We asked a group of local writers, voices in the restaurant industry and other different and uniformly brilliant friends of Eater SF to weighs in food over the past year (and what a year it was not). We share their answers to this, the annual “Year in Eater” survey, over the next two weeks in various articles. Today, they share the permanent restaurant closures that have saddened them the most.
Ugh, so much. I was sad when Locanda closed right off the gate, I wanted to eat that spicy-fatty amatriciana forever, and when the Delfina group was in trouble, it spelled a tough year for everyone. I loved feasting on Pork Normand with pork chops and calvados, and it was equally great to see Bar Agricole go underground, closing in on the rest of the group. And I really wish I was celebrating my birthday at the Riddler now, with a good bottle of bubbles and a tater to waffle, with smoked sammy and caviar. We miss you, old friend. – Ether SF Reporter Becky Duffett
Los Cilantros in Berkeley was a definite place, quiet and comfortable, but / and the food was world class. In other words: the kind of place that Bay Area eats makes so remarkable. I still hope they can reopen somehow; how could I have known that my last chili relleno would really be my last? – East Bay-based novelist Robin Sloan, the author of (among others) Sourdough and The strange case of the new golden gate
I do the weekly closing of Eater, and each one erodes a bit of my soul: I feel every dream’s dissolution so sharp that it’s hard to pick just one. However, it is possible that my core has been most affected by the toll that this nightlife in the city has taken: it seems to me impossible that the stud will not be there for us if this thing ends, or Lucky 13, or the Albatross Pub in Berkeley. And not related to the pandemic, but still the guts: neither Lefty O’Doul nor the Gold Dust Lounge deserve to go out as they did, uprooting legacies and infecting them. I feel angry when I just think about it. – Eater SF editor Eve Batey
Prairie closure really bothered me because chef Anthony Strong just switched the focus to a fire grill and opened the Campfire Room before everything was turned off, and then he was one of the first to open a ‘General Store’ when pantry not and toilet paper was impossible to access. I really admire his ability to turn and be creative. But honestly, they are all so sad. It’s hard to see someone being forced to give up a dream for reasons that are not their own. – SF food writer Daisy Barringer
There are so many. Hearing the closing of Beachside in the Outer Sunset almost made me cry. I took my cousin and niece there for breakfast. San Francisco Restaurant Rica Sunga-Kwan, owner of the Portola District Churn Urban Creamery ice cream shop
There has been so veryOf course, but the one I’m sad about as I write this is DNM Hot Pot, the Inner Mongolian hot pot restaurant in Inner Richmond, where I had one of my coziest and most soul-stirring meals this past winter. The closure of Cafe Ohlone, the only Ohlone restaurant in the Bay, was also devastating, but I am delighted that its founders have started offering takeaway packages and that they are determined to do so at some point in the near future. – Eater SF’s food editor Luke Tsai
Dopo in Oakland has long been a special place for me and my wife. Jon’s simple local Italian cuisine and especially his charcuterie will be missed. I loved his duck scatola and their meat lasagne was the definition of comfort food. Also like to eat on weekdays for a late lunch with arancini, salad and the Dopo pizza with a glass of rose at the counter. Chef, activist and author Preeti Mistry
I can ‘t say I was regular somewhere, but I’m very shocked about Louis and The Cliff House. I miss Beachside’s breakfast burritos and their fried chicken sandwich a lot (although I’m very glad to see Java Beach keep strong in the block) But nothing breaks my heart, just like the loss of Pittsburgh’s, the perfect dive in the area, and home to many late night conversations, pseudo-dance parties and good / bad decisions. – San Francisco Food Writer Lauren Sloss
I think I will have to answer that question firmly as soon as we see who is not coming out of the winter freezing point again. That said, I will miss the crowded counter at Art’s Cafe in the mornings, but the fact that the owners eventually had to retire and drive to the sunset makes me happy, not sad. I will miss mornings at the empty huts of Louis, but I hope it will be born again, hopefully with good food. I will miss the uncompromising, unique spirit of Cockscomb, but I hope the cooking of Mr. Cosentino will return to the city at some point. – Resy editorial director (and Eater SF’s founding editor) Paolo Lucchesi
Franchino Restaurant. It was a favorite when I lived in North Beach and I celebrated many occasions there, including my engagement! – Napa food writer Jess Lander
AL’s Deli was quite long while it lasted, and Walzwerk was such a peculiar, East German stalwart in the Mission that returned to another time in San Francisco. But I really wanted Prairie to make it, and it was very sad. The only consolation is that chef Anthony Strong does not look like the type who has been beaten down for a long time, and he does all the ‘glamorous’ picnic thing out of a VW van and he’s not going anywhere. – SFist editor Jay Barmann