The Inner Sunset Is Paying to Keep Irving Street Open After 3 p.m.

For more than a year, the corner of Ninth and Irving has had two big dark windows. One was the former Reliable Rexall pharmacy. The other was the former Bank of America across the street. The San Francisco Standard described both as vacancies that had "plagued" the Inner Sunset's busiest corridor.

The Rexall space now has a tenant lined up, BMO Bank has applied to take the bank space, and several other storefronts between Fourth and Tenth avenues are filling too. Most of the businesses taking these spaces have one thing in common. They're built for the hours after the coffee shops close, and part of the money bringing them in came from neighbors.

Neighbors put up the money

In July, the nonprofit SF New Deal announced the Inner Sunset Neighborhood Vibrancy Fund. The recipients were named on October 22. Inner Sunset neighbors put $300,000 into the fund, nearly 100 local businesses applied, and 28 received grants of $5,000 to $20,000, according to the Standard.

The money goes to two different jobs:

• Beautification grants for 20 businesses between Fifth and 19th avenues, with funding for murals and lighting. Recipients include Peasant Pies, San Francisco Women Artists, The Game Parlour, Luke's Local Grocery and Green Apple Books on the Park.
• Leasing grants to help new tenants move into empty spaces. Two businesses received them.

"We saw that there were some pretty persistent vacancies, and we were hoping to encourage some businesses to fill those vacancies," SF New Deal executive director Simon Bertrang told the Standard. The lighting money matters for the evening question. Storefront lighting is what keeps a block looking open once the sun goes down, and it's one of the things these grants pay for.

The corridor around these vacancies was already doing well. Mission Local reported in October that Inner Sunset sales-tax revenue was above its pre-pandemic level in most quarters of city data running through Q1 2026. Its gaps were particular storefronts that had sat empty for years.

Address by address, east to west

Here's where each space stood in late October 2026. Some openings have firm dates and some are only targets, so the table shows which is which.

The tiles at 641 Irving went in during the week of October 19. Mission Local reported blue letters reading Mayer's Delicatessen in front of the old Tart to Tart space. No operator or menu had been announced.

Abanico's Irving Street cafe was originally expected by the end of September, Hoodline reported. The roaster's own site still listed it as coming soon at the end of October.

A few spaces also went the other way this fall. Poke Origin at 716 Irving served its last meal on October 1, when its 10-year lease ended. Inle closed its 822 Irving dining room in October. Co-owner Morgan Sue told Mission Local the restaurant might return in a different form.

The intersection becomes a pizza corner

The two biggest arrivals both make pizza, and they'll sit almost across from each other.

Mama's Boy Pizza is an Oakland shop known for New York-style slices. The former Rexall space will be its first location outside Oakland, and the Vibrancy Fund and SF New Deal are both supporting the lease, per the Standard. When Mission Local broke the news in September, permitting had only just started, which is why the target is spring 2027.

At 822 Irving, Neapolitan chef Vincenzo Capuano is opening Vincenzo Capuano SF, his first pizzeria in the United States. He won the world championship of contemporary pizza at the Caputo Trophy in 2022 and has 24 restaurants from Europe to Asia. His partner on the Irving Street location is Osilio Florese, who owns Mona Lisa Ristorante and Steps of Rome in North Beach.

Both newcomers have won awards from 50 Top Pizza, an online publication that ranks pizzerias. They'll join Arizmendi, Pasquale's Pizzeria and Cybelle's Front Room, which already serve the neighborhood. In its October column, Mission Local wrote that Ninth and Irving "may have the highest density of pizzerias outside of North Beach."

Pizza is a dinner business. Adding two destination pizzerias to one intersection gives the corner more reasons to stay busy through the evening.

A cafe planned around the evening

403 Coffee shows this shift most directly. It's one of the two leasing grant recipients, and it will be the first Yemeni cafe on the city's west side. The owners are Ali Munsar and his sons Yahya and Yaseem, who also run KJ Produce Market across the street. They've had their eye on 403 Irving since taking over the market in 2022, because selling prepared food and coffee from the produce building would have required extensive renovations.

Mornings will mean pour-overs, lattes, fresh baklava and grab-and-go pastries. In the evening the cafe becomes a sit-down social spot. Yahya Munsar told the Standard that the neighborhood is "definitely awake after 3 p.m., when most of the coffee shops close," and explained the plan:

"The missing piece that the neighborhood needs is a spot that stays open til 10 p.m., a nonalcoholic space."

The 1,200-square-foot space will have cedar plank ceilings and burgundy tile counters. A $20,000 grant from the fund is paying for interior design and materials. The Standard reported a December target, while Mission Local's earlier story put the opening early next year, so expect the date to move.

The bank space has the same evening argument behind it. BMO filed for formula retail approval this summer. Inner Sunset Merchants Association president Susannah Wise told the Standard a tenant there would "bring foot traffic to that corner, and light up a spot that has been dark for a long time."

The calendar is shifting later too

Irving Street's event schedule for the end of the year starts in daylight and then moves into the evening. Dates below are as the organizers have posted them.

1. Inner Sunset Flea Market season finale, Nov. 8, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., on Irving between Ninth and 11th avenues. Sunset Mercantile is planning a shared Big Lunch, the annual pie contest, holiday entertainment, and a collection of jeans and hoodies for Hamilton Families.
2. Inner Sunset Holiday Stroll, Saturday, Dec. 5, 5 to 9 p.m. The Inner Sunset Merchants Association promises moving mannequins, live music, a scavenger hunt, raffle prizes and specials from local businesses. The route hasn't been published, but Project SF lists it as starting on Irving around Ninth Avenue.
3. Sunset Night Market, Friday, Dec. 11, 5 to 10 p.m., an all-ages market on Irving between 20th and 25th avenues, per Sunset Mercantile.

Getting there in the evening also got a little easier this year. Starting August 29, peak N-Judah service went from a train every 10 minutes to one every nine, Mission Local reported.

As of late October, the only one of these new spaces actually open is Saint Frank at 744 Irving. The rest of the plan is easy to track, though. Mayer's should be the next sign to watch at 641 Irving, 403 Coffee is targeting December, and Mama's Boy is aiming for the spring.

I keep track of changes like these because what happens on a street like Irving shapes daily life for the people who live nearby. If you'd like to talk through what new businesses on Irving or your own commercial corridor could mean for you, Yuri Lavrentiev is happy to compare notes. Let's Connect.