What's New on Clement Street This Fall, and Where the Newcomers Come From

On a Thursday in late September, the San Francisco Planning Commission voted unanimously to let a Bay Area gift shop chain open its 11th store at 32 Clement Street. Six days later, a few blocks west, Mai's Vietnamese at 316 Clement Street closed after 34 years.

The businesses leaving Clement this year tended to have one location and decades on the block. The businesses arriving often have a track record somewhere else, whether in Berkeley, Oakland, the Mission or elsewhere along the Inner Richmond's own corridors. That shift explains both the fall's best new tables and the fight at the Planning Commission.

The Farewells Had Long Tenures

The closures this summer and fall were not short-lived experiments. Most were neighborhood fixtures.

When Mai's closed, a sign in the window read, "It has been a joy to serve you and be part of this neighborhood," according to Mission Local's Richmond Buzz column.

More turnover sits at the southeast corner of Sixth Avenue and Clement, where two storefronts behind scaffolding had posted closing signs by October 1. Chococo, a clothing store at 455 Clement St., went from temporary closure signs earlier this year to a "Store closing" banner. Around the corner at 304 Sixth Ave., a ceramics and mahogany furniture shop put up handwritten clearance signs in English and Chinese. Aroma Tea Shop at 302 Sixth Ave., between the two, appears to be staying put.

The Arrivals Mostly Came With a Résumé

Most of this year's new businesses had already proven themselves somewhere else, whether at another location or as a pop-up.

• Rose Pizzeria, 1 Clement St. at Arguello. This is the San Francisco branch of a Berkeley pizzeria. It took over the former Village Pizzeria space and started serving lunch and dinner in late April, with Cal-Italian thin-crust pies, salads, wine and gelato. The Richmond Review/Sunset Beacon described "palpable excitement" in the district after it opened.
• Clementina, 343 Clement St. near Fifth Avenue. A familiar operator under a new name. The fully gluten-free Italian trattoria rebranded from Bettola and reopened March 12.
• HI NRG, 5801 Geary Blvd. at 22nd Avenue. This one began as a pop-up and is now a café and wine bar with specialty coffee, pastries, small plates, beer, wine and DJs. The San Francisco Chronicle reported it open by September 17.
• Hologram, 2512 Clement St. at 26th Avenue. A fast-casual café and bistro pouring Snowbird coffee and Malama matcha. It soft-opened March 21.
• TF Restaurant, 4142 Geary Blvd. near Sixth Avenue. LH Restaurant took a monthlong hiatus and came back under the TF Restaurant banner, with a Grand Opening sign up by mid-October.

The Richmond Review/Sunset Beacon also counts Kissaten HiFi, Pasta Supply Co, Mamahuhu and Lily's among the food businesses that have opened in the district over the last few years. The same report lists what is expected in late 2026 and 2027, including Loquat bakery, the cafés Evermore and Cafe Reveille, and the fourth retail location of the gourmet grocer Bi-Rite.

The next confirmed restaurant follows the same model. In October, the SF Standard reported that Taller Pepe, a Mexican-influenced California food and wine bar, is planned for 2229 Clement St. near 23rd Avenue, the former Red Tavern space across from the 4 Star Theater. The team behind it comes from Snail Bar in Oakland, and the opening is planned for spring 2027.

A proven concept shows up with a tested menu and a following already in place.

Thirty-Two Clement and Where the Line Sits

Therapy Stores is where that preference for proven concepts ran into the city's formula retail rules.

San Francisco's formula retail law limits chain retail and generally applies at 11 locations. Therapy, a locally owned gift shop with 10 Bay Area stores, wanted to open at 32 Clement St. near Second Avenue. According to Mission Local's coverage of the hearing, the city planner said the storefront had been vacant since 2024. The owner had 11 stores when she applied, and the planning code counts locations entitled to operate as well as those open. So the Clement Street application went to a full Planning Commission hearing, which took about an hour.

The Clement Street Merchants Association organized against the store. At the hearing, five merchants spoke in opposition and five people spoke in favor. A Clement Street toy store owner asked how a chain selling the same "stuffies, onesies, S.F. merch, hats, hair clips, candles, cards, socks and jewelry lines" as several shops within three blocks would fill a need, Mission Local reported.

Commissioner Mike Chen said he saw the 11th location of a local chain as different from an outpost of a national retailer. "I'm inclined to approve, with conditions," he said, according to Mission Local. The commission voted unanimously to approve. Afterward, members of the merchants association told Mission Local they would consider an appeal.

Context matters here. The association fighting the 11th Therapy location is the same group that co-hosted the third annual Clement Street Art Fair on October 17. That event closed Clement between Sixth and Eighth avenues for murals by Hollis Callas, live music and a bike fix-it station from Scenic Routes, according to Mission Local. The merchants who object to a chain also put on the street party. To them, protecting a mix of single-location shops and filling the sidewalk on a Saturday are the same project.

What Is Still on the Way

Here is where the pending projects stood as of late October 2026. Treat every date as a target, not a promise.

Two of these show the handoff plainly. Georgian Cheese Boat is moving into the Chino Yang's space, and Taller Pepe is moving into Red Tavern's. Kitchen Commons is going into the old Spanish Table storefront. The SF Standard reported in May that its co-owners planned to open in the fall.

The Parts of the Week That Stay Put

Some of the street hasn't changed. The Clement Street Farmers Market still runs Sundays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., rain or shine, at 244 Clement, according to its operator, the Agricultural Institute of Marin. Steins at 731 Clement St. held its 15th annual Steinfest on October 17. A $40 advance ticket covered a beer, all-you-can-eat German sausage and a champagne toast, Mission Local noted. The 4 Star Theater, across from the future Taller Pepe, screened previews of "Roll Fog," a documentary about San Francisco City FC, this month. Programming for the 4 Star, Vogue and Balboa theaters is listed through Cinema SF. At Funston Avenue and Clement, the Internet Archive's neoclassical headquarters at 300 Funston, a former Christian Science church, hosted a free panel on money in San Francisco politics on October 8.

The next storefront signs to watch for are the ones going up at 130 and 1820 Clement.

Dylan Hunter has spent his life in San Francisco and keeps track of which Clement Street storefronts are turning over, from the Arguello end out to the 4 Star. If you'd like to talk about how changes on the street factor into a sale or purchase nearby, let's connect.