San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
On hip Valencia Street, it’s not happening
The mood is usually bright and sunny this time of the year along Valencia Street in San Francisco’s Mission District. Valencia is one of San Francisco’s hippest streets, lined with restaurants and bars and small shops. You could argue that if Columbus Avenue in North Beach is the main street of an older San Francisco, Valencia is the main stem of a new city. It’s usually full of young people, strolling, shopping, eating, drinking, hanging out. Not anymore.
The coronavirus restrictions that took effect nine weeks ago were a body blow to the vibrant street life on Valencia. A lot of storefronts are boarded up, some businesses have closed for the duration, some have given up entirely. Tony’s Service near 24th and Valencia — which offers help on everything from vehicle registration to income tax preparation — is waiting for better times. A sign in the window offers his advice: Stay Home.
A lot of people seem to be taking that to heart. There is noticeably less foot traffic on Valencia and fewer cars and bicycles as well.
But gloom and doom is a hard sell on a street full of young people. “It’s not like it was at all,” said Kim Druise, one of the bartenders at Clooney’s. “But we are making the best of it.” Clooney’s is one of those neighborhood stalwarts, a dive bar beloved by young and old. It used to open at 6 a.m., happy hour for the night shift, as they used to say.
It closed for a while, but now Clooney’s is back. It offers a modest menu: $2 for a hot dog, $5 for a sloppy joe — which entitles the customer to buy a drink. No one can go inside. Customers stand outside, 6 feet apart. Not anyone’s idea of a bar and grill. “It’s better than nothing,” Druise said. “We missed seeing our friends.”
A block or so down the street at Beretta, takeout is the order of the day. Back in the day, two years ago, the place got a glowing review from the Zagat restaurant guide. Beretta served “hipster Italian comfort food.” Reservations were hard to get. “It was crazy packed all the time,” Zagat said.
It still offers a full menu, and customers at the takeout window can get a glimpse of the handsome interior of the restaurant, white tablecloths and all. It was “dark, sexy and evocative,” Beretta’s home page said.
Valencia Street is also noted for its small shops, like the Scarlet Sage Herb Co., at 1193 Valencia, a herbal apothecary offering medicinal herbs, oils, natural supplements and the like. It is one of those places found only in cities, where it is a pleasure just to walk inside for the fragrance alone. Now, customers have to use their imagination. Service at the door only.
Down the street a bit is Laku Yaeko, which describes itself as a funky outpost selling handmade gifts. Now it is selling handmade masks — $12 for an adult mask and $8 for a baby mask. “We need your support,” a sign says.
Dog Eared Books at 900 Valencia also needs help. It recently reopened after weeks of inactivity. The bookstore, which has been on Valencia for nearly 30 years, now takes phone orders between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. It has a GoFundMe appeal out.
Not a good sign.
Not far away, Valencia Cyclery is prospering, but it’s not easy. “We’re so busy, bikes are flying off the shelf. We can’t keep up with the demand,” said Paul Olszewski, who has owned the shop for 35 years.
“People are desperate to get out of the house and get exercise,” he said. His biggest customers are in their 20s, and his best sellers are entrylevel bikes to people new to cycling. Kids bikes are selling, too. “Parents are buying children’s bikes like it was Christmas.”
But doing business in the time of the coronavirus is like nothing else Olszewski has ever seen. The customers have to stand in line in the street until they get to a single window. They can’t talk face to face with a staff member. They can’t take a test ride. Nobody touches money or credit cards. Everyone is masked.
Nobody gets closer than 6 feet.
“The customers’ patience and understanding is amazing,” Olszewski said. “Almost no one complains. They wait in long lines in the rain, purchase products they cannot touch, and even happily buy bicycles without a test ride.”
“It’s a challenge to do business this way,” he says. “Everything takes twice as long.”
Olszewski thinks it can’t last. “Doing business this way takes so much more time and resources that it is not sustainable in the long term,” he said. Labor rates are too high, and profit margins are too low.
So it’s a takeout and curbside delivery world now. And not every business will survive. The door at the Crepe House at 1132 Valencia was open the other afternoon, but dishes and tables were stacked up. “We’re closed,” the man inside said. “Closed.” The restaurant was having a slow year, owner Shar Haddadin told the Mission Local website. When the virus hit, he closed for good. “The last nail in the coffin,” he said.