This Week's Top Stories

food

Australian-Style Handroll Shop Handroll Hawker Just Opened on Polk Street

Melbourne native Romi Trower opened San Francisco's first Australian-style handroll restaurant at 2360 Polk St. on September 29, bringing grab-and-go temaki to Russian Hill.

A new kind of sushi shop quietly joined the Polk Street corridor this week. Handroll Hawker, billed by its owner as San Francisco's first Australian-style handroll restaurant, opened Monday, September 29 at 2360 Polk St. in Russian Hill, in a former boba shop near Union Street. The restaurant is the work of Romi Trower, a Melbourne native who moved to San Francisco in 2019 and, unable to find the snack she grew up on, decided to open it herself.

Chinatown

Chinatown's $150 Million Makeover Is Now Visibly Underway — and the Library Is About to Close

With Portsmouth Square's pedestrian bridge already demolished and the Him Mark Lai Branch Library set to shut its doors this fall for a 30-month renovation, Chinatown is living through the most consequential construction period in a generation.

Three major capital projects are simultaneously reshaping Chinatown's public infrastructure, and the effects are now being felt on the ground. Together, the Portsmouth Square renovation, the Chinatown Public Health Center upgrade, and the Him Mark Lai Branch Library renovation carry a combined price tag of roughly $150 million and will take up to two and a half years to complete.

Polk Gulch

Fitness SF Polk Opens November 1 in the Long-Empty Lombardi Sports Building

The locally owned gym chain has confirmed a November 1 opening date for its 45,000-square-foot Polk Gulch location at 1600 Jackson St., featuring the largest weight floor in San Francisco.

After months of community outreach and a construction buildout, Fitness SF Polk now has a firm opening date: November 1, 2026. The gym will occupy 45,000 square feet at 1600 Jackson St. — the long-vacant former Lombardi Sports building at Polk and Jackson — serving Polk Gulch, Russian Hill, and Nob Hill residents. The gym is billing itself around the city's largest weight floor and will be the only large gym in Northern California with an 18-piece Keiser A400 Circuit, a system used in professional sports facilities.

Upcoming Events

Saturday, October 3

Chinatown Cleanup — Volunteer Community Service

📍 Kearny St. and Clay St., Chinatown · 3:00 PM–4:30 PM · Verify · SF Station

Friday, October 9

Chinatown Night Market — Final Date of 2026

📍 Grant Ave. from California to Pacific, Chinatown · 5:00 PM–9:00 PM · Verify · Funcheap SF

Saturday, October 10

Russian Hill Neighbors Cleanup

📍 NW corner of Hyde St. and Filbert St., Russian Hill · 9:30 AM–12:00 PM · Verify · Civic Joy Fund / Mobilize

Sunday, October 18

Unplugged: A Typewriter Event at Russian Hill Bookstore

📍 Russian Hill Bookstore, Russian Hill · Verify · Eventbrite

More from the Community

SF Planning Commission Advances City Bid to Acquire PG&E's Local Grid — Relevant After Summer Outages Hit Russian Hill and Chinatown

San Francisco's Planning Commission unanimously approved a required Environmental Impact Report in July 2026 to advance the city's potential acquisition of PG&E's local distribution grid, according to Hoodline.

Lorella, a Bakery from the Octavia and Saturbake Teams, Is Coming to Polk Street

A new bakery-café called Lorella is in the works at 2139A Polk St. in Russian Hill, according to The Infatuation's fall 2026 opening preview, published in late September.

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