Two fires in June closed two of Divisadero Street's busiest rooms within about three weeks of each other. One has set a reopening date. The other is still waiting on its insurer. A few blocks north, a corner storefront that closed after a 2022 fire has just landed a new tenant, four years later. How long each one has stayed dark has had less to do with the fire than with the insurance claims and lease terms that came afterward.
Che Fico: a little over four months
The first fire started the afternoon of Thursday, June 11. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that firefighters responded just after 3:30 p.m. to 838 Divisadero St., Che Fico's address. A fire lieutenant later said the fire had started next door, in the chimney of Foghorn Taproom. The blaze was contained around 4:15 p.m., no injuries were reported, and Divisadero was closed to traffic between McAllister and Fulton for the afternoon. Boba Guys and the Let's Be Buds hostel share that block.
On the day of the fire, officials said Che Fico appeared undamaged. It closed indefinitely all the same. Gazetteer SF later described significant damage from the chimney flue fire, and reported that chef-owner David Nayfeld had said in an Instagram video at the time that he didn't know when the restaurant would reopen. By mid-August, the same report noted, Che Fico was hiring for two positions as it prepared to reopen.
Then on October 2, Nayfeld announced a date. The Chronicle quoted his Instagram post:
"Exciting news! Che Fico will be reopening its doors, October 18th. We want to see you all there."
The Chronicle also reported that reservations were open. From June 11 to October 18 is 129 days. For a full-service restaurant coming back from roof-area fire damage, that is the fast version of this story. Foghorn Taproom, where the fire started, lists its 846 Divisadero location and current hours on its own site.
The Mill: waiting on the claim
The Mill at 736 Divisadero, the shared space for Josey Baker Bread and Four Barrel Coffee, closed after an overnight fire in late June. SFist reported the damage and the indefinite closure on June 29. Gazetteer SF reported that the fire started with an oven left on, and that a GoFundMe for the rebuild had raised more than $100,000.
The fire started three weeks after Che Fico's, and the GoFundMe money is substantial. The insurance process set the pace anyway. According to Gazetteer SF's September 29 report, Josey Baker said in mid-August that restoration had stalled while they dealt with insurance, and that cleanup would start in the coming weeks. No reopening date has been announced. Four Barrel's Visit Us page still lists daily hours for The Mill, but those hours don't match a cafe that has been closed since June.
Meanwhile the bread is still being made, just not on Divisadero. Gazetteer SF reported that Josey Baker Bread is baking temporarily at the newly opened Saltwater Bake Shop in SoMa and still sells loaves through grocery stores. If a weekend loaf from 736 Divisadero was part of your routine, here is where to look for now:
- Saltwater Bake Shop, where Gazetteer SF reports the bread is temporarily baked; its site lists the SoMa cafe at 1309 Howard St.
- Bi-Rite Market, Rainbow Grocery, Mollie Stone's and Falletti Foods in the city, plus Berkeley Bowl across the bay, all named by Gazetteer SF as stocking the loaves
- Four Barrel Coffee, 375 Valencia St., open daily 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. according to the company's site
901 Divisadero: four years and a new name on the door
To see how long this can take, walk up to the corner of Divisadero and McAllister. Oasis Cafe operated at 901 Divisadero from 2007, first as a grocery and later as an Eritrean and Ethiopian restaurant and cafe. It closed in 2022 after water damage from a three-alarm fire that started in a third-floor apartment upstairs and displaced 13 residents. Kava Lounge next door was damaged in the same fire.
The apartments upstairs were repaired and people live in them again. The storefront stayed empty while repair costs and rent terms for the ground-floor space were sorted out, Gazetteer SF reported. Those questions took four years to settle.
At the end of September, Gazetteer SF reported that a coffee shop called Cafe MD will open at 901 Divisadero "in the coming months." It has no opening date yet, and the old Oasis sign, "The Best Coffee Made One Cup At A Time!", was still hanging in the window. Kava Lounge's space next door is still vacant.
The same thing has happened at the south end of the street. A week after the Oasis fire in 2022, another fire broke out at 244 Divisadero near Haight, displacing 13 more residents and closing Phuket Thai, which had been open for 35 years. Gazetteer SF reports that the building is still vacant and in disrepair.
Here is where each fire-hit storefront stands:
| Storefront | Fire | Where it stands this week |
|---|---|---|
| Che Fico, 838 Divisadero | June 11, 2026 | Reopening announced for October 18, reservations open |
| The Mill, 736 Divisadero | Late June 2026 | Closed; restoration stalled over insurance as of mid-August |
| Former Oasis Cafe, 901 Divisadero | 2022 | Vacant; Cafe MD announced with no date |
| Kava Lounge, next to 901 | 2022 | Vacant |
| Former Phuket Thai, 244 Divisadero | 2022 | Vacant building |
The corridor kept adding
The fires get the attention, but Divisadero added businesses over the same months. Esme, a French bistro at 311 Divisadero in the Metro Hotel, opened in June, the same month as both fires. Eater SF reviewed it in July. It took over the former Ragazza space, which the San Francisco Standard flagged in April as one of the most anticipated openings.
A longer story is moving at Divisadero and Oak. The Touchless Car Wash at 400 Divisadero closed in late 2021, and plans to redevelop the site sat for years. In August, SFist reported that Greystar had taken the project over from 4Terra. The plan is 203 units, with work expected to start later in 2026, and a permit lists October 19 as the start of construction-related sidewalk and street closures along Divisadero and Oak. That date comes from a permit filed in August. It sets when closures may begin, which is not the same as when work starts.
That puts two long timelines on the street at once. A car-wash site that waited about five years for a builder is finally moving, while a storefront on McAllister that waited four years for its lease and repairs to be settled now has a tenant named.
The block calendar, starting this weekend
The North of Panhandle Neighborhood Association's calendar runs on its own schedule, whatever is happening with insurers and contractors. Here is what NOPNA has posted through early December:
- Halloween Block Party, Saturday, October 31, 5 to 10 p.m. at Lyon and Hayes streets
- First Monday Runday, November 2, 7:30 a.m., meeting at Matching Half for a loop of the Panhandle
- Littles & Parent Meetup, November 8 at the Panhandle Playground
- NOPNA community meeting, November 19 at Brahma Kumaris, 401 Baker St.
- Fourth Friday happy hour, November 27, venue to be announced
- Neighborhood cleanup, November 28, meeting at Hayes and Central
- First Monday Runday, December 7, back at Matching Half at 7:30 a.m.
The block party lands two days after this post goes up, a few blocks from where Divisadero was closed to traffic for the June fire. The Runday route starts on Divisadero's side of the Panhandle and passes close enough to The Mill's corner to check on it once a month.
If you own on or near Divisadero and want to talk through what a storefront closure or a construction start like the one at 400 Divisadero means for your block, the Denis Lancerin Group follows this corridor address by address and is glad to share what we're seeing. Let's Work Together.
