We have big news: The American Journalism Project is investing $1.5 million in Mission Local!
It’s a powerful validation of our neighborhood-first reporting from one of the largest national journalism funders, and will help us expand our reporting to more neighborhoods.
Thank you for reading us — and supporting us — all these years.
“Mission Buzz” will be a regular update on changes, tidbits and other news from the Mission’s commercial corridors. Got news? Send to tips at tips@missionlocal.com.
Kevin Ortiz, co-president of the San Francisco Latinx Democratic Club.
The San Francisco Latino Democratic Club announced last week that Kevin Ortiz will step away as the club’s president after three years in the position. His tenure ended today.
“I decided not to take on and run for another term because it was time to allow leadership that’s been developing to take the reins,” Ortiz said on Monday. “It’s always been that way with the LDC. We create spaces, spaces for others.”
The club’s new president will be Gabriela Lozano, its current treasurer.
Ortiz stepped aside from his position in July 2024 following allegations of sexual misconduct by two women. He was reinstated in March 2025 after the club concluded there was no concrete evidence of wrongdoing. The club then cut ties with the local Democratic Party.
Despite the allegations, Ortiz said he’s proud of the work he’s done for the club.
“I walk away with my head high — because I have survived very personal attacks through an orchestrated scandal, and I have done so without surrendering my integrity or my commitment to this community,” Ortiz wrote in a statement.
Ortiz said he will focus more on consulting, working out, spending time with family and school.
Want the latest on the Mission and San Francisco? Sign up for our free daily newsletter below.
Ezzo Rotisserie opened in August. The restaurant serves rotisserie chicken and Arabian staples. Photo by Oscar Palma.
Ezzo Rotisserie at 3388 24th St. near Valencia Street opened in August. The restaurant serves rotisserie chicken and other staples of Arabian cuisine.
The restaurant’s menu includes staples like grilled chicken, shawarma, falafel wraps, kebab, hummus and baba ganoush. As for desserts, there’s baklava, kanfeh and basbossa.
Ezzo Rotisserie is open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to midnight.
The building at 3034 24th St. has been empty since approximately 2009, but that’s changing later this year when a new restaurant takes over the space. Photo courtesy of MSQ Engineering Consultant.
A new Mediterranean restaurant is coming later this year to 3034 24th St. near Balmy Street. The planning commission greenlit the project earlier this month after it sought a change of use from a commercial to restaurant space.
The location, formerly the home of a grocery store turned restaurant, has been empty since approximately 2009. Project representative Danial Shabaz, whose family has run the Pakistani restaurant Pakwan at 3180 16th St. for nearly 30 years, said the new owner — his aunt — is excited to be part of the 24th Street corridor.
“We’ve loved 24th Street for the cultural, multicultural background and diverse background that it’s always had,” Shabaz said. “We’ve always wanted to be a part of this community.”
Shabaz is advising his aunt, who, alongside his parents, owns the building, on how to get a business up and running.
Shabaz said there’s still no name for the restaurant. The menu too is still in the works, but he does not expect any Pakwan items to be included.
A rendering of the new building at 241 Dolores St. Image courtesy of Knock architecture and design.
The planning commission heard a proposal earlier this month for a new four-story, eight-unit market-rate apartment building at 241 Dolores St.
The proposed 12,700 square-foot building will go up in the courtyard of an existing six-unit apartment building facing Dolores Street.
Seven units in the proposal would be two-bedroom apartments and one would be a three-bedroom. The plan also includes the construction of a separate one-story accessory dwelling unit.
Projects with fewer than 10 units are exempt from any affordable housing requirements. The project takes advantage of state law SB 423, which expedits permitting processes. The law also limits planning commissioners’ ability to approve or disapprove projects.
Commissioner Sean McGarry lamented the project’s use of SB 423 for a project “just under the wire to qualify for affordable housing.”
“I do like the project,” said McGarry at a hearing on Jan. 15. But, he said, “I do want to say I’m not a big fan of 423 being used for nine units, anything under 10 units. I don’t believe that was its original intent.”
Project architect Ryan Knock from Knock Architecture Design did not reply to a request for comment. According to Redfin, the property sold in September for $2.7 million. It is unclear who the owner is.
Among the baristas at BIGFACE today: Butler’s personal barista, Rodney Mustelier, and Kat Padlan and Tyler Smith from Lucky’s Cofee in L.A. Photo by HR Smith, July 11, 2025.
Bigface, Jimmy Butler’s coffee pop-up, is coming back to the corner of 22nd and Valencia streets.
The Warrior’s forward brings his coffee back to the storefront after previously occupying the space for over two weeks in July. The pop-up starts on Thursday and it will run until mid-April.
Tagged: mission district
Reporting from the Mission District and other District 9 neighborhoods. Some of his personal interests are bicycles, film, and both Latin American literature and punk. Oscar’s work has previously appeared in KQED, The Frisc, El Tecolote, and Golden Gate Xpress.