Businesses in the Inner Sunset are reaching record-high sales volume driven by a boom of restaurant openings, according to local merchants and city sales tax data.
The Inner Sunset corridor has recovered from the pandemic faster than other neighborhoods in the city, the data shows — for most of the year, sales tax revenue is growing and above its pre-pandemic levels.
There’s evidence walking around the area. On a recent sunny weekend, the intersection of Ninth Avenue and Irving Street by Golden Gate Park was crowded: Parents pushed strollers down the block, people lined up for Arizmendi pizza or Tadaima matcha, and high schoolers sold cookies at every corner.
But that’s not the case across all Sunset. Past 19th Avenue, the Outer Sunset and Parkside areas have not reached pre-pandemic levels, according to the city data, and experienced slight declines in sales tax revenue over the past two years.
Inner Sunset merchants attribute the boon to an influx of restaurants.
“We definitely had a lot of vacancies that were filled by restaurants,” said Angie Petitt, owner of the gift shop Sunset Mercantile. “Food is always a huge destination. People don’t need to buy stuff [at stores] as much as they go out to eat. Our strength seems to be in the restaurants that are opening up.”
Susannah Wise, the president of Inner Sunset Merchant Association, agreed. It’s eateries, she said, that keeps the vacancies low.
Most recently, Mama’s Boy, the Oakland pizza shop that serves New York style slices, signed the lease on the former pharmacy space on Ninth and Irving. The storefront that was home to LaLe, which closed in November 2025, is now under construction to make way for a new restaurant.
Wise also credited the Inner Sunset’s vibrancy to an increase in events in Golden Gate Park including concerts, free shows and special events like the Lightscape installation.
When people visit the park, they often visit the Inner Sunset, she said.
Neighborhood groups also worked to bring more foot traffic to the corridor. There have been longstanding events like the Inner Sunset Flea Market, which closes two Irving Street blocks every month. But the groups started new ones, like the Inner Sunset art walk and holiday light strolls, hoping to bring foot traffic to less frequented areas away from Ninth and Irving.
“It creates a great energy, getting people out exploring the neighborhood more,” Petitt said.
A Sunset resident looks at the display window at Golden Boy Pizza on Taraval Street and 25th Avenue on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. Photo by Junyao Yang.
Past 19th Avenue, however, businesses have not recovered to pre-pandemic levels, the tax data shows.
“Most stores are just maintaining themselves … just paying the bills,” said Bill Barnickel, president of the Outer Sunset Merchant & Professional Association.
On Taraval Street, the L-Taraval project has closed some businesses, said Albert Chow, president of People of Parkside Sunset, a neighborhood and merchant group.
Chow has been an outspoken critic of the project and said the loss of parking spots has deterred drivers from frequenting Taraval businesses.
“People are lazy,” Chow said. “You want to get out of your car and walk over. The store or restaurant you want to go to is right there.”
The Inner Sunset also has its parking woes and Petitt, for her part, cautioned that the numbers don’t “necessarily mean that all the businesses are all doing great.” But the area’s density brings more foot traffic and higher turnover when there’s a vacant storefront, merchants said.
“Outer Sunset is just so big,” said Poppy Gilman, board member of Sunset Merchants Association who owns the printing center Offix on Noriega Street. “Inner Sunset feels like a little shopping district. You can walk through that area very easily. Whereas here, you have to be really wearing your hiking shoes.”