Congrats to Hayes Valley’s BAKEWORKS on opening their second location in the SFPUC (San Francisco Public Utilities Commission) building. Bakeworks is a nonprofit social enterprise that helps provide employment and training for people with disabilities, or who are homeless or otherwise at risk. (It’s a part of Toolworks, another amazing organization that operates janitorial and staffing businesses that employ more than 100 individuals with disabilities.)
This latest Bakeworks location will offer morning pastries, soups, salads and sandwiches, and all-day cookies/bars, including many gluten-free and vegan offerings (office meal catering is also available). Drinks include locally roasted hot and iced coffees and teas along with fresh-squeezed juices and more. Jim Maxwell of Architects II designed this space as well. 525 Golden Gate Ave. at Polk.
Another sequel: POWDER, the makers of the tasty Taiwanese shaved snow on Divisadero, Mimi Hanley and David Chung, have opened a second location at Mission Bay’s Spark Social SF. You’ll find their signature flavors like black sesame, horchata, and matcha green tea, waffle bowls, and new additions like boozy snow (you can try all three—passion fruit mojito, piña colada, and strawberry daquiri—in a tropical flight during happy hour Mon-Fri 4pm-7pm for just $7). Open Mon-Sat 11am-9pm and Sun 11am-5pm. 601 Mission Bay Blvd. North at 4th St.
Looks like the GRILLED CHEEZ GUY got his brick-and-mortar location open! Be sure to follow him to find out when he’s giving away free grilled cheese sandwiches each month! Soft opening hours: Mon-Fri 11am-4pm. 529 Stevenson St. at 6th St.
Eater first reported about a new Nepalese restaurant taking over the former Babu Ji space on Valencia, DANCING YAK, and it’s now open. Check the menu here (some of the dishes sound really awesome, like roasted soybeans, crunchy beaten rice, garlic, ginger, and chile—sign me up!), and you can enjoy cocktails too. Open daily 11:30am-10pm. 280 Valencia St. at 14th St.
I was so sad that ~BODEGA BISTRO~ closed, and with the death of former chef Jimmie Kwok not too long ago, man, I guess it’s time for a fresh start over there. Sigh. Hoodline noticed there’s a new Vietnamese restaurant that has opened in Bodega’s place, ROSE KITCHEN, and according to their note on Yelp, “We specialize in Vietnamese authentic food, bun bo Hue (spicy beef noodle soup), banh canh cua (Vietnamese thick crab soup), mi vit tim (duck leg stew with Chinese herb broth), bun cha Ha Noi (Northern-style grilled pork patties in sweet and sour fish sauce with vermicelli)”—I say yes to all of that. Open daily 10am-11pm. 607 Larkin St. at Eddy.
More noodles: Hoodline’s intrepid tipster Al M. noticed Ramen Underground has opened a new udon spot, UDON UNDERGROUND, in the former Kisu Japanese Cuisine in the FiDi. They reportedly are serving six different udon variations with udon imported from Japan. 493 Pine St. at Belden.
This came rolling in at the last minute, but there’s a new gaming café that just opened in the Inner Sunset called THE GAME PARLOUR. I kind of love this. They have hundreds of board games you can play, and it’s just $5 per game (for as long as you want) unless you order food, and then it’s free. The menu includes mochi waffles, savory waffle sandwiches, waffle-cut fries, Three Twins ice cream, and gourmet popcorn, plus a full specialty coffee and espresso bar featuring Ritual Coffee to keep you wired, a soda fountain, and milkshakes. Soft opening hours: Sun-Thu 11am-11pm and Fri-Sat 11am-1am. 1342 Irving St. at 15th Ave.
The new Hayes Valley Bakeworks on Golden Gate Ave. Photo courtesy of Mark Bailey/Bakeworks.
