Some new openings around town include FAMILY NAME, which just opened inside City Beer Store in SoMa. It’s a California bistro with Asian ingredients and touches, serving bites and dinner inside or on the patio (it’s separate from the City Beer Store menu). Dishes include smoky deviled eggs with chives and pickled mustard seeds; kampachi crudo with Galia melon, smoked tomatillo, chile oil, and arare (Japanese rice crackers); PEI mussels and Lao sausage; garlic noodles with hand-cut fettuccine, garlic oyster sauce, pecorino cream, and sesame; and steak frites with hanger steak and chile-miso butter. You’ll have plenty of wines and beers to choose from to pair with your meal. Open Tue-Sat 5pm-10pm. Reservations available. 1148 Mission St. at 7th St.
There’s a new business now open inside the former Mission Cheese location on Valencia. THE KORNER STORE is a fun, family-run business, with Korean drinking food, soju cocktails, affordable wine (available by the glass, carafe, or bottle), beer, non-alcoholic drinks, and a convenience store-style selection of snacks and beverages (perfect to take to Dolores Park). They also have their own house kimchi and banchan for sale.
The abridged menu includes boneless fried chicken, fried pork belly, wasabi octopus, vegetable dumplings, tteok bokki (spicy stir-fried rice cakes), and two kinds of fries. With the outdoor seating, bar, and easy order-at-the-counter vibe, it’s going to be a fun spot to swing by with a friend for dranks and drunkie munchies. Open Tue-Wed 4pm-9pm, Thu-Fri 4pm-10pm, Sat 12pm-10pm, and Sun 12pm-9pm. 736 Valencia St. at 18th St.
There’s a new business in the former Blowfish Sushi location on Mission (home of the impostor Blowfish Sushi/Wagyumafia back in April). I tried to figure out who the owners are, but don’t see an active ABC license for the location. The person who answered the phone said they’re new owners—but where’s their license? (They’re serving sake, beer, and soju cocktails.) Thanks to my friends at Strike Kerr & Johns for double-checking that there doesn’t seem to be an active or a pending license there—Blowfish’s lapsed in January 2021, and they haven’t transferred it to a new party, nor are there any pending license applications associated with that address. (I reached out to former owner Jason Teplitsky of Blowfish to see if he had heard anything about the latest tenant, but I didn’t hear back.)
This latest incarnation is CHOME, with an izakaya-style menu that has a huge variety of eclectic dishes, including a big list of robatayaki options grilled over binchotan, plus ramen, sushi, and a number of big ticket/expensive dishes like Hudson Valley foie gras, A5 wagyu, and lobster tails, which makes me wonder if it’s still the Wagyumafia imposters. (Their DoorDash listing is 2193 Sushi, and Live Shanghai Bistro on Grubhub, which doesn’t appear to be live.) I asked about the chef, but it sounds like they’re still trying out their kitchen team and concept. Something smells fishy. Open daily 5pm-12am. 2193 Mission St. at 18th St.
There’s a creative new waffle shop in Lower Nob Hill called EGGCELLENT WAFFLES, serving a variety of sweet and savory waffle combinations (including a Hong Kong waffle with pork floss and condensed milk) and choose-your-own waffle “sandwiches” (with your choice of waffle base, like Montreal steak or red pepper, and fillings like avocado and turkey), plus bubble waffles (with your choice of base, topping, and syrup), make-your-own smoothies, and coffee drinks. Check out the menu here. Soft open for now Tue-Fri 8am-5pm, Sat-Sun 9am-6pm. 891 Bush St. at Taylor.
Smoky deviled eggs at Family Name (inside City Beer Store). Photo courtesy of Family Name.
