9 Fall Openings in San Francisco to Get Excited About

From new restaurants to hotels and art museums, there’s a lot to look forward to in SF this fall.

There’s nothing quite like fall in San Francisco. The fog (hopefully) burns off, the surf starts pumping, and the sunsets are inevitably spectacular. There’s Hardly Strictly Bluegrass and Fleet Week. And this year, there’s a whole host of openings to look forward to: a big new hotel with a rooftop bar, a brand new art museum, and food and drink destinations ranging from flavorful Malaysian fare to a new downtown destination for aperitivo hour. Here are nine openings we’re particularly excited about this fall.

LINE Hotel
Photo by Chase Daniel, courtesy of LINE Hotel

Tenderloin
Opening Date: September 30
The latest entry to the category of “hotels where locals are genuinely stoked to hang out,” LINE Hotel is opening in the Tenderloin, steps away from The Warfield, with 236 guest rooms (starting at $259) boasting floor-to-ceiling windows and graffiti-tagged headboards. Beyond staycation aspirations, there are ample reasons to drop by to see San Francisco-based multimedia artist Sasinun Kladpetch’s large-format wall sculpture, which graces the four walls of the LINE Lobby. Namely, four new food and drink spaces, starting with Tenderheart, an indoor-outdoor all day restaurant with a focus on Northern California cuisine that’s helmed by chef Joe Hou (of Le Fantastique and Angler) and also opens on September 30. In the following weeks, look out for the opening of Rise Over Run, LINE’s rooftop cocktail bar featuring panoramic views, canapes from chef Hou, and drinks from San Francisco bar star Danny Louie (Mister Jiu’s and The Alembic) and Dark Bar, a new school lobby bar with drinks and snacks. You’ll also find the first San Francisco location of Alfred Coffee, an L.A. staple that’s sure to fit right into the Bay Area coffee scene.

THIS BURNING WORLD
Photo courtesy of the artist and ICA San Francisco

Dogpatch
Opening Date: October 1
The San Francisco art scene is getting a great big shot of life courtesy of ICASF, or the Institute of Contemporary Art in San Francisco, a brand new museum that’s opening in the Dogpatch. The 11,000-square-foot space is describing itself as continuously “under construction,” or in a state of perpetual reinvention, and is making a point to put equity front and center, both in terms of the artists and works that they champion and their interactions with the community at large (admission is free, for starters). The opening exhibition, titled “This Burning World,” is a solo show from Cherokee and Choctaw artist Jeffrey Gibson which examines the importance of our interaction and relationship with the planet.

Cassava
@cassavasf

North Beach
Opening Date: Early October
Beloved Outer Richmond restaurant Cassava is spreading its wings and reopening in a larger space in the heart of North Beach. Long a favorite for creative California cuisine and equity-centered employment practices, Cassava North Beach will maintain their three-course, seasonally changing prix fixe for dinner (at just $52, it’s a no-brainer), favorite dishes including the brined Buttermilk Fried Chicken, and the next-level brunch (the Japanese breakfast is hands down one of the best breakfasts in the city), but look out for a new snack section at dinner and a dedicated griddled category at brunch. The new space seats 40 indoors, plus 40 (dog-friendly!) outdoor sidewalk seats, and a dedicated 10-seat bar area and accompanying bar menu. Make reservations via OpenTable.

OKO at Tribune
@okosupperclub

Oakland
Opening date: October 10
After more than a year of hosting their popular, multi-course pan-African supper club OKO, Tribune owners-operators Chef Omri Aflalo and Darrin Ballon are handing chefs Mike Woods and Solomon Johnson the reins of their restaurant for a hybrid consulting and rebranding residency they’ve dubbed OKO at Tribune. The menu will switch from classic French style to market-forward Creole and pan-African a la carte options. Expect Creole Cajun and Gullah Geechee food products like Hoppin John with allium ash and herb oil and Limpin Susan with head-on prawns. Indoor and outdoor seating is available, as well as a full bar that will highlight Black- and POC-owned spirits and wine labels.

Rosemary & Pine
Photo courtesy of Rosemary & Pine

Design District
Opening Date: Second week of October
A new project from the Omakase Restaurant Group (Niku Steakhouse, Dumpling Time, Omakase), Rosemary & Pine is a more casual sister restaurant to special-occasion stunner Niku. The two restaurants also share executive chef Dustin Falcon who, before earning Niku a Michelin star, was a sous chef at Lazy Bear. Rosemary & Pine’s will have 94 seats and an indoor-outdoor space, plus a menu featuring fresh-baked bread, slow-braised meats, fresh seafood, and a whole lot of dishes cooked in their wood-fired oven.

Noe Valley
Opening Date: October
Damansara is coming to Noe Valley to fill the laksa-shaped hole in our hearts, and we couldn’t be more thrilled. It’s also the brick-and-mortar realization of chef/owner (and La Cocina entrepreneur) Tracy Goh’s wildly popular Malaysian food pop-ups, which she began hosting in 2012. The 48-seat space, with additional outdoor seating, will quickly become a go-to for Goh’s traditional small plates showcasing Malaysian street food, including coconut-laced fish cakes grilled in banana leaves and fried chicken topped with salted egg sauce. And laksa. Lots and lots of laksa.

Loquat
Photo courtesy of Loquat

Hayes Valley
Opening Date: Late October
When it comes to cafe know-how in this city, there’s no beating Tal Mor and Jodi Geren’s expertise. The co-owners of Four Barrel Coffee and The Mill, Mor and Geren are taking over the former 20th Century Cafe space and opening a new destination-worthy cafe and wine bar where food and coffee are treated with the same level of care and community. Enter Loquat, a 25-seat dream (outdoor benches to come) where you’ll find pastries inspired by the Jewish diaspora and Levantine flavors in both sweet and savory forms, courtesy of pastry chef Kristina Costa (formerly of Tartine) with inspiration from Mor’s childhood in Israel. While the focus will be on morning fare to start—think babka, cookies, cakes, and bourekas served warm with egg, feta, and spicy schug—the team has a beer and wine license and is planning on hosting events, including guest chefs and sabich nights featuring fresh laffa, a traditional Iraqi bread, in their tandoori oven.

Bar Sprezzatura
Photo by Galdones Photography, courtesy of Bar Sprezzatura

Financial District
Opening Date: November
It’s aperitivo hour somewhere, and always will be at the forthcoming Bar Sprezzatura, a new project from TableOne Hospitality and mixologist Carlo Splendorini (formerly of the Mina Group). Monday to Friday, imbibe like you’re on the Italian Riviera with Splendorini’s riffs on classic Italian cocktails, accompanied by flavorful cicchetti, small plates including focaccia, fritti, shellfish, crudo, and top-shelf tins. The 92-seat space also boasts a 36-seat outdoor patio.

Liholiho Yacht Club
Liholiho Yacht Club

Lower Nob Hill
Opening Date: Fall
The Liholiho Yacht Club team has been revamping the restaurant’s original Sutter Street space for months, and is planning on reopening its doors sometime this fall. Details on what changes we can expect to the restaurant and the menu are scarce, but we are more or less guaranteed to love anything that chef Ravi Kapur and his crew have to say about modern Hawaiian cuisine, so long as his house-made SPAM is involved.

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Lauren Sloss is a San Francisco-based travel, food, and music writer who has done stints in Philadelphia, New York, London, Istanbul, and aboard a 32-foot sailboat. Follow her on Instagram and Twitter.