{"id":167096,"date":"2026-02-06T19:26:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T19:26:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/167096\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T19:26:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T19:26:12","slug":"tenderloin-buzz-thai-tinis-a-vietnamese-tet-festival-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/167096\/","title":{"rendered":"Tenderloin Buzz: Thai \u2018tinis, a Vietnamese T\u1ebft Festival and more"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cTenderloin Buzz\u201d is a recurring update on changes, tidbits and other news from the Tenderloin. Got news? Send us tips at tips@missionlocal.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"AA Hanoi storefront during the Vietnamese lunar new year, T\u1ebft, on Jan. 7, 2025. Photo by Eleni Balakrishnan. <\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t make it onto the Chronicle\u2019s list of \u201cWhere to celebrate the Year of the Fire Horse,\u201d but San Francisco\u2019s Little Saigon neighborhood is celebrating the Vietnamese Lunar New Year with a T\u1ebft Festival in the Tenderloin this Saturday. This free street fair will take over Larkin Street between Eddy and O\u2019Farrell.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Come out for the lion and dragon dances, and stay for the excellent Vietnamese food. We hear there will be music and a traditional dress competition, too.<\/p>\n

\"StreetWanjai Cafe on Feb. 5, 2026. Photo by Eleni Balakrishnan.<\/p>\n

\"SunlitThe interior of Wanjai Cafe. Photo by Eleni Balakrishnan.<\/p>\n

New Thai bar and eatery Wanjai Cafe opened on Monday at 678 Geary St. at Leavenworth, a bright labor of love by Ethan Pimsuk and his older sister.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The orange facade is hard to miss, and inside the menu doesn\u2019t miss, either: Drink options range from matcha to avocado smoothies to beer on tap, and the food spans cuisines from Korean bulgogi to tacos to smoked salmon croissants for all-day brunch. The menu is also full of unique creations like a spiked \u201cThai tea \u2018tini\u201d and a beet soup that\u2019s a spin on borscht and tom jab chai.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Pimsuk, 34, said he taught himself to cook by watching YouTube videos, and recently moved back to the city after a stint running a Thai restaurant in the East Bay.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe love what we do, we love the business,\u201d Pimsuk said, explaining why they chose wanjai \u2014 \u201csweetheart\u201d in Thai \u2014 as the name. \u201cThe cafe, the restaurant, it\u2019s like our sweetheart.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"AnKhun Mae Thai Noodles is coming soon to 385 Taylor St. Photo by Eleni Balakrishnan.<\/p>\n

Thai is in season, it seems \u2014\u00a0a few blocks away at 385 Taylor St. at O\u2019Farrell, the closed Million Thai Restaurant will soon reopen under new ownership and a new name: Khun Mae Thai Noodles.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Management told us Khun Mae could open its doors as soon as Feb. 17, and will lean into more of a Thai-Lao style of cooking than its predecessors.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"ColorfulBoeddeker Park is on Eddy Street between Jones and Taylor, a block now known as \u201cStephen Tennis Way.\u201d Photo by Eleni Balakrishnan. <\/p>\n

The Board of Supervisors, led by Supe Bilal Mahmood, voted to rename Eddy Street between Jones and Taylor, \u201cStephen Tennis Way\u201d to recognize Tennis, a longtime park steward<\/a> and friendly community figure in the Tenderloin who died in 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Just over a year ago, after receiving a grim cancer diagnosis, Tennis attended his own celebration<\/a> of life at Boeddeker Park, his favorite. Before becoming a park captain, the longtime SRO resident served in the Vietnam War, was an advocate for his fellow tenants\u2019 rights, and worked for the Safe Passage program<\/a> escorting kids and seniors through the neighborhood\u2019s streets.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"StreetThe Tenderloin Museum. Photo by Eleni Balakrishnan.<\/p>\n

If you want a glimpse of the Tenderloin on the big screen, you can catch the nine(!)-part series \u201c9 @ Night\u201d<\/a> by award-winning director Rob Nilsson at the Tenderloin Museum this month.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nilsson is known for being the first to win both the Camera d\u2019Or at Cannes and the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, but he also has a unique improvisational filmmaking style. The Tenderloin-focused project came out of a nearly 20-year collaboration with his acting workshop in the neighborhood.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, Feb. 10, the museum will screen the fourth film, Singing, in which a suburban accountant wanders into the Tenderloin after parting with his girlfriend, and \u201cis drawn into a series of dangerous and erotic street encounters,\u201d according to Nilsson\u2019s website. For the full schedule, click here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Eleni is a staff reporter at Mission Local with a focus on criminal justice and all things Tenderloin. She graduated from Rice University and later began her journalism career at City College of San Francisco, where she was formerly editor-in-chief.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMore by Eleni Balakrishnan\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cTenderloin Buzz\u201d is a recurring update on changes, tidbits and other news from the Tenderloin. Got news? Send…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":126989,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[387,47251,388,412,101,103,102,104,106,105,13528],"class_list":{"0":"post-167096","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-business-buzz","10":"tag-real-estate","11":"tag-restaurants","12":"tag-san-francisco","13":"tag-san-francisco-headlines","14":"tag-san-francisco-news","15":"tag-sf","16":"tag-sf-headlines","17":"tag-sf-news","18":"tag-tenderloin"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167096","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167096"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167096\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}