A Sad Farewell from Hahn's Hibachi

Hahn's Hibachi has closed the doors at 1305 Castro St after years of rumors of their leaving. This note is taped to the window:

Thank You!

Since 1978 we have served San Francisco, our wonderful food. It is with a heavy heart, that we must now say.. Farewell.

You have made this a great businss, but, the rising cost of everything, in the city, has made a great business, obsolete.

You all have been wonderful customers. See you, enjoy our food, over the years, has given us so much happiness. Again, we say, Thank You for your patronage. We will miss you greatly.

You can still get Hahn's food, from out good friends a the Ivering Street, and Polk Street restaurants..

All the best to you and yours..

The Hahn's Family

Best of luck to you, Hahn's Family.

Set to move into the space is Bistro SF Grill, which lost their lease in Lower Pacific Heights. We don't know if they will attempt a live music permit, but you can count on their award winning burger. Nearby Bernal resident Matt Nathanson is sure to be pleased, so expect to see him around the neighborhood.

Horner’s Corner Is Closed, Will Reopen Soon As Hamlet

In late 2013 when we learned that Noe’s Bar/Bassos was becoming a new restaurant and bar called Horner’s Corner under a partnership that included Ivor Bradley from The Creamery, we were excited. Ivor's vision for the new place was promising:

We are a local partnership team who are looking to reopen Noe's as a local neighborhood bar with good food, and we are calling it "Horner's Corner Bar" after John Horner, a historical figure from 1850 who purchased the surrounding area of Noe Valley from Jesus de la Noe in the mid 18th century. He's also known as the man with the plough, a father figure of California agriculture.

Sounds great, right? Alas, Horner’s Corner never delivered on the promise of its owner's pedigree or its namesake - and was sadly just a local bar with basic bar food. So it wasn't a huge surprise when this May, barely a year after it opened, Horner’s Corner quietly closed. Around the same time, we also learned that John Dampeer, co-owner of Caskhouse, was buying the place and planned to call it Hamlet.

The sale of Horner's Corner finally closed and although he's a man of few words, Dampeer graciously gave us this rundown about his plans for the new corner bar and eatery:

What made you decide to buy Horner’s Corner? The opportunity presented itself and I believe the potential for the space/location is huge.

What opportunities do you see that you can’t do with Caskhouse? Caskhouse is a much smaller space. The kitchen itself at Hamlet will essentially be the entire size of Caskhouse. Also, Hamlet has a full liquor license, so we will have a carefully curated cocktail program as well.

Will Caskhouse remain as is? Caskhouse will remain as is.

For Hamlet, what changes are you planning to the bar? What changes are you planning to the restaurant? I'm doing pretty much an entire overall of the space: new bar, new floor & new design. The kitchen and back seating area will be converted into a large kitchen, prep storage and employee only space.

Why Hamlet? Hamlet is defined as a 'small settlement, generally one smaller than a village'. I believe that perfectly defines what Noe Valley is.

When do you plan to reopen? And will there be any special event? If all goes well, opening should be early fall (target is the end of September).

Closed: The Ark

Say it ain’t so: The Ark, the wildly cute toy store with the always interesting window displays at 3845 24th Street on the corner of Vicksburg is closed. A sign in the window reads simply: 

Unfortunately The Ark has to close its doors. We appreciate all the love and support you have given us throughout the years.

We had heard rumors that the store was struggling to match the prices of Amazon and the owners closed the Presidio version of the store earlier this year. Still… toys are one of those things that people like to see and touch before they buy, and the selection at The Ark was consistently good.

Then again, it might not just be the high prices, high rent or Amazon that are entirely to blame for The Ark's demise. Quite a few Yelp reviews gave The Ark exceptionally low marks for the staff including some pointed comments like “The male cashier, Sean, always provides terrible customer service, scowls at us, and is extremely unhelpful and unfriendly” and “I had this shocking discussion with a sales person who explained me that spanking is good for your child.” As of this writing, The Ark's website is also down.

Sad to see The Ark go – here’s hoping something just as useful and entertaining takes its place.

Closed: Isso

Fans of funky vintage clothing that is made, found or designed in the Bay Area will now have to go a little bit further afield for their fashion fix. A sign in the window of Isso at 3789 24th Street (just down the street from the much tonier Mill) announces the store is closed and consolidating to its other location in Mission Dolores called Nisa.

While the 24th Street Isso store has plenty of 5 star reviews on Yelp, the last review of any kind was in 2013 – which may explain the decision to consolidate.

No news yet on what will replace Isso - or the painted sign around the corner on Church Street.

Nisa
3610 19th Street at Guerrero
415-865-0960

[Photo via Yelp]

This Week In Noe Valley: An Ode To Plant Thieves, Honoring The Mayor of Church Street, And In Praise Of Aster

News from, about and for Noe Valley from around the interwebs:

• The Great Noe Valley Succulent Heist [Left Coast]
• Jiro Lin, the celebrated omakase chef at Saison, was discovered at Hamano Sushi [SF Chronicle]
• New restaurant Aster is the apex of Brett Cooper’s career [SF Weekly]
• Noe Valley: Where families lock their strollers [@zachmelikey]
• Noe Valley Whole Foods still has the highest sales per sq. foot in the U.S. [via @jimcramer]
• Honoring Larry Gutierrez, 70 year Noe Valley resident and "Mayor of Church Street" [@scottwiener]
• ICYMI: Noe Valley Music is closed [NVSF]
• A $5.8 million flip aimed at hipsters? Oy. [Curbed]
• If you can afford a $5.4M house, is fixing the garage really that big a deal? [Socketsite]

[Photo: Portable/Mess]

Closed: Noe Valley Music

Noe Valley Music, the local neighborhood music store at 3914 24th Street run by Doug Roomian since 1986, has quietly closed up shop and vanished. The sign over the door is gone, the door is padlocked, and there’s nothing left inside except bare walls.

When we checked in with neighboring shops to find out where it might have moved or what happened, none of the other merchants even noticed NVM was gone – and there’s no note in the window. Clerks at two neighboring stores didn't even know what music store we were talking about (we're looking at you See Jane Run and Good news). Sad.

Noe Valley Music was definitely a music shop from a different era. As one reviewer on Yelp put it: "Cute little neighborhood shop where you can grab a set of strings, a slide, or some random part if you happen to build instruments."

Anyone who took lessons or bought strings there have any details?

Closed: Lite for Life

After a 30+ year run at 1300 Sanchez at the corner of 26th St, Lite for Life, the weight loss clinic and diet food supply store, is slimming down for good. The storefront is mostly empty and a Craigslist ad reports that the business is closing. Many items are for sale and everything must go by 3/31.

The company's Twitter and Pinterest accounts have been deleted, its website and Facebook pages have no relevant info, and for now no one is answering emails. There isn't even a sign in the window. Had to be a hard decision to close, but so far we don't why.

Outside the building, the Lite for Life signs are gone and painters are at work on the façade. Is the building going up for sale? Time will tell.

Given that even bigger weight loss firms like Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers are doing badly (thanks to Web apps) it’s not a huge surprise to see Lite for Life go, but 30+ years is a good run.

Bonus: this is your chance to buy “Pieces of fake fat - for weight loss motivation.” See Craigslist ad above.

Closed: Porcellino

After a very brief run as a local all-day restaurant/market serving small plates, sandwiches and pasta in the old Incanto space, Porcellino is closed for good.

A sign in the restaurant window and a brief post on the Porcellino site today announced the sad news:

Porcellino is now closed. Please accept our sincere thanks for the 12+ years of support and friendship. For salumi, please visit Boccalone in the Ferry Building or online at bocalone.com. For great Italian food and hospitality, we encourage you to visit our friends down the street at La Ciccia and La Nebbia. Wishing you and your families a holiday season filled with health, joy and laughter.

The closing is a sudden but not entirely unexpected (we’ve never seen a crowd there for lunch). No word on what’s going into the space next but chef and partner Chris Cosentino’s newest restaurant, Cockscomb, will be opening very soon in SOMA – which may have something to do with the timing of Porcellino's demise.

One bright spot: Locals looking for prepared meals will soon have another option nearby. The owners of Bom Dia Market at Sanchez and 29th tell us they hope to open this weekend and will have pre-made Mediterranean dishes for sale as well as organic produce, beer and wine. Eater has uploaded the opening menu here.

Closed: Mike's Shoe Repair

Today the signs in the window read "Out of Business" and there's a moving truck out front of Mike's Shoe Repair. We spoke to the two man crew inside who said Mike couldn't afford the large rent increase (we're looking at you, Joel Panzer), and that he won't open anywhere else. You're advised to pick up your shoes within 30 days, repaired or not.

No one on site knows what will become of the "Renewing" sign.

[NVSF: Closing? Mike's Of Noe Valley Shoe Repair]

Closed: Be Yoga

Hadn't seen much action lately at Be Yoga other than a sign highlighting their new App in the window, but hadn't thought anything of it - plenty of studios look vacant half the time. But then today a message on Twitter made us take another look:

@NoeValleySF The Be Yoga studio on Sanchez looks eerily quiet. Is it defunct already?
— Inger Hogstrom (@ingerhogstrom) March 12, 2014

The awning has been painted white for a while now, but it's now an obviously vacant space. There is no mention of Noe Valley on Be Yoga's webpage or Facebook. Poof! Gone. Defunct.

Judging by Yelp reviews, the surprise of this closure isn't that surprising.

Closed: Dermalounge

We received a tip via Twitter that Dermalounge abruptly closed up shop at 1301 Church St. The notice posted on the states "Dermalounge has suspended operations as of October 5, 2013. Thank you for your support over the years." It directs inquiries to the mailing address for its other location in Burlingame - also closed. We attempted to contact the owner via phone and email without success. Dermalounge's website and Twitter have been pulled down.

We weren't the only ones surprised by the closure. Reviews on Yelp express anger that Dermalounge would close without contacting customers about future appointments, credits due or even to cancel an invite-only event at the vacated Burlingame location.

Dermalounge had been here since 2006 when it took over the space from Nourish Skin Care Center.