Over the past four years, a forgotten, cavernous Mission Bay space has quietly been transforming into a restaurant built for one of San Francisco’s fastest-growing neighborhoods and tech hubs.
Sergeant Ma, the most ambitious and personal restaurant yet for Ryan Cole and Jason Halverson since starting Hi Neighbor Hospitality Group 13 years ago, opened Sept. 9 across from Oracle Park. It’s on the ground floor of the massive China Basin office complex, home to UCSF, Lyft and, soon, AI startup Sierra, which has signed a lease for 300,000 square feet. Those are just a few in a wave of companies bringing tech workers and new residents to the area.
Named in honor of Halverson’s mother, Sergeant Ma has the potential to feed thousands of people a day with its inventive Asian Californian dishes. That’s because diners are not limited to just the main dining room, with its eye-catching 18-foot fiddle leaf fig tree and sliding glass doors that open onto the waterfront deck. (You can see the Giants’ jumbotron from the couches overlooking the fire pits.)
Oracle Park is seen from Sergeant Ma in China Basin in San Francisco, on September 2, 2026. (Lizzy Myers/SFGATE)
There’s also a stylish lounge with “Mad Men” vibes, where happy hour starts at 4 p.m. beginning next week. And Waters Edge, a cafe that’s already open, serves breakfast and lunch until 3 p.m. You are welcome to bring your laptop and stay as long as you like. Did we mention the pool table?
“We don’t have any time limits,” Cole told me when I walked the space weeks before it opened. “We want this to be a place for the entire neighborhood to spend time.”
But first, you have to find Sergeant Ma – which is difficult. Designed by architect Cass Calder Smith, who has given the city La Mar and Perbacco, the restaurant is on the Mission Creek side of the two-building complex, just steps from the water. If you’re coming via 185 Berry Street, you have to pass through two sets of doors and hang a left at the boardwalk. Walk until you see the white couches, yellow awnings and fire pits.
“We’ve given people the ability to find it as best as we can, whether they’re walking, driving or taking Uber,” Cole said. “They’re still going to get lost.”
A historic site
Southern Pacific Railroad constructed the original building at 185 Berry St. in 1922 as a major shipping hub. In 1925, Del Monte utilized it as a banana depot, where freight cars would receive and unload bananas. Most recently, the massive space was the site of a Specialty’s Cafe & Bakery, a chain that shuttered most of its locations during the pandemic. It has been vacant ever since.
Sergeant Ma is by the water in China Basin in San Francisco, seen on Sept. 2, 2026. (Lizzy Myers/SFGATE)
It’s understandable, considering the size and nature of the location. Construction has been beyond challenging for Cole, Halverson, Tai Ricci and Lucas Bierbower, who have built their success on affordable prix fixe restaurants with much smaller footprints, like Trestle in North Beach and Mama in Oakland. This is their biggest project since they opened their first restaurant, Stones Throw, in 2013.
“I can’t tell you what a monster this has been to build out,” Cole said. For example, he explained how the structural steel necessary to create the restaurant’s 25-foot ceilings had to be brought in on a barge and arrived only three days before my walk-through. It should have been the first thing in, Cole said.
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Overall, he is very proud of how the space turned out and the “army of people” it took to build it. He hopes Sergeant Ma attracts destination-seeking diners, as well as people who live or work in the immediate area.
Cocktails are served at the bar from Sergeant Ma in San Francisco on Sept. 2, 2026. (Lizzy Myers/SFGATE)
“I don’t feel like there’s anything like this in San Francisco,” he said. “I don’t know where else you could look at the Oracle Park jumbotron while having dinner, or sit under overhead heaters that allow us to keep the glass doors open year-round.”
A bold menu
The food at Hi Neighbor is a reflection of Halverson’s childhood growing up in Wichita, Kansas, with his mom, a Vietnamese immigrant everyone called “The Sergeant” for her commanding presence and can-do attitude. He credits “Ma” with shaping his approach to cooking and hospitality long before he ever met Cole and his business partners while working together at Michael Mina.
Chef Jason Halverson created Sergeant Ma as a tribute to the strong and formidable Asian matriarch who shaped his approach to food and hospitality, in San Francisco, on September 2, 2026. (Lizzy Myers/SFGATE)
“Whether we were at our house or at my grandma’s, there was always too much food, and she was always cooking like there were more people coming,” he said. “She’d see something on a cooking show and race into the kitchen to make her own version.”
Vibrant starters and salads make up the majority of the 17-item menu, which leans on Northern California ingredients and Chinese and Vietnamese flavors. For instance, duck pate and liver mousse ($19) is served with a warm pineapple bun instead of toast points or baguette slices. It’s finished with caramelized pineapple and Chinese mustard for a sweet-heat finish. Local halibut and uni crudo ($28) gets its color from a carrot-citrus vinaigrette that’s poured tableside, hugging pillowy uni draped with serrano and gooseberry. We spooned up every last drop of that sauce.
Perhaps it was the late-summer vibes and my craving for something light, but Sergeant Ma’s chopped summer salad ($26) stole my heart. It reminded me of a Burmese tea leaf salad but with NorCal soul: a bright wreath of cabbage, cucumbers, blackberries, snap peas, avocado and more tossed tableside in a dramatically deep, white bowl. The salad is giant, but you’ll finish it because it’s just fun to eat; tiny peeled tomatoes pop in your mouth like boba, and Indian-style puffed rice and sev keep things crunchy.
A summer salad from Sergeant Ma in San Francisco on Sept. 2, 2026. (Lizzy Myers/SFGATE)
Sergeant Ma is abuzz during the friends and family opening in San Francisco on Sept. 2, 2026. (Lizzy Myers/SFGATE)
Corriander-crusted duck breast from Sergeant Ma in San Francisco on Sept. 2, 2026. (Lizzy Myers/SFGATE)
Sergeant Ma’s portions are big by most San Francisco restaurant standards, so the staff encourages one entree for two people if you’re indulging in starters like we did. I recommend the coriander-crusted duck breast ($61), which comes with a braised leg, yellow peach slices and a bowl of crispy black rice salad. The jus, once again poured tableside, had a delightful hint of anise.
Come dessert, find room for banana buttercake ($17), a nod to the building’s history. Topped with caramel, pineapple and a scoop of cardamom custard ice cream, it’s beyond indulgent. Luckily, you can walk it off while you find your way out of the labyrinthine China Basin, hopefully just as the late sunlight is bouncing off the mirrored buildings and casting sparkles across the water.
Sergeant Ma, 185 Berry St., San Francisco. Open Monday through Saturday, 4-9:30 p.m. Waters Edge Cafe starting hours are Monday through Wednesday, 7 a.m.-4 p.m.
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This article originally published at New Mission Bay restaurant Sergeant Ma is ready to be a hit – if you can find it.