The 12 most surprising Bay Area restaurant and retail closures of 2023

The Bay Area said goodbye to many businesses in 2023. But some closures, like those of long-lived neighborhood restaurants and massive department stores, came with a dose of surprise, even shock. While a new year always brings hope, a look back reminds us how critical it is to frequent the businesses we care so much about. Here are 12 important restaurants and retailers we lost in 2023. 

Downtown San Francisco has been slow to recover after the pandemic and nowhere was that felt more greatly than Union Square, which saw the closure of its department store jewel, Nordstrom. In late August, the company closed its last San Francisco store after announcing the end back in May. Only a month before, in July, the nearby Nordstrom Rack also shuttered. Located in the Westfield mall in the heart of San Francisco’s downtown, the department store, which had been there for 35 years, held a giant sale where customers scooped up everything, even the decor that hung on the walls.

San Francisco lost several important restaurants this year, but arguably none were as cherished as Turtle Tower. In September, the Tenderloin outpost closed its doors for good, and in November, the last remaining spot in SoMa shuttered too. Specializing in Northern Thai cuisine, the restaurant was famous for the No. 9 pho ga, a simple chicken broth soup with fresh, wide rice noodles and no accoutrements. It was twice mentioned as one of 7×7’s Top 100 Things to Try Before You Die, and the restaurant was also a favorite of San Francisco-born comedian Ali Wong.

Due to poor foot traffic and dwindling sales, the La Cocina Municipal Marketplace, one of the city’s true multicultural food gems, closed its doors. The 7,000-square-foot space ended food sales in mid-July. The Tenderloin food hall was the customer-facing home of the Mission-based kitchen incubator, showcasing the dishes of women and immigrant food entrepreneurs from Mexico, the Middle East and beyond. Bay Area favorites such as Bini’s Kitchen and Teranga once held spots at the food hall. The building that housed the marketplace has since been converted to a commercial kitchen and is still operated by La Cocina. La Cocina merchants can rent out space for their businesses at the Tenderloin outpost. (The Marketplace is currently closed for repairs, according to its Instagram.)

Slow foot traffic also led to the demise of San Francisco’s Barbacco, which closed at the end of September in the Financial District. Opened in 2010, the casual sister restaurant of Perbacco served up fresh pasta like orecchiette with spiced fennel pork sausage and fettuccine Bolognese. Owner Umberto Gibin announced the closure on Instagram, but he also noted that Perbacco was still doing well and “is set to take on the upcoming season with plenty of celebratory meals, holiday parties, and a new happy hour menu.”

Down on the Peninsula, small Bay Area chain Hobee’s closed its original Mountain View location in mid-November. The diner, which had a self-proclaimed “world-famous” coffee cake, was a neighborhood breakfast staple for 49 years. The owners cited infrastructure issues as the reason for the closure. The president of Hobee’s, Camille Chijate, said she’d been contemplating closing the outpost for the last two years. In the end, she said, she could not come to an agreement with the property owner on necessary upgrades.

San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury neighborhood lost a 41-year-old clothing and costume store in October. Distractions closed after owner-founder Jim Siegel decided it was time to retire and could not find a buyer to take over the store. Opened in 1982 as a “new wave gift and clothing store,” the shop was frequented by Burning Man-bound locals in need of proper costumes and attire.

Acclaimed Oakland restaurant Hopscotch, from chef-owner Kyle Itani, ended its run as a go-to spot for Japanese-inspired American cuisine in June. The eatery, located in Oakland’s Uptown neighborhood, was a popular restaurant to grab dinner before a show at the nearby Fox Theater. While Hopscotch will no longer be dine-in, Itani did launch Hopscotch Catering during the pandemic, and he plans to collaborate with former employees Matt Meyer and Daniel Paez at Low Bar for the foreseeable future.

Fisherman’s Wharf suffered some closures, as well. In July, two neighboring restaurants said goodbye to the tourist destination. Pompei’s Grotto originally opened in 1946 and was known for a mix of Italian food and seafood, like the Pompei Marinara, which had crab meat and bay shrimp in a homemade sauce. Lou’s Fish Shack, which was located next door to Pompei’s, opened in 1988 and was a more classic San Francisco eatery — think clam chowder in a bread bowl and cioppino. During the summer, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors “passed mutual agreements to terminate the leases and licenses of both restaurants” after they had reportedly failed to pay rent since March 2020.

In August, the Richmond District said goodbye to a beloved Italian restaurant of 35 years. The family-owned Mescolanza was known for relatively affordable prices, around $20 per entree, and a menu that included beef carpaccio, handmade gnocchi Bolognese and linguine alle vongole veraci, which had clams “so tender they practically melted into the pasta.” Head chef and owner Ruben Macedo cited rising inflation rates as one of the main reasons for the closure; a nearly doubled increase in rent was the final straw. “My passion is cooking, and it has been for so many years,” Madeco told SFGATE. “But all of this was just too much.”