This Week's Top Stories

grocery

North Beach's Three-Year Grocery Gap Finally Closes as Grocery Outlet Opens at 350 Bay Street

The 30,000-square-foot store, independently owned by Joel and Jacqueline Lanoie, held its ribbon-cutting on August 13 in the space that Safeway vacated in 2023.

North Beach residents have a full-service grocery store again. Grocery Outlet opened August 13 at 350 Bay Street inside the NorthPoint Shopping Center, ending a three-year stretch in which the neighborhood lacked a major grocery anchor after the Safeway on that block closed in 2023. Mayor Daniel Lurie attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony, and owner-operators Joel and Jacqueline Lanoie greeted community members who had waited years for the store to arrive. The new Grocery Outlet occupies roughly 30,000 square feet in the former Safeway space.

Fisherman's Wharf

Alioto's Plaza Is Open and Pouring Beer — and the Port Wants Your Input on What Comes Next

The new public waterfront space at the former Alioto's site held its ribbon-cutting September 2; the Port has scheduled a community open house for September 9 to gather feedback on the longer-term future of the Taylor Street shoreline.

The ribbon was cut September 2 at Alioto's Plaza, the open-air space built by the Port of San Francisco where the century-old Alioto's restaurant once stood on Taylor Street. Mayor Daniel Lurie attended the ceremony. The plaza opened with picnic-table seating, benches facing the Bay, landscaping elements, sculptural wave-form seating, and a retail pop-up currently occupied by Woods Beer & Wine Co., which is using the space for outdoor service while it finishes its permanent taproom down the block at the former Fishermen's Grotto No. 9 space.

Telegraph Hill

955 Sansome Tower Returns to Planning Department Attention as August Update Surfaces

SocketSite logged an August 13 planning entry on the long-contested Aralon Properties proposal at the base of Telegraph Hill — a project that has grown from 7 to 24 stories since 2021.

The proposal to replace the parking garage at 955 Sansome Street — at the corner of Sansome and Vallejo streets at the southeastern base of Telegraph Hill — received a new entry in the San Francisco Planning Department's record as of August 13, 2026, according to SocketSite. The project remains one of the most closely watched development disputes in these neighborhoods.

Upcoming Events

Wednesday, September 9

Fisherman's Wharf Forward Community Open House

📍 USS Pampanito Triangle Space, Pier 45 Shed A, Fisherman's Wharf · 5:30 PM–7:30 PM

Late September (date TBD)

Woods Beer & Wine Co. Taproom Opening at Former Fishermen's Grotto No. 9

📍 2875 Taylor St. (former Fishermen's Grotto No. 9), Fisherman's Wharf

October 4–12

San Francisco Fleet Week 2026

📍 Fisherman's Wharf and northern waterfront · Various times

Saturday, October 10

Fleet Week: With a Waterfront Seat at Historic Pier 45

📍 USS Pampanito and Triangle Space, Historic Pier 45, Fisherman's Wharf · 11:00 AM–4:00 PM

More from the Neighborhood

Coit Tower Poetry Club Meets on the First Friday of September

The Coit Tower Poetry Club holds its monthly gathering on Friday, September 4, from 9:00 to 11:00 p.m. at Coit Tower, 1 Telegraph Hill Boulevard.