San Francisco Bay Area restaurants that shuttered in November
3 min readAs 2021 rapidly comes to an end, more Bay Area restaurants bid adieu after years in service.
Among the closures was Terrapin Crossroads in San Rafael, a live events space and restaurant owned by Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh and his wife, Jill. “We explored all possible options in an attempt to keep Terrapin at its current location, but after carefully considering a number of various partnerships and collaborations, we decided that the best thing for us, and for Terrapin, was to bid farewell,” the owners wrote on their website.
There was also news that two popular East Bay businesses will close in the weeks and months to come. The owners of the Italian restaurant Oliveto in Oakland, best known for its seasonally focused dishes, announced they would permanently close by the end of December as they plan to retire. Berkeleyside first reported the Oliveto closure. In Berkeley, the longstanding Nordic House marketplace, famous for its deli sandwiches, shared that it would also shutter by January 2022.
Below is a list of Bay Area restaurants that closed in November. To read more about local business closures in October, click here.
Blue Bottle Coffee
Blue Bottle Coffee closed its original headquarters at 300 Webster St. in Oakland after 11 years, as first reported by the San Francisco Chronicle. (SFGATE and the San Francisco Chronicle are both owned by Hearst but operate independently of one another). In a statement shared with SFGATE, Blue Bottle CEO Karl Strovink shared that the reason behind the closure was in cooperation with the landlord. “We appreciate our landlord allowing us to operate month to month until a successor tenant for the entire building was identified.” Read more.
Miette Patisserie
Tablehopper first reported that the popular bakery was evicted from its location at Jack London Square. According to the publication, Miette negotiated rent reduction during the pandemic with its landlord, CIM Group, which subsequently affected its lease term. One of those changes included re-listing their business space, which was unbeknownst to Miette, Tablehopper wrote. The pastry shop eventually relocated to Montclair Village in Oakland and continues to have other locations across the Bay Area.
Réveille Coffee
Réveille’s Castro location has closed after seven years, as first reported by Hoodline, but it’s not all bad news. Its other Réveille locations around San Francisco and Berkeley will remain open.
Rocky Point Restaurant
The seaside restaurant, located just south of Carmel, has permanently closed after 75 years and sold for $8 million. The property will continue to operate as a new restaurant concept sometime in the future led by Justin Cogley, executive chef at Aubergine in L’Auberge. Read more.
Sweet Booth
After 28 years of serving boba inside Oakland’s Pacific Renaissance Plaza, Sweet Booth has permanently shuttered. Owner Calvin Tong told the San Francisco Chronicle that business had been challenging during the pandemic and ultimately decided that the time was right for them to retire.
Venticello Ristorante in Nob Hill is closing after 29 years in business.
Andrew D./YelpTerrapin Crossroads
The live event and restaurant space in San Rafael, owned by Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh and his wife, Jill, has closed. While the owners shared that closing was the best move for the business, they hinted that Terrapin could potentially open “in some form, somewhere down the road.” Read more.
The Cheesesteak Shop
The Cheesesteak Shop quietly closed its doors after 39 years in Berkeley, as first reported by Berkeleyside. According to its business website, the closure was a result of the business losing its lease. Customers can still visit its other Bay Area locations around San Francisco, Oakland, and more.
The Oriental Restaurant
Decades after The Oriental Restaurant first opened in Berkeley, the Chinese and Vietnamese restaurant has permanently closed its doors, as first reported by Berkeleyside. Owners Ba and Nhung Nguyen told Berkeleyside that they were stepping away from their business so that they could retire.
Venticello Ristorante
The Italian restaurant in Nob Hill announced its permanent closure following a lack of tourists amid the pandemic. “At the moment, COVID has made it impossible to keep the doors open,” co-owner Mike Deeb told the San Francisco Chronicle, which first reported the closure. The restaurant had been a fixture of San Francisco since 1992. Read more.
