The Inner Sunset is "definitely awake after 3 p.m., when most of the coffee shops close," Yahya Munsar told The San Francisco Standard in October. He and his family run KJ Produce Market on Irving Street. They are building a cafe across the street that is meant to stay open until 10 p.m.
His observation fits more than one storefront. Starting Friday, Nov. 20, the San Francisco Botanical Garden runs its holiday light trail every night, with the rideshare drop-off on 9th Avenue. The neighborhood's two most visible vacancies sit up the same avenue at 9th and Irving. Neighbors put their own money behind the businesses filling those gaps. This winter the Inner Sunset is building its evening on purpose, and the money, the calendar and the map all point to the same few blocks.
The Gap After 3 p.m.
The cafe is called 403 Coffee, after its address at 403 Irving Street. Ali Munsar and his sons Yahya and Yaseem took over KJ Produce Market in 2022. The produce building would need extensive renovation to serve prepared food and coffee, so the family has been eyeing the empty storefront across the street ever since. The 1,200-square-foot space has been empty for years, since a private event venue closed. The plans call for cedar plank ceilings and burgundy tile counters.
The menu works in two shifts. Mornings bring grab-and-go pastries, espresso, lattes, pour-overs and fresh baklava. Evenings turn the room into what the family calls a social third space, with no alcohol. According to the Standard, it will be the first Yemeni cafe on the west side, and it is aiming to open in December.
A few doors down, at 424 Irving, Abanico Coffee Roasters has announced a second cafe. It is a Salvadoran-inspired specialty roaster from founder Ana Valle, and its first cafe is in the Mission. Hoodline reported in September that the Irving Street location was on the way. The block has seen this kind of change before. The Standard points out that Saint Frank Coffee took over a former Starbucks in the neighborhood.
The Money Came From Next Door
The $20,000 behind 403 Coffee's interior design and materials comes from the Inner Sunset Neighborhood Vibrancy Fund. The fund is the neighborhood's own money. Inner Sunset neighbors invested $300,000 at a time when the nonprofit SF New Deal wanted to take its Vacant to Vibrant programs beyond downtown. Nearly 100 local businesses applied for grants of $5,000 to $20,000, and 28 recipients were announced on Oct. 22.
That is about one award for every three or four applicants. The grants fall into three groups:
- Leasing support for new tenants filling vacancies. 403 Coffee is one of two leasing recipients.
- Beautification grants, including money for murals and lighting, for 20 businesses between 5th and 19th avenues. Peasant Pies, San Francisco Women Artists, The Game Parlour, Luke's Local Grocery and Green Apple Books on the Park are among them.
- Business assistance, the third category the fund supports.
"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 most after dark. A storefront with a lit facade and a mural gives the corridor more to look at on a December evening than a lowered grate does.
The Corner That Has Been Dark the Longest
The most persistent vacancies are the two the Standard describes as having "plagued the Inner Sunset's busiest corridor for more than a year at 9th Avenue and Irving Street." Both now have a likely future.
Mama's Boy Pizza is set to take over the former Reliable Rexall pharmacy. It is a New York-style slice shop, and this is its first expansion outside Oakland. Its lease is backed by the Vibrancy Fund and SF New Deal. The Sunset Beacon puts the opening as early as next spring.
Across the street, BMO Bank filed this summer for formula retail approval for the former Bank of America space, and the Standard reports that the application is under review by the Planning Department. The same review process recently put a gift shop on Clement Street at the center of a neighborhood debate over what counts as a chain. In the Inner Sunset, the merchants association supports the bank. Susannah Wise, president of the Inner Sunset Merchants Association, told the Standard that a bank "will help meet residents' and merchants' everyday needs, bring foot traffic to that corner, and light up a spot that has been dark for a long time."
Neither storefront will be lit for this winter's busiest evenings. That makes the Lightscape season, more than any other part of the year, the one that shows what a dark corner costs the blocks around it.
A Mile of Lights at the Bottom of 9th Avenue
Lightscape opens to the public on Friday, Nov. 20, and runs through Jan. 3, 2027. Garden members get a preview party on Thursday, Nov. 19. The trail runs about a mile through the Botanical Garden, with one million lights and what the Garden calls "all-new art, color, and sound." Rideshare drop-off is at 1199 9th Avenue. The Garden's own Lightscape page says the Inner Sunset is "just steps outside the Botanical Garden" and points visitors to the neighborhood for food and drink before or after their visit. The Sunset Beacon reports that nearby restaurants and shops will offer extended hours and special promotions during the run.
Here is what matters for a neighbor planning a night out:
- Buy ahead. The Garden says most nights sell out in advance. Same-day tickets cost $5 more, and there are no walk-up tickets on sold-out nights.
- Know the prices. General admission starts at $32 for adults and $20 for ages 5 to 17. Children four and under are free. Flex admission starts at $60, or $49 for members. Members get 20% off. A limited number of $10 tickets are offered every night through Museums for All for eligible EBT/SNAP or Medi-Cal cardholders, up to four tickets.
- Watch the clock. Entry is a 15-minute window from the time printed on your ticket. You can arrive up to 30 minutes early, and the trail takes at least 45 minutes.
- Leave the car. Muni's 5, 7, 43, 44 and N-Judah all serve the Garden. Street parking on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Nancy Pelosi Drive and Bowling Green Drive is free, but overnight restrictions apply after 10 p.m.
- Eat on Irving. Outside food and drink are not allowed. The Garden has vendors on site, and there is no coat check.
The Garden's own guidance makes the neighborhood the place to eat before or after a ticketed hour on the trail. Every Lightscape night through Jan. 3, the Irving and 9th Avenue blocks get an evening crowd that did not plan to be there for dinner.
The Corridor's Own Night, Dec. 5
The Inner Sunset Merchants Association holds its sixth annual Holiday Stroll on Saturday, Dec. 5, from 5 to 9 p.m. The association's announcement lists Moving Mannequins, where shop windows come to life with live mannequins, along with live music, a neighborhood scavenger hunt, raffle prizes and holiday specials from local shops and eateries. The Sunset Beacon adds trolley rides and a cookie-decorating workshop for kids.
Dec. 5 is the busiest day on the calendar. The Sunset Holiday Mercantile runs Dec. 5 and 6 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the SF County Fair Building, so the daytime market ends just as the Stroll begins. Lightscape runs that night as well. It is also the first Stroll held while the neighbor-funded beautification grants are at work on the corridor.
| When | What | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Thu., Nov. 19 | Lightscape member preview | SF Botanical Garden |
| Nov. 20 to Jan. 3 | Lightscape, nightly | 1199 9th Ave. drop-off |
| Sat., Dec. 5, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. | Sunset Holiday Mercantile, day one | SF County Fair Building |
| Sat., Dec. 5, 5 to 9 p.m. | Sixth annual Holiday Stroll | Inner Sunset commercial corridor |
| Sun., Dec. 6, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. | Sunset Holiday Mercantile, day two | SF County Fair Building |
| December target | 403 Coffee opening | 403 Irving St. |
| As early as spring | Mama's Boy Pizza | Former Reliable Rexall, 9th and Irving |
What Stays Lit
The new arrivals are joining blocks where some businesses have already stayed lit for a long time. San Franpsycho is marking its 25th anniversary at 1256 Ninth Avenue. Shala and Rory Cox opened YuBalance at 447 Irving more than eight years ago. "Everybody in San Francisco visits the Inner Sunset because it is easily walkable from several neighborhoods," Shala Cox told the Sunset Beacon.
The Munsar family took a longer view when they described the change to the Standard. "We came when the neighborhood was in a very quiet phase, and we're seeing things get better and better and better," Munsar said. Their cafe is set to stay open until 10 p.m., on blocks that Lightscape visitors will pass every night until early January.
If you are weighing what the changes at 9th and Irving mean for a home nearby, Work With Brandi. Brandi Mayo reads a block at the hours it actually keeps, along with its facades.
