Ramune Rastonis has been following the progress at the corner of Alabama and 24th streets in her Mission District neighborhood for years, watching as the neglected building that once housed longtime panaderia La Victoria blossomed into Cinderella Bakery and Cafe, a San Francisco Russian bakery known for honey cake, borsch and beef-stuffed piroshki.
The Lithuanian American was among the fans waiting in line for the grand opening on Aug. 28. By the time owners Mike and Marika Fishman flung open the doors at 8 a.m., it stretched along the colorful, mural-clad building and around the corner. When asked what she planned to order – pelmeni or hamantaschen? – Rastonis quipped: “Whatever they have left!”
This is the second location for Cinderella, which is the oldest Russian bakery in San Francisco. The original has been a fixture of the Inner Richmond’s “Little Russia” neighborhood for 73 years and obtained legacy business status in 2017. At nearly double the size, the new Mission outpost will allow its second-generation owners more space for bread production – and product expansion for both retail and wholesale. Everything Cinderella sells, from the signature dark rye to the fermented kvass beverage, is scratch-made daily.
Customers line up outside of the new location of Cinderella Bakery on 24th and Alabama Street in the Mission District, in San Francisco, on August 28, 2026. (Lizzy Myers/SFGATE)
It’s been a long road for the Fishmans, who purchased the building eight years ago and faced extreme delays as a result of rising construction costs and financing challenges during the pandemic, Marika told SFGATE. Chris Sullivan, the architect behind Souvla’s restaurants, led the “complete overhaul,” which included electrical and plumbing work.
“It took us some time, but we’re finally here sharing our Russian culinary heritage in this very nice, historic, diverse community,” Mike added.
Inside, the cafe is filled with lush plants and lined with leather banquettes and wooden tables that seat a total of 36 people. Marika designed the interior herself, mixing burgundy and cream Spanish colonial printed tiles with Russian cultural elements, like a samovar and Russian nesting dolls. A La Marzocco espresso machine was custom-painted to match the color scheme. “Warm and inviting and friendly was our goal,” she said.
Together with their son, Sean, the Fishmans spent Friday morning constantly restocking the pastry case with freshly baked strawberry turnovers, sour cream cake slices and more than a dozen types of cookies, from marshmallow chocolate chip to poppy seed butter and a dynamite checkered sesame biscuit. They offer hamantaschen in three flavors throughout the year, not just during the Jewish holiday of Purim.
Sean Fishman serves customers at the Cinderella Bakery and Cafe’s new location in San Francisco’s Mission District on Aug. 28, 2026. (Lizzy Myers/SFGATE)
Borsch soup from the Cinderella Bakery and Cafe’s new location in San Francisco’s Mission District on Aug. 28, 2026. (Lizzy Myers/SFGATE)
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For this food editor, Cinderella’s standouts have always been the savory items, from the baked and fried piroshki (some of which sold out by the time we made it through the line) to the cabbage rolls and beef stroganoff. A bowl of borsch topped with sour cream cut the morning chill as we sopped up the ruddy pink broth and cabbage slivers with dense slices of rye. Beef and pork pelmeni, boiled to perfection and sprinkled with chives, were even better hours later.
The Fishmans faced some initial backlash in the neighborhood. After they purchased the building in 2018, Erick Arguello, the board president of the Latino cultural nonprofit Calle 24, threatened to boycott Cinderella unless it let La Victoria move back in as an operator. But La Victoria had been evicted by its former landlord before the Fishmans took over as owners, Marika said. “I think people were confused, and nobody knew the true story,” she said.
A mural at the Cinderella Bakery and Cafe’s new Mission District location honors the former La Victoria bakery, shown in San Francisco on Aug. 28, 2026. (Lizzy Myers/SFGATE)
The new location of the Cinderella Bakery and Cafe on 24th and Alabama streets in San Francisco’s Mission District, shown on Aug. 28, 2026. (Lizzy Myers/SFGATE)
Since then, La Victoria has reopened farther down on 24th Street, and Calle 24 has backed down. “Everyone has been very welcoming,” Marika said. Arguello and around 80 other neighborhood locals flooded the bakery for a Friends and Family event on the evening of Aug. 27. Mayor Daniel Lurie stopped by that afternoon “with his entourage,” Mike said, and can be seen on social media handing out Cinderella treats to passersby.
Under conditional-use requirements reserved for SF districts like the 24th Street Cultural District, Cinderella must adhere to a number of protocols that seek to “preserve the prevailing neighborhood character” through things like artwork or local partnerships. To that end, the Fishmans enlisted arts organization Precita Eyes Muralists to mount “Viva Cinderella,” the stunning 12-foot mural on Alabama Street that shows Russian nesting dolls holding Mexican concha pastries. Inside, they have more local artwork on display. They’ve also made an effort to hire from within the neighborhood, Marika said.
The Kaluda family originally opened Cinderella Bakery and Cafe on Balboa Street in 1953. Sisters Lydia Repin and Eugenia Belonogoff took over as stewards in 1970. They ran the business until Mike’s parents, Semyon and Tatiana, who immigrated from Moscow in 1987, purchased Cinderella and its time-honored recipes in 1991.
Mike has worked at the bakery since he was 16. He trained under Belonogoff, worked alongside his mother and helped establish the bakery’s wholesale operations. He and Marika took over as owners in 2008, expanding the menu to include sandwiches and Ritual Coffee, as well as updating Cinderella’s look from a diner to a modern, cozy cafe. They also added delivery and outdoor seating to accommodate the neighborhood’s shifting demographics. “With time, the Inner Richmond has become very diverse, and we wanted to cater to everyone,” Marika said.
Matryoshka dolls line the wall at the Cinderella Bakery and Cafe on 24th and Alabama streets in San Francisco on Aug. 28, 2026. (Lizzy Myers/SFGATE)
Assorted cookies, including hamantaschen, from the Cinderella Bakery and Cafe in San Francisco’s Mission District on Aug. 28, 2026. (Lizzy Myers/SFGATE)
Marika’s family immigrated to the U.S. from Latvia in 1980. She grew up going to Cinderella for birthday parties “as a little kid.” But she didn’t meet Mike until many years later, when they were introduced through mutual family friends. She looks forward to keeping the tradition of Cinderella alive in the Inner Richmond while building on similarities in their new home.
“Our culture is all about food and family, and I feel like the Latino culture is very similar,” she said. “It’s been a long journey, and we’re happy to reach this milestone.”
Cinderella Bakery and Cafe, 2937 24th St., San Francisco. Open Monday through Sunday, 8 a.m.-6 p.m.
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This article originally published at After 8 years, SF’s famous Cinderella Bakery opens Mission location to long lines.