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“Sunset Buzz” will be a recurring update on changes, tidbits and other news from the Sunset. Got news? Send us tips at tips@missionlocal.com.
If you haven’t checked the weather forecast for the holiday week, here’s a sneak peek.
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As we brace for nonstop rain during these dark winter days, it’s good to know that there’s still something to look forward to when the sky clears.
Sunset Family Resources Collaborative provides free groceries every week in December.
The Sunset Family Resource Center is offering free groceries for Sunset families every week in December. Pickup will be from 4 to 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 23 and Dec. 30 at 1555 Irving St. It’s first-come first-serve, but families can reserve a bag by pre-registering.
A toy giveaway, organized by Outer Sunset Merchant Professional Association, is taking place on Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. Photo by Junyao Yang.
Also for families with kids, a toy giveaway is happening on Saturday, Dec. 20. Hosted by the Outer Sunset Merchant Professional Association, the giveaway will take place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Irving Street between 19th and 20th avenues.
A Sunset house puts up Christmas lights and decoration in December 2025. Photo courtesy of Olivia Krent.
A Sunset holiday house decoration contest is heating up. It is organized by Friends of Sunset Boulevard, a neighborhood group that focuses on improving conditions along the corridor.
Anyone can nominate a house with festive decorations — think oversize inflated Santa, or over-the-top holiday lights. The home with the most nominations will win a prize and “neighborhood bragging rights,” the organizers say.
Sunset resident Danica and her family took home the prize, and the new District 4 Supervisor Alan Wong delivered a “certificate of honor” on Thursday night.
Less crowded N-Judah?
N-Judah train rides down Irving Street and 6th Avenue. Photo by Junyao Yang.
The SFMTA is gathering community feedback to improve the N-Judah light rail line.
Currently, trains are slow — and overcrowded during peak time. It takes a median time of 31 minutes and 48 seconds to travel between the Duboce station and the beach, the agency said.
No major construction will take place until after 2028, the agency said. If the city can figure out a way to reduce delays, both frequency and capacity of the trains can be improved “at no cost.”
In business news…
Space Craft Earth, a cafe and clothing store, opens at 755 Taraval St. on Dec. 13, at a former liquor store. Photo courtesy of Gene Duven and Michael Falsetto-Mapp, co-owners of the business.
Space Craft Earth, a cafe and clothing store at 755 Taraval St., opened on Dec. 13.
After making non-binary and upcycled clothes for 12 years under the brand WRN FRSH, the co-owners — city natives Gene Duven and Michael Falsetto-Mapp — were excited to unveil their first brick-and-mortar shop at a former corner liquor store in the Parkside.
Here, you can purchase clothing designed and sewn by the owners and, even better, observe them at work cranking out clothes on industrial sewing machines.
Serving coffee from Hedge Coffee (which also opened its brick-and-mortar outlet in a beautiful space in the Mission) and organic green tea from Roots & Craft, the owners envision the cafe as a laptop-free space for “genuine community connection around slow craft design and intersectional environmentalism.”
Toast’N Egg, once drawing crowds, closed its doors after one and a half years. Photo by Junyao Yang.
Toast’N Egg, a sandwich shop serving Korean-style street toasts (a sandwich loaded with a fried egg, kimchi, and wagyu beef or curry chicken between two pieces of fluffy white bread), closed its doors in October.
Even though the Korean sando shop at 1838 Irving St. received its fair share of visits from Instagram food influencers with viral reels, it didn’t last long: It’s shuttered just one and a half years after opening.
But when you lose one sweet treat spot, another immediately opens up.
Notices are already on storefront windows, announcing “system activation in progress” and featuring a cartoonish robot with a soft-serve shaped hairstyle. Business filings showed that Tokyo Cream, a dessert shop offering soft serve and boba drinks, will open next in this space.
Kiss of Matcha opens its third location in San Francisco on Irving Street. Photo by Junyao Yang.
Speaking of Japanese soft serve ice cream, Kiss of Matcha, a dessert shop with Richmond and Chinatown locations, opened in the Sunset at 2127 Irving St. in late September.
You can find the standard matcha soft serve float, or go for their $12 specialty parfait, layered with red beans, brown sugar jelly and mochi and topped off with ice cream — I like to share it with friends unless you want dessert for a full meal.
Damnfine Coffee permanently closed at 4033 Judah St. Photo by Junyao Yang on Dec. 9, 2025.
Damnfine Coffee permanently closed at 4033 Judah St. Photo by Junyao Yang on Dec. 9, 2025.
Damnfine Coffee, a sister spot of Damnfine pizzeria, closed its doors in late October after three years in the Outer Sunset at 4033 Judah St.
“This decision did not come easily,” read a notice on the door of the cafe. “But we’ve made the necessary choice to streamline our operations and focus our energy on what we do best — making lots and lots of pizza!”
Farewell to the buttery cinnamon toast, or a pizza toast with drizzled hot honey, but the Damnfine team invites patrons to visit the pizza shop just six blocks east at 3410 Judah St.
Maggie & Mac’s plans to open in spring 2026 in the Inner Sunset. Photo by Junyao Yang on Dec. 18, 2025.
Maggie & Macs, a New American restaurant, is aiming to open in spring 2026 at 1326 Ninth Ave. at Irving Street. Its owners, Scott and Caitlyn Morton, also operate Momo’s, a restaurant and bar across the street from Oracle Park.
“It’s a spot for weeknight burgers, Saturday negronis and Sunday hangs,” the owners wrote. “A place for all the small moments that make a neighborhood feel like yours.”
The restaurant will take over the storefront vacated by Social Kitchen & Brewery that closed down in March 2020 after 10 years, when its owners and the landlord couldn’t reach a deal on a new lease.
Bullhead, a West Potral burger joint, is looking for a buyer after 46 years in business. Photo by Junyao Yang on Dec. 19, 2025.
Bullhead, a West Potral burger joint, is looking for a buyer after 46 years in business. Photo by Junyao Yang on Dec. 19, 2025.
Over in West Portal, Bullshead Restaurant, a family-owned burger spot at 840 Ulloa St. right next to West Portal station, is now on the market after 46 years in business.
The owners, Tom and Insoon Shim, are retiring and moving back to Korea, according to their daughter Grace Shim, who was getting ready to open on a recent Friday morning.
The owners have been talking to interested buyers for a year, but a couple of deals fell through. Grace, for her part, looks forward to the day she doesn’t have to come to the restaurant anymore.
“I’ve been doing this for 35 years, ever since I was a kid,” she said. “My parents had each other and other help. But in this economy, I can’t afford other helpers.”
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Tagged: business buzz, community, Sunset
Junyao covers San Francisco’s Westside, from the Richmond to the Sunset. She moved to the Inner Sunset in 2023, after receiving her Master’s degree from UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. You can find her skating at Golden Gate Park or getting a scoop at Hometown Creamery.