Assuming the economy doesn't decide to tank again, we are poised for another 2010-style boom in the food-and-drink world, especially around SoMa and the quickly gentrifying Mid-Market. The last month saw the opening of 1601 Bar & Kitchen on an unproven stretch of Howard, at 12th. And a piece in Sunday's Chronicle rounded up a few of the projects in the pipeline, including a spinoff of AQ planned for 2015 at the Twitter building called Bon Marché, and a new casual spot from Coi chef Daniel Patterson. Below, we bring you the complete picture, as it stands.
Aziza
140 New Montgomery
Chef Mourad Lahlou is looking to relocate his acclaimed modern Moroccan-inspired restaurant to the newly renovated 1925 Telephone & Telegraph Building, which will also soon be home to Yelp. ETA: Fall 2013
Beer Hall
One Polk Street
This new upscale version of City Beer Store, with a retail component and beer bar, is headed to the new residential tower at the base of Polk, at Market Street. It's the project of husband and wife team Jennifer and Andrew Hall and follows on a slew of other beer-centric projects that have debuted citywide in the last year. ETA: Early summer.
Bon Marché
Market & Tenth
The only confirmed project to ink a deal for one of the ground-floor spaces at the Market Square complex (a.k.a. Twitter HQ) is this enormous planned brasserie spinoff from the team behind AQ. It will be, once completed, hold 125 seats and be a very different style of restaurant than AQ, with an all-day, casual and bustling feel. As owner Matt Semmelhack tells the Chron, "At AQ, there are eight office workers above the restaurant. At Bon Marché, we're anticipating 8,000." ETA: 2015
Unnamed Bourbon & Branch Project
Market & Tenth, or elsewhere
It's not yet a done deal, but rumor had it that the guys behind Bourbon & Branch, Tradition, Local Edition, and Rickhouse were looking to lock down a possible space in the vicinity of SoMa, possibly at the Market Square building, in order to transfer a soon-to-expire liquor license that they had for Anu, which closed a couple years back on Sixth Street. If it happens, we should know about it by June.
Driftwood
1225 Folsom Street
This new lounge from one of the owners of Amnesia and a partner is taking over longtime Folsom leather bar Kok, which also went by My Place and the Ramrod back in the day. The new cocktail bar won't be gay and will take some design cues from the owners' shared love of surfing. ETA: Early summer
Unnamed Daniel Patterson Project
1420 Market Street
The Coi chef, who also owns Plum and Haven in Oakland, is aiming to open another casual concept just across from Twitter HQ. He describes it as "inexpensive, fast, very cocktail-driven, an everyday kind of place." ETA: Summer 2013
Southside Spirit House
575 Howard Street
The former Eve lounge, which recently closed, is becoming a new happy hour spot from the same owners called Southside Spirit House. Look for a more mellow vibe, and no bottle service or velvet ropes. ETA: May 2013
Whiteside Company
140 New Montgomery
This new restaurant-bar concept comes from Bar Agricole's Thad Vogler, a rustic and casual food menu and a cocktail program inspired by Bill Boothby, the longtime bartender at the Palace Hotel who penned the seminal book The American Bar-Tender in 1891. ETA: Late 2013
Jay Barmann is the editor of Grub Street San Francisco.
