In another huge get for San Francisco’s increasingly trendy Richmond District, popular Jewish diaspora bakery Loquat is opening a new location in the neighborhood. The tiny Hayes Valley cafe plans to open its second location at 4555 California St. in the former Beanstalk Cafe space, as first reported by the San Francisco Chronicle (the Chronicle and SFGATE are both owned by Hearst but have separate newsrooms).
“We looked in a few neighborhoods, but we’ve been really looking out in the Avenues and been excited about the idea of having another location further west,” co-owner Tal Mor told SFGATE.
Owners Mor and Jodi Geren teamed up with pastry chef Kristina Costa to open the original Loquat in 2022, in the former 20th Century Cafe space. The bakery built a following for its salted chocolate babka, preserved lemon and rosemary tart, chocolate with espresso buttercream cake, and other items. In 2024, Costa was nominated for a James Beard Award for outstanding pastry chef.
Loquat is often busy, with lines out the door — partly a product of its small size. The new location is 2,000 square feet: about twice the size of the Gough Street space, Mor said.
“There’s definitely been certain things we wanted to make that we haven’t had necessarily the oven space for, or really the capacity,” Mor said.
The new, larger Richmond location will allow for more seating, including outdoor seating and a parklet. The team will also be able to introduce more savory items, including challah toast and a bread program of pita, laffa (an Iraqi flatbread), Persian barbari bread, and bialys topped with cream cheese and lox or stracciatella and fresh peas. A cold case will have dips like labneh for customers to dip their breads in, and Costa will have more room for tarts and cakes.
Mor said the team is targeting a January or February 2027 opening for the second Loquat. Following the recent openings of Rose Pizzeria and Clementina in the Inner Richmond, with other new businesses like kitchen supply store Kitchen Commons on the way, Mor said he’s excited to be part of the trending neighborhood’s moment in the limelight.
“We’re just excited to be a part of it and to offer hopefully a gathering space within that neighborhood, a place that is nourishing,” he said. “We’re excited to offer bread there. There’s not a ton of bread being baked in that area.”