This Week's Top Stories

music

Train Shuts Down Haight & Ashbury for a Free Homecoming Block Party

The Grammy-winning Bay Area band returned Thursday to the Upper Haight pub that named its new album, drawing a massive crowd to a street-closing concert outside Mad Dog in the Fog.

San Francisco rock group Train shut down the intersection of Haight and Ashbury streets on Thursday, August 27, for a free album release block party outside Mad Dog in the Fog — the Upper Haight pub that inspired the name of the band's 12th studio album. The event, dubbed 'Love on Haight — A Mad Dog in the Fog Block Party,' opened at 3:30 p.m. with Train taking the stage at 5 p.m. in front of the bar at 1568 Haight Street, drawing what the San Francisco Chronicle described as…

historic preservation

HANC Pushes for a Broader Haight-Ashbury Historic District to Counter Upzoning Threat

The neighborhood council says city-mandated upzoning puts one- and two-story commercial buildings at risk of demolition, and is calling for a historic district that goes well beyond what SF Planning has defined.

The Haight Ashbury Neighborhood Council is pressing San Francisco Planning to establish a broader historic district for the neighborhood, driven by urgency over upzoning that advocates say has made low-rise commercial buildings newly vulnerable to demolition. The campaign, discussed at HANC's July meeting and detailed on its website in August, argues that the counterculture-era boundaries SF Planning drew — focused on Haight Street and a small portion of Stanyan, covering only 1965–1975 — leave out large portions of the neighborhood's architectural and social history.

restaurants

Pasta Supply Co. Is Coming to Cole Valley This Fall

Chef-owner Anthony Strong will open his popular pasta shop and restaurant at 919 Cole Street in October — his third San Francisco location and his first in the neighborhood he has called home for twelve years.

Pasta Supply Co., the hybrid pasta shop and counter-service restaurant that has won fans at its Richmond and Mission locations, will open a third San Francisco outpost in Cole Valley this fall, the San Francisco Chronicle reported on August 12. Chef and owner Anthony Strong — a Cole Valley resident for twelve years — is taking over 919 Cole Street, the former Peet's Coffee space at Cole and Carl, targeting an October opening.

Upcoming Events

Through September 20

Forever Grateful — Grateful Dead Exhibition at Haight Street Art Center

📍 Haight Street Art Center, 215 Haight St, Lower Haight · Various times

Through October 25

Forever Grateful, Golden Gate Park — Immersive Grateful Dead Exhibition

📍 County Fair Building, Golden Gate Park · Various times

Thursday, September 10

HANC General Membership Meeting — September

📍 Park Branch Library, 1833 Page St, Haight-Ashbury · 7:00 PM

Sunday, September 20

47th Annual Haight Ashbury Street Fair

📍 Haight Street (Stanyan to Masonic), Haight-Ashbury · 11:00 AM

More from the Neighborhood

Waller Street Ficus Review Yields a Split Decision: Four Trees Stay, Three Come Down

The secondary arborist review that District 5 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood's office secured for seven mature ficus trees slated for emergency removal on Waller Street near Steiner has concluded with a compromise: four…

Haight-Area Muni Routes Among Those at Risk if November Transit Tax Fails

With San Francisco voters facing critical transit ballot measures in November, routes serving Haight and Cole Valley are on the SFMTA's list of lines that could be eliminated if new revenue is…

The DeLuxe Brings Jazz Back to Haight Street After a Three-Year Absence

The storied Upper Haight music room formerly known as Club DeLuxe reopened on June 18 as The DeLuxe, following a two-year restoration by new co-owners Christian Beaulieu — a former Club DeLuxe…

Toronado Pours Again Under New Ownership, with a Sausage Neighbor on the Way

Toronado — the Lower Haight craft beer landmark at 547 Haight Street — is operating under new ownership after founder Dave Keene handed the bar to longtime regular Bill Lewis and his…