#union-square

#union-square

It's 11:30 p.m. on a Friday night and from a seat at the long counter at Pinecrest Diner, guests can feel the heat from the burners and flattop grill radiating out of the kitchen.A tiny mountain of hash browns sizzles in a corner of the plancha, ready to be divvied up and scooped onto plates for hungry diners.

Anyone encouraged by the news that both an 87,000-square-foot Ikea store and a food hall are set to open in San Francisco's mid-Market area may want to temper their expectations as the San Francisco Business Times reports the project is delayed again.The last time the business outlet reported on the timeline of the Livat mall and food hall on Market Street it seemed that at the very least, anchor tenant Ikea would open by this spring, but the mega-furniture retailer says that timeline has been pushed back.

Although it's unclear when, exactly, spring started, the Friday weather seems to be cooperating for the first night of the Bhangra and Beats Night Market set for today, Friday, May 12 in downtown San Francisco.The new event will have a mix of food and drink vendors, including San Francisco's New Delhi restaurant, Bissap Baobab, SF Chickenbox, and Al Pastor Papi, with bar 620 Jones serving cocktails and non-alcoholic options for the crowds.

Big news for a small wine country town with a growing collection of excellent restaurants: the San Francisco Chroniclereports that the couple behind Quail & Condor bakery and Troubadour restaurant will take over beloved Healdsburg Italian restaurant Campo Fina, which closed after a decade in business last fall.

San Franciscans hitting Union Square have a new place to order crispy pork belly and fresh mango pudding while shopping in one of the city's most timeless downtown locales.Owner Naruephon "Billie" Wannajaro says her new restaurant Hed translates from Isaan, a local dialect in Northeastern Thailand, to "make," a signal of the traditional way she'd like to prepare khao gaeng-style meals for diners.

Cladding made of glass-fibre-reinforced concrete wraps the exterior of a sculptural, mixed-used building that was designed by US firm Handel Architects for a crowded, triangular site.The 12-storey building houses The Line Hotel and a residential portion called Serif, along with commercial space on the ground level.

(Image credit: Mr Charlie's)
We're big fans of McDonald's marketing efforts here at Creative Bloq, and we've highlighted numerous campaigns by the fastfood chain over the years.All the same, we can't help but be impressed by the cheek of an upstart vegan restaurant brand that's turning the golden M's marketing upside down - in some cases quite literally.

El Capitan Taqueria, a three-year-old staple at 4150 18th Street in the Castro District, permanently closed without a word this week.Hoodline reports owner Nimer Massis could not be reached for comment, but the restaurant's interior had been gutted of chairs and tables.A listing for the space is now live, as well.

A photo illustration of Cineworld's CEO Mooky Moshe Greidinger (Getty) The silver screens at dozens of Regal Cinemas across the nation will go dark soon.The Tennessee-based movie chain, the second largest in the U.S., will close 39 theaters from Los Angeles to New York to Miami after its parent company in the U.K. declared bankruptcy, Variety reported, citing legal filings.

Clubstaurant is a term bandied about in the Eater NY newsroom a lot lately, and I've got to admit to not knowing exactly what it meant.It is obviously a portmanteau of "club" and "restaurant," but beyond that: Did patrons in skimpy clothes dance languidly while balancing plates of food?

During the pre-Broadway run of Good Night, Oscar at the Goodman Theater in Chicago, the actress Emily Bergl was known to the staff as the lady in the Dress.As June, the wife of the troubled raconteur-pianist Oscar Levant, Bergl wears a floral dress and matching chartreuse coat.The dress radiates the energy of a Jackson Pollock canvas black and daffodil-yellow on shimmering silver brocade, hand-painted to generate the perfect luster for the stage.

T wo men who used a moped to snatch 72 mobile phones from unsuspecting Londoners in the space of just six weeks have been jailed.Randy Kavungu, 21, and Darius James, 22, were caught after police become aware of a spate of similar thefts taking place in late May and June, primarily in central and north London.

Since soon after the pandemic began, transit officials have resisted reopening subway bathrooms  among the precious few public places where people could relieve themselves in New York City.On Monday, they reversed course and announced that the bathrooms at eight stations would reopen in January as one of the benefits of hiring 800 cleaners in the last two months.

Photo courtesy of Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union
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Employees at the Barnes & Noble bookstore in Park Slope are looking to unionize, making them the second New York City branch of the book emporium to organize, they announced Thursday.

Berkeley's Transportation Head Gone, Hopkins Safety Project Blown Up (Berkeleyside)
Fallout Over BART Cop Video (SFChron, EastBayTimes)
More on California's Struggling Transit Agencies (KTVU)
Another Study on Bayview Caltrain Station? (BizTimes)
More on Electric Ferries (ABC7)
Glen Park Slow Street Rejected (SFChron)
Powell Street near Union Square to get Investment (SFStandard, SFExaminer)
Oakland Will Rename Part of MacArthur (SFChron)
Oakland Home Building (Oaklandside)
Plan to Fill Vacant Storefront in Union Square (SFChron)
Millbrae is a Hidden Gem (California)
The Cost of Watering Lombard Street (SFStandard)


Get state headlines at Streetsblog California, national headlines at Streetsblog USA
Local journalism is more important than ever.

San Francisco Abandons Slow Streets Network Pledge (SFChron)
     Sheng Thao Becomes Mayor of Oakland (SFChron, EastBayTimes)
     Cheap Fix for Central Subway Drainage (SFStandard)
     More on Central Subway Fire Alarm (SFStandard)
     More on Riding the Central Subway (SFChron, Axios)
     Update on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge Bike Path (EastBayTimes)
     Do Scooters, Bikeshare Pollute More? (Fortune)
     Tax the Rich to Save San Francisco (48Hills)
     Has Union Square Rediscovered its Holiday Swagger? (SFChron)
     Traffic Violence Kills Two in San Carlos (SFChron)
     Letters: It's Time to Clean Up, Integrate Transit (MercNews)


Get state headlines at  Streetsblog California, national headlines at  Streetsblog USA
Local journalism is more important than ever.

Muni Slows Return to Full Service (SFExaminer)
     Can Caltrain Really Run Promised Frequencies with New Trains?(EastBayTimes)
     Do People Not Get that Age-Old Trolley Buses are Electric?(BYD)
     Update on HSR Construction (CEG)
     S.F.Artist Seriously Injured in Hit and Run (SFGate)
     Bird May go Bankrupt (SFExaminer)
     New Start-Up Investing in Union Square (SFChron)
     Supes Complain about State Mandate to Build Housing (SFChron, SFStandard)
     Is Homeless Crisis Improving?

When husband-and-wife duo Maria Tacuri and Vlad Sinev opened Zaruma Gold Coffee in 2021, they envisioned the brightly lit coffee shop to be a homey and inviting space for people to gather.But the location of this quaint cafe was a bit awkward: Sandwiched between Somerville's hectic Highland Avenue and bustling Medford Street, the tree-lined Woodbine Street isn't a major artery that receives much foot traffic.

You'll find a two-story Victorian that's big enough to dine in and a 12-foot tall sugar castle.Don't go hungry.The Fairmont's Famous Two-Story Gingerbread Marvel Where: Fairmont San Francisco, 950 Mason St. (Nob Hill) When: Through January 1, 2023 At 22 feet tall and 35 feet wide, the Fairmont San Francisco's two-story edible Victorian was crafted by the hotel's culinary team using thousands of real gingerbread bricks and 2,000 pounds of candy.

The new year will bring some big changes to what's arguably San Francisco's best brewery.According to an Instagram post on Thursday, Cellarmaker Brewing Co. will close its original Howard Street location at the end of the year and move its production to the East Bay.The brewery has acquired Berkeley's the Rare Barrel, which opened in 2013 as a sour-beer lover's paradise.

Rents around Brooklyn's Grand Army Plaza have risen faster than at any other subway stop over the past year, according to a new analysis by the apartment listing site RentHop.Apartments near the Grand Army Plaza 2/3 station have risen by 25% in the past year, climbing to $2,800 for a one-bedroom by the famed 80-foot Soldiers and Sailors Arch and grand entrance to Prospect Park.

It's useless to try to pigeonhole Martha Stewart.Decorously entertaining homemaker-slash-lifestyle guru, television personality, publisher, canny entrepreneur-turned-white-collar criminal, Snoop Dogg's unlikely BFF these are labels she spins, or drops when it suits her, as adroitly as a juggler.Resisting attempts to peg or malign her, Ms. Stewart has survived, even thrived, not as a Superwoman, as Joan Didion once put it, but as an Everywoman.

Drag Up! Fight Back! anticipates thousands of attendees, and has garnered support from lawmakers like State Senator Scott Wiener.He says that while these attacks on LGBTQ+ rights are playing out mostly in red states, Californians shouldn't be complacent."If the Republicans take over both the Congress and the presidency in the future, they will absolutely pass these laws into effect nationally," he says.

When 2590 Union St. was built in 1899, it was bucking the main building trend in San Francisco at the time.Its design is the work of architect Newton J. Tharp, and its clean stately lines and unembellished shingle exterior exemplify Tharp's decidedly anti-Victorian aesthetic.While this look would help shape the city after the earthquake and fire of 1906, it was novel at the time.

Getty Images / Realtor.comVogue global editor at large Hamish Bowles is parting with his longtime Manhattan apartment after injecting it with his stylish spin."The apartment was completely renovated," says listing agent Chris Poore, of Sotheby's International Realty-Downtown Manhattan Brokerage.

I love movie math.I love microrationalizing macroabsurdities, laser-focusing on hyperspecific justifications.13 Going on 30 is a perfect proof.Once upon a time, it's Jennifer Garner's (Jenna's) thirteenth birthday.She wishes she were thirty, she claims to her mom, having read a magazine article touting the thirties as the prime of one's life.

Members of the Writers Guild of America union picket outside Netflix headquarters Wednesday near Union Square in New York.Stefan Jeremiah/AP NBC's late night talk show hosts Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers are covering a week of pay for their non-writing staff during the Writers Guild of America strike, which has disrupted production for many shows and movies as Hollywood's writers hit the picket lines this week.

Drink beer in Union Square all summer long.Union Square is about to get even more fun this summer.Popular Lower Manhattan brewery Torch & Crown will bring its beloved brews to Union Square this summer with a pop-up starting on May 11 and running through November.RECOMMENDED: NYC events in May 2023 Torch & Crown will set up shop in the historic Union Square Pavilion with a variety of hand-crafted drafts.

From May to November you can head out to Union Square Pavilion and enjoy the most locally made beer you can find!Shenae Craig - Editor *
Brooklyn may be leading the race in having the most breweries in New York City, but Manhattan's one and only brewery is focused on expanding this spring!Torch & Crown Brewing Company opened its doors recently and still holds the mantle as Manhattan's only brewery and beer garden.

Justin Sullivan/TNS A judge says San Francisco's Marriott Hotel illegally kept about $9 million in more than five years of banquet "service charges" that its customers reasonably understood to be tips for food servers.San Francisco Superior Court Judge Ethan Schulman ordered the hotel to pay the withheld fees to hundreds of workers who served food and drink at banquets from 2012 through April 2017, and said he would decide later whether to add interest charges and attorneys' fees.

John Blanchard / The Chronicle The pandemic took a heavy toll on San Francisco's already struggling retailers, with dozens shuttering in the city's downtown core since 2020 as office workers fled the area and shopping moved increasingly online.Closures hit some of the biggest merchants in the world, including Amazon, CVS and Walgreens, as well as beloved small businesses that were dependent on office workers such as 22-year-old newstand Fog City News and 32-year-old Alexander Book Co.

There was a fatal shooting Thursday evening near the busy section of Market Street outside the Westfield Mall, a few blocks from Union Square, possibly involving a store security guard armed with a gun.As NBC Bay Area reports, the shooting took place outside the Walgreens on the 800 block of Market Street just after 6:30 p.m.

Subscribe to our daily newsletter and have the latest stories from Mission Local delivered directly to your inbox.Read in Spanish / Leer en español Ready for the coming Christmas weekend?You probably want to spend the day with family and friends at home.But in case you're treating some visitors, or want to spend several days out, there is a lot going on in the city over the week.

Local Both cities are now using the Anticimex SMART boxes, which sense, trap, kill, and track the rats.Somerville has made significant ground in its war on the city's rats.The City of Somerville declared its "SMART box" rat-trapping program a success Tuesday, saying that they've been able to trap and track the rats and study their behavior.

Many of my best dining experiences never make it to the page: If an eating establishment doesn't merit a, dish of the week, point on a map, or paragraph in a feature story, it often disappears.Those fleeting encounters with restaurants are often the most enjoyable.Accordingly, I resolved to keep an informal diary reflecting my unvarnished daily experiences.

This is an unusual year for Thai cuisine in New York: A deluge of new restaurants have opened across the city - as I have been reporting - with many cooking up dishes new to Thai menus.While MayRee and Mitr present southern Thai fare and a collection of geographically far-flung regional dishes, Pranakhon sets its sights on the street food of Bangkok.

Transit Leaders Face Ridership Declines, Rising Costs (Governing)
Storms, Wind, Trees and What to Expect from Transit (SFStandard)
Empty Offices Could Create 11k New Homes (SFChron)
Matt Haney Fights for Housing (SFChron)
Housing in Union Square? (SFChron)
New Housing Tower Could be Oakland's Tallest Building (EastBayTimes)
SF's Tree Carnage (SFStandard)
Fairfield Driver Kills Little Girl (EastBayTimes)
The Climate Clock is Ticking (SFExaminer)
App for Renting Parking, Reducing Demand Maybe?

Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE A male juvenile was stabbed on a Muni bus during a physical fight with multiple minors in San Francisco on Monday, officials said.The stabbing occurred at about 4:41 p.m. at Stockton and Sutter streets, about half a mile from Union Square, the San Francisco Police Department said.

Photos courtesy of the San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band
Led by Drum Major Mike Wong, the San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band (SFLGFB) represented the Bay Area's LGBTQ+ community, as it has for decades, marching proudly in the 2023 Chinese New Year Parade on Saturday, February 4. Periodic heavy rain downpours during the evening did not dampen spirits!From the parade launch point at 2nd and Market Streets, SFLGFB marched around Union Square, ending at Kearny Street and Columbus Avenue, a distance of approximately 1.3 miles.

Photos by Rink
The 2022 FIFA World Cup, which began on November 20 and continues through December 18, has garnered both support for teams representing member nations and concern for host country Qatar's policies and cultural mores adversely impacting LGBTQ individuals.The Qatari government, for example, does not recognize same-sex marriage or civil partnerships, nor does it allow people in Qatar to campaign for LGBT rights.

State-of-the-art technology here includes 3D oral scans, full 3D printing, at-home dental monitoring devices, and facial aesthetics (think Botox and fillers), perfect for young professionals and adolescents who want a better smile fast.If you notice crowding and misalignment in your smile, these only worsen as we age, says Dr. Todor Stavrev, who adds that "investing in your smile now will save the expense of unnecessary dental treatments in the future, plus boost your confidence and overall health."

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Compass' Robert Reffkin and 90 Fifth Ave in New York City (Google Maps, Compass, Getty)
Compass' belt-tightening has come for its headquarters.The brokerage, which lost nearly $1 billion between the first quarter of 2021 and the third quarter of 2022, is shopping its headquarters near Union Square in NYC for sublease, according to the The Real Deal.

Chef Marc Zimmerman, known for whole-animal cooking at Gozu, is ready to reveal a bit of what's behind the curtain at his upcoming restaurant Yokai.The team is calling the preview pop-up Stick Bar and, as of January 17, guests can enjoy skewers in the whisky lounge at Gozu from 6 to 8:30 p.m Tuesday through Thursday.

Until now, the chef and restaurateur Salil Mehta's focus has been Southeast Asia.Laut, his showcase for Malaysian food, was awarded a Michelin star.He has interpreted Singaporean food and drinks at Laut Singapura, Chard (now closed) and Singlish near Union Square, and provided tastes of Indonesia and Malaysia at Wau on the Upper West Side.

Over about 12 years, Ruben Rodriguez has assembled a tidy little collection of Spanish and Spanish-influenced restaurants in the East Village, all inspired by his mother's and grandmother's cooking.This latest goes well beyond Spain, taking inspiration from throughout the Mediterranean.Mr. Rodriguez has also gathered together a staff from his other venues: the chefs de cuisine Rolando Flores and Sebastian Cambeiro, the beverage director Niko Hagerty, the sommelier Raul Oleaga and the co-executive chef Rafael de la Rosa, who was at Minetta Tavern.

Happy week before Thanksgiving, all!Before I hop into this month's reader questions, I wanted to highlight some of the incredible work my colleagues have put together for those who won't be dining out on Thanksgiving Day.Genevieve Ko created nine stunning pie recipes, though if you don't like pie, Melissa Clark has three alternatives.

Just three investment-grade office buildings in the San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose central business districts have traded hands so far this year, another sign of weakness for the beleaguered downtowns.With a week left in 2022, those sales - 300 Grant Ave. and 180 Townsend St. in San Francisco and 300 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza in Oakland - represent total sales volume of $296 million, a fraction of annual pre-pandemic office investment activity, according to data from real estate services firm CBRE.

Driven by the client's requests, David Ito Arquitetura designed the modern NCC Apartment in São Paulo, Brazil embracing biophilic design through plants, light, and materials, while creating sophisticated social areas and cozy private spaces.Longing to tear down the original home, clients requested a new, larger home in the same spot that evoked the same feelings as the one demolished.

At the Gothic Renaissance store near Union Square in Manhattan, a man clad in all black, with his hair and beard dyed to match, navigated a maze of corsets, steampunk goggles and winged harnesses to a rack of outerwear.From it he pulled a black velveteen Victorian-style tuxedo jacket called the Baphomet.

Mayor London Breed has been implicated by a former employee of the Department of Homelessness for having personally ordered encampments to be cleared off SF streets.The somewhat incendiary allegations come from former Director of Outreach and Temporary Shelter in the department Kaki Marshall, who is formerly homeless herself, in testimony given as part of the Coalition on Homelessness's earlier announced lawsuit against the city over encampment sweeps they say are illegal.

Just one night at the Line Hotel in San Francisco shook me out of my reverie.The 236-room Line SF opened on the edge of Union Square at the end of September after a long pandemic delay.It's not 100 percent complete yetthe lobby-level Dark Bar is set to open in Decemberbut it's close enough.Depending on who you ask, the best thing about the weeks-old Line is its stylethe way it seems to seamlessly integrate natural elements like rough stone and vegetal matter with modern art and industrial design.

Supes to Vote on Slow Streets-but will it be a Network?(SFStandard)
     More on Great Highway Park Closures (SFExaminer)
     Transportation Officials Discuss Tolling (SFGate)
     VTA Fleet Falling Apart (SJSpotlight)
     Oakley Driver Hits Pedestrian (EastBayTimes)
     Santa Cruz Responds to Erosion by Closing Walkway, Not Auto Lane (SFGate)
     Locals Protest Against Road Safety in Tahoe (SFGate)
     Union Square Not Getting Safer (SFChron)
     Oil Refineries Ditch Price Hearings (SFChron)
     More on S.F.

Google Street View While most San Francisco residents think of tech companies when it comes to anchor tenants downtown, some of the city's largest leases come from other industries.Levi Strauss & Co. just renewed a 367,000-square-foot lease at 1105 Battery St., known as Levi's Plaza, a huge win for SF's downtown amid a struggling commercial real estate sector.

Professors at Parsons School of Design have gone on strike on Wednesday as they look for better pay and more benefits.The recent walkout affects only part-time professors of the school, which is an affiliate of the New School, who have been complaining about low salaries compared to adjunct personnel at the schools.