216 Castro’s Quality Bourbons & Barbecue or QBB (BBQ spelled backwards, not by chance), which opened September 2017, celebrated its last day September 25 (thanks to Mark Flider for the tip). QBB’s managing partner John Andino, whom I first met when he helped open Scratch in 2010, told me a new restaurant tenant plans to move in, offering Chinese hand-pulled noodles. John’s partners operate other establishments currently in Palo Alto.
Downtown MV’s location for the popular Nick the Greek chain (298 Castro), remodeled this year after a long dormancy in the pandemic’s wake, looked “ready to open” at the time of our August Newsletter. It looked even more ready — but still not quite open — when I checked in late September.
Another almost-open new restaurant is Sulbing Cafe at 975 W. Dana, which passed health inspection in June but still sported covered-up windows at my recent check. In Korea, Sulbing is a chain focused on bingsu (milk-based shaved-ice desserts). The former Bushido site, 156 Castro, still has papered-up windows, and I don’t find any recent connected business news in a quick online search. But something’s in the works there. •
