East Bay-based Signal Coffee Roasters (opens in new tab) is the latest independent coffee company to announce an expansion. The Alameda-founded roaster will set up its fifth location near Fisherman’s Wharf, in the former Cafe de Casa (opens in new tab) space at 2701 Leavenworth St.
Expected to open in May, it will be Brendan Doherty and Rebecca Brown’s first standalone location in San Francisco, though not the company’s first foray into the city. Almost three years ago, the couple opened a Signal branch inside Batter Bakery’s short-lived Polk Gulch store, which lasted only about six months.
Since then, Signal has been available at San Francisco restaurants, including Early to Rise and Prelude, as well as at the Ferry Plaza farmers market on Saturday mornings.
Source: Courtesy Signal Coffee
Signal’s San Francisco expansion follows a rash of chain coffee shop closures: Peet’s shuttered several stores in January, while Starbucks has shrunk its SF footprint significantly, closing more than a dozen locations in the past three years. These vacancies have created an opportunity for small, specialized coffee companies to move into the market, Doherty says.
“Little guys can make little inroads and live well in a niche in a way the big guys couldn’t,” he says. “It’s San Francisco, it’s a gold rush town.”
The menu at the Fisherman’s Wharf location will be similar to those of Signal’s cafes in Berkeley and Alameda, with standard espresso-based drinks and signatures such as a brown cinnamon latte. The owners are excited to show off hard-to-find offerings that have been popular at the Ferry Building farmers market, such as single-origin anaerobic-processed coffees, for which the beans are deprived of oxygen to improve flavor.
Signal’s in-house baker, Kelsey Soule, will produce cinnamon rolls, matcha cookies, mochi bites, and other pastries. Chef Dana Johnston, who previously worked at Cotogna, will prepare English muffin breakfast sandwiches and other grab-and-go items.
San Francisco is in the midst of an indie coffee shop boom. Ritual Coffee Roasters this fall will open in the Financial District, taking over a former Starbucks location at 295 California St. Spro Coffee Lab is preparing to debut at 201 Spear St., while Andytown Coffee will move into 66 Kearney St., both of which were previously Starbucks locations.
These follow other prominent indie debuts: The Bay Area’s sole dedicated El Salvadorian coffee roaster, Painted Leopard, opened inside the RealReal’s Union Square store in February, and Kissaten Hi-Fi, a new Japanese-Filipino coffee shop, is drawing lines in the Richmond.
To Doherty, it marks a changing of the guard, as coffee drinkers move away from getting their caffeine fix at corporate shops. “We are just jazzed about being able to serve more in San Francisco,” Doherty says. “I moved here 20 years ago, and to have this expanding in the city that called to me is a big deal.”
Date and timeOpens in May