close later this year, per the Mercury News. The restaurants in both Palo Alto, the original location, and San Mateo will close in September along with the company’s fishery, Farallon, in South San Francisco, the company president shared in a blog post. Per the Mercury News, the restaurant chain once spanned nine locations; following the closure of the two Bay Area locations, two restaurants in Southern California — specifically Del Mar and San Diego — will remain open.

SOMA — Wicked Grounds, a groundbreaking kink-friendly cafe, art gallery, and boutique, closed its physical space at 289 Eighth Street in SoMa after 14 years, SFGATE reports. The cafe served coffee, soups, and sandwiches, as well as provided space for the “kink, queer and sex-positive communities,” per the business website. Owner Mir Bilodeau says “declining revenue amid decreased foot traffic downtown” precipitated the decision to close the cafe, though the organization will continue to host virtual events and in-person workshops and classes and other venues in San Francisco.

This is far from the first time the cafe has gone dark, however. In 2018, the cafe announced plans to close but raised enough money to soldier on. After opening in 2009, it also shuttered in 2011, despite a successful $50,000 fundraising effort. Then, seemingly all of a sudden, reopened in 2012.

PACIFIC HEIGHTS — Curbside Cafe, a longstanding French-style bistro in the Pacific Heights neighborhood, announced plans to close as of June 30 on Facebook. The restaurant’s lease ended and the owners were unable to renew, per the post.

SOUTH BEACH — HRD Coffee Shop might sound like a neighborhood beverage stop, but real ones know it was a destination for Korean-Mexican fusion cuisine. The restaurant, which was open for about 70 years and served kimchi and bulgogi burritos, closed as of Friday, June 23, owner Sydney Saidyan confirmed. “I lost faith in my partners, meaning the city and landlord, to really see us as their valued partner,” Saidyan says. “We realized that basically we cannot continue when we have done everything we can, and we couldn’t really come to that mindset to say we can last another year or two.”

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