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For an outsider looking in, it takes time to get to know Bayview. After striking up conversations with the residents and walking on Third Street, the epicenter of the neighborhood, Bayview starts to take you by surprise.
On Third Street and Palou Avenue, I talked to C.C. Chatman in late January. She was hanging out with some middle-aged friends in a triangular plaza at the corner. Two months later, I would run into a Saturday afternoon revival there.
Chatman didn’t want her picture taken, so I asked her afterwards for a good place to eat. “My place,” she said in a heartbeat. “Tell me what you want to eat.”
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“Pork chops, mac and cheese, collards, and corn bread,” I said.
“I’ll call you in a week for you to pick it up.”
After a long week at work, I forgot about my order until the next Sunday afternoon, when Chapman texted that my dinner was ready for pick up. It rivaled anything I’ve eaten in my hometown of New Orleans.
Buford, 44, a maintenance engineer, of San Francisco, with his dog, Wrinkles, takes a break on Third St. at Quesada Ave., San Francisco, Calif., on January 15, 2026. Photo by Jay A. Martin.
Ray, 50, of San Francisco, works the garbage can on Third St. at Palou Ave., San Francisco, Calif., on February 21, 2026. Photo by Jay A. Martin.
Leon Variste, 47, of Bayview, sells clothing through his company, LHV Clothing, celebrating Black identity, at Third St. and Palou Ave., San Francisco, Calif., on February 21, 2026. Photo by Jay A. Martin.
Outside the Super Save grocery store on Third and McKinnon, I spoke a few times to Tamika at her beauty stand. A young woman in her late twenties. In February, I asked for her picture; she said her hair wasn’t ready for one.
A week later, I asked her again, but no way, her hair was not done. Another week passed when she texted me to say her hair was ready and she wanted her picture. We will have her picture soon enough.
LaDra Befford, CEO of No Days Off Mobile Detailing, foam bathes a client’s car, on Third St. at Quesada Ave., San Francisco, Calif., on February 21, 2026. Photo by Jay A. Martin.
Two women catch up at Lane Street and Thomas Ave., one block east of Third, San Francisco, Calif., on February 21, 2026. Photo by Jay A. Martin.
Two blocks down from Super Save is the Bayview Opera House Ruth Williams Memorial Theatre. Managing Director Cydney Nunn escorted me to the mezzanine where I made a panoramic picture of the theatre. Just the night before, the 2026 California gubernatorial candidates debated below.
While I took my ultra-wide picture, a felt a growing sense of history. In the silence, you could feel great potential vibrate, or maybe it was just the rascally local kids running around on the stage. Nunn said earlier that the Opera House has, in fact, been called “the heartbeat of the Bayview.”
The Bayview Opera House Ruth Williams Memorial Theatre, stands silent the day after a California gubernatorial debate. Cydney Nunn, Managing Director of the Opera House, has called the theatre “the heartbeat of the Bayview,” one block east of Third St. at Newcomb Ave., San Francisco, Calif., on February 5, 2026. Photo by Jay A. Martin.
A woman and child make it across Palou Ave. at Third St., San Francisco, Calif., on January 31, 2026. Photo by Jay A. Martin.
Students wait at the bus stop at Lane St. and Palou Ave., one block east of Third St., San Francisco, Calif., on February 21, 2026. Photo by Jay A. Martin.
Joe, 74, and Ken, 34, pal around on Ken’s birthday, at Third St. and Palou Ave., San Francisco, Calif., on January 15, 2026. Photo by Jay A. Martin.
Daryl Robinson, Senior Operations Manager at the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, of San Francisco, plays dominoes with a friend, in front of a barber shop one-half block west of Third St. at Palou Ave., San Francisco, Calif., on February 21, 2026. Photo by Jay A. Martin.
A customer exits Fords Grocery, at Oakdale Ave. and Lane St., two blocks east of Third St., San Francisco, Calif., on February 21, 2026. Photo by Jay A. Martin.
Providence Baptist Church, at McKinnon Ave. and Mendell St., waits between services, one block east of Third St., San Francisco, Calif., on February 21, 2026. Photo by Jay A. Martin.
A revivial revs up at Third St. and Palou Ave., San Francisco, Calif., on February 21, 2026. Photo by Jay A. Martin.
A revival attendee feels the spirit, at Third St. and Palou Ave., San Francisco, Calif., on February 21, 2026. Photo by Jay A. Martin.
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