Simply Sabor is the newest restaurant tenant inside Ava’s Market, 340 Castro, offering Mexican specialties.
A license-change notice at 475 Castro (a dormant Korean table-top grilling restaurant) has shown a pending new business “Yakiniku Ginza”. Yakiniku is a related grilled-food genre, but Japanese.
In February Halal Street / Xinjiang Cuisine & BBQ opened at 174 Castro featuring Moslem-Chinese cuisine.
Venerable Mediterranean Grill House (650 Castro #110) reopened Feb 21 after remodeling to add a franchise of SF’s Sana’a Cafe, which specializes in Yemeni coffee.
An early-March fire damaged Maison Alyzée (212 Castro). The French café and high-end pastry shop reopened in April.
Steins Beer Garden & Restaurant at 895 Villa announced it would close, then a buyer came forward to take over the business instead. Ownership change is expected later this year.
In late March Mr Bao Kitchen opened at 357 Castro #3A (formerly Rumble Fish Sushi) with “Chinese pan fried and soup dumplings.”
www.mrbaokitchen.com
Longtime local-favorite Mexican seafood restaurant Fiesta Del Mar Too (735 Villa) shuttered late March. The same local restaurant group operates Agave Bistro at 194 Castro and Blue Agave Club in Pleasanton.
Vida Tapas Y Cocteles (110 Castro) also closed at the end of March; remodeling is underway, window signage proclaiming a coming “American Italian ristorante” Johnny and Sanny’s. johnnyandsannys.com
I’ll now answer the #1 recurring curiosity question I’ve gotten about downtown restaurants for 15 years: What’s happening at 360 Castro? New China Delight closed there in May 2010; the large space has been idle since. Recently it went on the market, asking $6.2 million. •
