It took four years for the Duggans to expand from there. In 2016, they opened a second Original Joe’s in the iconic midcentury Daly City space owned by their founder’s former partner, who, for more than 50 years, ran it as Joe’s of Westlake. But most of Original Joe’s new expansion has brazenly occurred during the economically tender years that started in 2020. Since then, in the face of a full-blown hospitality recession, the Duggans have opened three restaurants, with another on the way.The first was in 2020, when the Duggans opened Little Original Joe’s in West Portal, a pizza…

EL SOBRANTE — There is a growing push to get healthy foods into lower income communities and it’s changing people’s views about how and where their food is grown.  Now, an agricultural non-profit in Oakland is concentrating its efforts to transform one neighborhood in Contra Costa County.Like a lot of small towns, El Sobrante doesn’t often get a lot of new things.  In fact, the town’s Spanish name actually translates to “the leftovers.”  So, it seemed like the perfect place for a group called Planting Justice to create a new weekly farmers market.”It was an agricultural community for a long,…

September 4 MISSION DISTRICT — Beloved Cafe, known for its vegan menu of fresh juices, “superfood” smoothies, grain bowls, and more, closed on Sunday, August 18, per the San Francisco Chronicle. Two employees bought the business and a fundraiser has been launched to support the staff and help keep the doors open. RUSSIAN HILL — A tipster wrote in with the news that Taco Rouge, chef Daniel Tellez’s Polk Street spot for tacos by day and music at night, has closed. (The restaurant is listed as permanently closed on Google.) Equal parts casual cantina and hotspot for “hip hop honky…

Nestled near Ocean Beach, Galinette  is the latest culinary offering from Julie & Jeremy, the dynamic duo behind the beloved Bouche. This new French restaurant is all about blending tradition with a laid-back, neighborhood vibe, offering non-stop service from 9:30 am to 9:30 pm daily.At Galinette, the experience is as important as the food. You can choose to dine at their communal table, a welcoming space designed to bring people together. It’s a perfect spot to strike up a conversation with neighbors and strangers alike or, if you prefer, you can book this section of the room for a private…

As a travel writer who’s a third-generation San Franciscan and moved back to the Bay Area in 2014 after a years-long global stint, I’ve seen tons of changes in the city, from delightful to challenging. SF debuted a gorgeous new park in the Presidio with sweeping views of the Golden Gate Bridge and skyline, an outdoor education center, exciting food trucks, lots of picnic space and year-round cultural festivals. On the other hand, conventions and retailers have pulled out of downtown due to hard economic times and a declining reputation. It’s important to remember that every community ebbs and flows, and…

A tiny town of about 600 residents, two miles inland off scenic Highway 1,  Pescadero is home to two destination food stops that people often drive over an hour south of San Francisco, or north from San Jose, to visit: a restaurant and a grocery store. I drive along a pristine stretch of Pacific Ocean coast in a rural corner of San Mateo County that will forever be protected from development, thanks to open-space advocates who fought to save it, 14 miles south of Half Moon Bay, then turn left at the “Historic Pescadero” sign, that notes the town was…

Each year, the editors of Food & Wine magazine select the best new restaurant in America, and this year, it’s right in downtown Oakland.  Burdell on Telegraph Avenue is re-imagining soul food in a manner that is capturing the attention of the food world in a big way and has earned the title “Restaurant of the Year.””We first kind of heard about this in January and then I think it was March or April when we got the news about what they were snooping around for,” said owner Geoff Davis. Geoff Davis has spent 20 years in the restaurant business,…

Food from the Mediterranean is a familiar favorite in the Bay Area. But while the traditions of countries like Spain, Italy, and Morocco are fully represented in our restaurant landscape, others haven’t yet broken through. Rafik Bouzidi is on a mission to make sure that Tunisia’s cuisine is the next to appear in the long-overdue spotlight.Executive chef and owner of Gola, Rafik Bouzidi.(Courtesy of Gola)“Tunisian food is extremely attached to history,” says Bouzidi, executive chef and owner of Gola, the city’s only restaurant dedicated to Tunisian food.Located at the crossroads of the ancient world, tiny coastal Tunisia has witnessed the…

San Francisco wine bar Verjus will reopen in October after closing four years ago at the onset of the pandemic. A cryptic, three-word post announcing the comeback dropped on Instagram on Friday, September 6 — “Coming this fall,” is all it reads — so details are scant so far. A Verjus spokesperson dropped a few more hints to Eater, saying that though the team is “making nuanced changes to the space and menu,” the wine bar will largely be “Verjus as you remember it.” Verjus is the casual spin-off of owners Michael and Lindsay Tusks’s lineup of local restaurants, which…

Courtesy of The Hangar Food Halls have become increasingly popular, and now one is set to open in South San Francisco. Aptly called the Hangar, the new food hall features a modern design paired with multiple food and drink options. The space is intended not only as an eatery but also to provide a community gathering space for the surrounding area. Located on the Vantage Campus, the market hall is intended to be conveniently close to the many Biotech and life sciences labs and workspaces in South San Francisco. The design is inspired by aviation (hence the name) and fittingly…