Taraval Street's New Cafes Are Small Bets on a Flat Corridor
October 22, 2026
October 22, 2026
Most of what opened on Taraval Street this year has a few things in common. The places are small and close by mid-afternoon. Their menus are short enough to memorize. Several took over a space or a business that already existed. And they clustered on the 1100 block, where four storefronts within about thirty address numbers have opened, changed hands, rebranded or paused since spring.
These businesses arrived at an odd time. City sales tax figures for the Sunset and Parkside west of 19th Avenue still sit below where they were before the pandemic, and the newcomers have sized themselves for that. None of them is a splashy destination restaurant. They are counters built around coffee, scones and dumplings, run by people who seem to expect regulars more than crowds.
Here is the 1100 block as it stands this fall:
Jandii is the one that draws attention, mostly because of who is behind it. Choi's family runs Sweet Maple, Kitchen Story and Berkeley Social Club, all full-service restaurants built around sit-down meals. Richmond Review/Sunset Beacon reported in August that Jandii is deliberately quieter than those. The name means a lush patch of grass in Korean. You order on the second floor and look down over a sunlit first floor. Choi left outlets out of the central downstairs seating so it stays a place to meet people, while the rest of the room is wired for laptops.
According to the same profile, neighbors have thanked Choi for turning a long-empty corner into something beautiful, and that warm welcome surprised her more than anything else. She told the paper she was aware of where she had landed: "We hope Jandii can become a nice addition to the culture of Taraval. We do not wish to replace any existing establishments."
Mission Local reported on October 6 that the Inner Sunset is reaching record sales volume while Taraval and Noriega are treading water. The story draws on the city Controller's sales tax by neighborhood dataset. Through the first quarter of 2026, the Inner Sunset's sales tax revenue was above pre-pandemic levels for most of the year. West of 19th Avenue, the Outer Sunset and Parkside had not caught up and had declined slightly over the previous two years.
Bill Barnickel, president of the Outer Sunset Merchant & Professional Association, described the west side this way in that story:
"Most stores are just maintaining themselves … just paying the bills."
Albert Chow, president of People of Parkside Sunset, told Mission Local that the L Taraval project had closed some businesses, and that losing parking had kept some drivers away from Taraval shops. The city declared that five-year rebuild finished in September 2024, and trains resumed full service that month.
The Inner Sunset merchants in the same story credited their recovery to a wave of restaurants filling empty storefronts, along with foot traffic from events in Golden Gate Park. The latest example is Oakland's Mama's Boy, which signed a lease on a former pharmacy at Ninth and Irving. Taraval's newcomers are working with a slower street and no park crowd. Their responses look a lot alike.
Jandii serves three things: coffee, matcha and scones. "I believe that it is more challenging to be exceptional at a few things, rather than just adequate at many things," Choi told the Richmond Review/Sunset Beacon. The matcha is ceremonial grade and imported from Japan, and roasted hojicha is there for anyone avoiding coffee. A fresh batch of scones comes out every 15 minutes, served warm with house-made jam and butter. Choi suggests first-timers order the Jandii Oat Milk Brew on tap with a scone. It's open daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Two doors west, the other new operators took over businesses people already knew. At Dumpling Specialist, Changdi Huang planned to keep the Shanghai-style dumplings the shop was known for and add dim sum staples. At 1131, Mission Local covered the May handover from El Antigua Cafe to Bean Dream, and Colin and Velazquez called the venture "exciting and scary."
Continuity shows up elsewhere on the street too. Stanley Lui's last shift at New Taraval Cafe was August 15. The cafe kept running under longtime employee and co-owner Orlando Gomez, as Mission Local reported.
On this stretch, new owners hold on to a proven recipe, move into a familiar room, or cut the menu to three items. Each of those choices limits risk on a street whose sales numbers have been flat.
Welcome Coffee & Goods opened in late July at 425 Taraval, near 14th Avenue. It combines a coffee corner with racks of vintage menswear and a front case of vintage jewelry. Co-owners Trityn and Steffan Ross pour coffee from Excelsior Coffee, roasted in San Francisco. They told the Richmond Review/Sunset Beacon in September: "There is a real energy on Taraval right now, and it's exciting to be part of the street where people are choosing to shop small."
Not long after, the coffee side paused. In September the owners posted on Instagram that "there's a permitting step we didn't have fully dialed in," adding, "First-time business owners, learning as we go!" Mission Local reported that the retail racks stayed open and coffee would come back once the permit was sorted out. The posted hours are 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends. Their Instagram, @welcome_sf, is the place to check whether the espresso machine is back on.
The owners told the paper they want the shop to "feel like we've always been here."
Only two recent projects on Taraval are full dinner restaurants, and they sit at opposite ends of the corridor.
A year ago this week, the Gold Mirror at 800 Taraval reopened on October 29, 2025, after a 22-month renovation. Chef-owners Dominic and Roberto Di Grande kept many of the signature dishes, the SF Standard reported. Like the newer counters, it reopened by keeping what regulars already came for.
Out at 2325 Taraval, in the former Bearing West space, Bare Bones is getting ready to open as a rotisserie chicken and wine spot. Owner Daniel John Tasker is working with a partner he met through preschool and a chef who is a longtime friend. He told Mission Local in August he hoped to open in October and called it a "family-friendly spot." As of mid-October, the restaurant's website still read "A rotisserie joynt" and "Coming soon." Chicken and wine is still a simple menu, just served at dinner.
If you want to try the new spots this Friday, here is one way to do it:
The same neighborhood group whose president spoke frankly to Mission Local about the corridor's struggles is also the one putting on free Friday movie nights right on Taraval.
Storefront changes like the ones on Taraval eventually show up in what nearby homes are worth, often before the sales data catches up. If you own near the corridor and want to know how this year's openings affect your home's value, Minna Real Estate can walk you through it block by block. Get My Free Home Valuation.
Stay up to date on the latest real estate trends.
Minna Millare combines San Francisco‑native insight with investment‑savvy strategies, remodeling expertise, and a client-centered approach. Let her guide you step-by-step through California’s dynamic market, ensuring smart decisions and personalized results.