"We said, 'Please, we don't need any more coffee. We need food.'"
That is Dan Serot, owner of Finnegans Wake, speaking to The San Francisco Standard about what happened after Peet's Coffee closed at 919 Cole St. in January. The Standard reported that the landlord first planned to bring in another coffee shop. The Cole Valley Merchants Association and the Cole Valley Improvement Association, a residents' group, then wrote to the building owner together.
The space is now becoming Pasta Supply Co. Peet's was there for 12 years.
That letter explains most of what is changing on Cole Street this fall. The neighborhood has a say in who moves in, and a lot of the people moving in already live here.
A block and a half with organized opinions
The commercial strip is small. The Standard counts one and a half blocks of Cole Street between Parnassus and Carl. That stretch holds nearly a dozen places to eat, two coffee shops, a hardware store, a grocer, a pet shop, a gym and an urgent care center.
On a strip that size, one storefront changes the whole block. Swap a pasta shop for a third coffee counter and the street has one less reason to visit at dinner.
The Merchants Association is fairly new. It launched in 2023. According to the Standard, it has partnered with other groups to run events, raised money for streetlights and night markets, and worked with SFMTA over the past few years to move loading zones off the main street and shorten commercial loading hours. "We've raised money for the streetlights and night markets, and we fixed the parking. I'm really proud," Serot, a founding member, told the paper.
Even newcomers notice the structure. Katie Humphries, who is opening an antiques shop around the corner on Parnassus, doesn't live in Cole Valley. She told the Standard the merchant group made her feel supported: "Everyone's so supportive, they're so organized."
The new owners mostly live nearby
Many of the newest businesses on Cole Street are run by longtime residents.
| Storefront | What it is | Who's behind it | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Double Black, inside Yardsale, 925 Cole St. | Coffee shop in Yardsale's flagship store | Cristina Ashbaugh and Kelly McGee, who started Yardsale in a Cole Valley garage in 2023 | Open since summer 2026 |
| Pasta Supply Co., 919 Cole St. | Restaurant and pasta market, third location | Chef Anthony Strong, a Cole Valley resident for 12 years | Was aiming for October; its site still says coming soon |
| Simple SF, Cole St. | Zero-waste refill store | Abbe Hoenscheid, who raised her kids in Cole Valley | Open; moved from Carl Street to Cole |
| Former Kamekyo space, Cole St. | New concept, not yet named | Jiro Lin, chef-owner of Hamano Sushi in Noe Valley | Announced for "the coming months" |
| Schatzgarten, Parnassus near Luke's Local | Antiques shop | Katie Humphries | Announced for September; no newer timing published |
The three newest on Cole sit side by side. Double Black is one storefront down from Simple SF, and Pasta Supply Co. will fill the space between them. "It's so mom-and-pop," Hoenscheid told the Standard. "You feel like you're in a small town."
Simple SF shows that a neighbor-run shop can draw from across the city. Hoenscheid opened on Carl Street in 2022 and moved onto Cole last year. She says sales are growing 40% to 50% year over year, partly because it's the only zero-waste refill store in the city right now. "Being on this corridor makes such a big difference," she said.
What the Peet's space is turning into
Strong told the Standard he "got a chill" when he saw the Peet's space was available, blocks from the apartment he shares with his wife, Katherine. Pasta Supply Co. opened on Clement Street in 2023 and on 22nd Street in the Mission the following year. Cole Valley would be the third.
The menu points the Standard named are fusilli in spicy tomato vodka sauce and hot meatball parmesan sandwiches. That's the "we need food" request, made specific.
Neighbors also helped pay for it. Eater SF reported that the crowdfunding goal was $400,000 and the drive had passed the halfway mark after one week. The perks were built for regulars:
- Pasta For A Year, $550: weekly take-home pasta for one year.
- Pasta For Life, $4,000: weekly pasta for life.
- The fine print: the offer page lists redemption at any location, in-store pickup only, one "skipsie" a month, and no transfers. Eater added that the ready-to-bake lasagnas aren't included and that you can't pick up a month's worth of pasta in one visit.
A weekly pickup only pays off if you live close enough to walk over every week. The perks are designed for the block.
The timing is still open. The Standard reported in August that Strong was aiming for an October opening. The Pasta Supply Co. Cole Valley page still reads "Coming soon to Cole Valley!"
Double Black planned for neighbors from the start
Double Black opened this summer in a former pharmacy that had been empty for a long time. That's a different kind of change than replacing a business that just closed.
Some customers find it on TikTok. The Double Black page lists iced hojicha lattes with black-sesame cold foam, giant chocolate chip cookies and cardamom buns. It's open 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day at 925 Cole St.
The owners told the Standard they added free refills on drip coffee for both groups: the TikTok crowd, and locals who might assume a hojicha latte place isn't for them. It's a small concession from owners who started their brand a few blocks away and want the people who live nearby to feel welcome.
Change still draws some pushback. Jim Angelus, who has co-owned Cole Valley Tavern since 2018, told the Standard that when he renamed Kezar Bar & Restaurant in 2022, one customer petitioned him to keep the burger the same.
Two storefronts still waiting
Two other announced openings are still in the works, based on the latest public timing.
The former Kamekyo space. Kamekyo ran on Cole Street for 28 years before closing this year. The Standard reported that Jiro Lin of Hamano Sushi will open a new concept there "in the coming months." No name or opening date has been published.
Schatzgarten. A florist left a storefront on Parnassus, around the corner from Luke's Local, in July. In early September the Standard reported that Katie Humphries' antiques shop would open there that month. No newer timing has been published.
Both fit the same pattern. A sushi chef from one neighborhood village is taking over a sushi space in another, and a shop owner from outside the neighborhood joined the merchant group before opening her doors.
The anchors the newcomers are joining
The newer places have long-running neighbors. Per the Standard:
- Cole Hardware opened in 1920.
- Val de Cole, a Legacy Business, has operated since the 1930s.
- Say Cheese, the deli and specialty food store, has been open for 50 years.
- Finnegans Wake marked its 50th anniversary in September.
- Cole Valley Tavern at Cole and Carl serves ice cream from a window that draws kids.
The change in between has been gradual. The Standard traces it to early 2024, when Woods Beer and Wine Co. opened, a few months after Blue Barn moved in. Clothing boutique Rising Star Laundry came next. On Friday nights there's a line down the block for Woods' back patio. Beit Rema's string lights and Wooden Coffee House round out the core of the strip.
Luke Spray of the Civic Joy Fund, which runs markets and pop-ups around the city, compared it to West Portal. He told the Standard that local merchants there said, "Why aren't we doing something in our own backyard?"
On the near-term calendar
- Saturday, October 31, 4 to 10 p.m.: SFMTA's closure list includes a Halloween block party on Shrader Street between Frederick and Beulah. It's a residential block a short walk from the Cole Street shops.
- Thursday, December 10, 4 to 9 p.m.: Cole Valley Nights returns as Holiday Nights on Cole Street between Carl and Parnassus. That's the kind of night market the merchants say they've been raising money for.
By Holiday Nights, the block may have its pasta counter open between Simple SF and Double Black, a block the neighborhood asked for in writing.
If you own on or near this strip and want to know what a new restaurant next door means for the value of your home, or for a renovation you've been putting off, talk to Kate Stoll. I'll give you a straight read on your block. Schedule a consultation.
