{"id":196416,"date":"2026-02-27T12:19:18","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T12:19:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/196416\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T12:19:18","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T12:19:18","slug":"mayor-lurie-hyped-205-small-businesses-last-year-on-instagram","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/196416\/","title":{"rendered":"Mayor Lurie hyped 205 small businesses last year on Instagram."},"content":{"rendered":"

Since becoming San Francisco mayor last January, Daniel Lurie has been hustling like an influencer. He makes wonton in the Sunset<\/a>, slurps pho broth in the Financial District<\/a>, and takes a bite of an empanada in SoMa<\/a>, broadcasting each meal to tens of thousands. He grabs his first, second, third, or fourth cup of coffee of the day.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This is, according to the mayor\u2019s office, both a way to show that the mayor is out and about in the city \u2014 like Lurie\u2019s mayoral icon, Dianne Feinstein<\/a> \u2014 and part of a persistent effort to rebrand San Francisco as a nice place to live and visit, rather than a cesspool of vice and petty theft<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lurie spent more money<\/a> getting elected<\/a> than any mayoral candidate in San Francisco history. His social media presence, though, has an unproduced, slightly awkward DIY aesthetic developed by Annie Gabillet<\/a>, who ran social media for Lurie\u2019s campaign before becoming his deputy director of communications. It is Lurie at his most avuncular. It is, for the Gen Z crowd, Lurie as lovable unc.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"ADaniel Lurie\u2019s staffer Liberty Inocencio taking a video of him during his merchant walk on Clement Street during his mayoral campaign on July 20, 2024. Photo by Xueer Lu. <\/p>\n

While mayors have long visited small businesses, Lurie\u2019s Instagram posts stand out for their sheer numbers. He unabashedly leans into an awkwardly serious boosterism.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mission Local went through all 205 of Lurie\u2019s Instagram posts on small businesses up until Feb. 18, 2026, mapped every visit, and then spoke to 14 small business owners across the city about the mayor\u2019s sojourns.<\/p>\n

Proximity to the mayor\u2019s commute plays a significant role in who gets a drop-in. Of all the businesses featured, 47 are located Downtown, 19 in South of Market, 13 in the Financial District, 12 in Union Square, two at Fisherman\u2019s Wharf, and one in Rincon Hill.\u00a0
The Mission District is the second most featured neighborhood, with 20 shops posted. Next in line is the Richmond (14) and the Sunset (13). Visits to these locations tend to be chosen by staffers, like the mayor\u2019s secretary and former campaign field organizer, Fernando Villareal<\/a>, to take advantage of proximity to other stops on the mayor\u2019s schedule.<\/p>\n

Sometimes Lurie films himself and sends clips to his comms team to add subtitles and headings. Other times an assistant holds the camera. Coffee shops make frequent appearances \u2014\u00a0Lurie has given an Instagram shoutout to 25 of them and counting, in addition to specifically gloating, in response to a claim that coffee helps with aging, that he was \u201cright all along.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lurie has also kept up with the campaign tradition of the merchant walk. In Noe Valley he\u2019s posted videos with District Attorney Brooke Jenkins and Board President Rafael Mandelman. He made the rounds in Chinatown with the U.S. Senator Alex Padilla, in Japantown with District 5 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood, along Balboa Street with District 1 Supervisor Connie Chan, and many more.<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s small businesses, meanwhile, have their own reviews of the experience of being swept up in the mayor\u2019s Instagram boosterism. Here\u2019s what a few of them had to say about it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Not even that annoying, by influencer standards<\/p>\n

Out of the 14 businesses Mission Local spoke with, reviews of the experience ranged from effusive to indifferent. Influencer destinations like the Tenderloin\u2019s Tilted Brim<\/a> or Outta Sight Pizza<\/a> didn\u2019t notice a boost in visitors after a shout-out from Lurie, but also appreciated that the mayor didn\u2019t make a big production out of visiting.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Outta Sight<\/a>\u2019s close proximity to City Hall has made it a stop for politicos over the years, said owner Eric Ehler. But Lurie was the most \u201cpersonable\u201d one.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When Lurie shot a video of himself trying out the Chiquitita sandwich\u00a0at the Larkin Street restaurant \u2014 Lurie pronounced it \u201cchickeata\u201d \u2014 it just happened naturally. \u201cHe was just making a video like an old white guy would,\u201d Ehler said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"GlassOutta Sight Pizza\u2019s offerings at the Tenderloin location on June 3, 2025. Photo by Jessica Blough<\/p>\n

Frank Grizzly\u2019s, a California-style Mexican restaurant at 5698 3rd St. in Bayview already had a large and loyal local following. But Lurie\u2019s shout-out on Instagram stories brought in new faces, said co-owners Kim Truong and Jorge Islas.\u00a0<\/p>\n

One of Lurie\u2019s aides, a mutual friend, arranged the visit. \u201cHe was like, \u2018Wow, he hasn\u2019t been here yet? We gotta get him in here!\u2019\u201d Truong remembers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It was a quick thing \u2014\u00a0Truong said customers craned their necks to get a look as Lurie strolled in and ordered a breakfast burrito, before whipping out his phone for a video. A few minutes later, the mayor took the burrito and ran. But an aide followed up with a note saying that he loved it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"AScreenshot collage of Lurie\u2019s small business visit Instagram stories compiled on Feb. 26, 2026. <\/p>\n

Nagham Aboufaraj, owner of Angel Cafe and Deli at 700 Geary St. in the Tenderloin, was also sure that getting a shout-out on Lurie\u2019s Instagram was good for business, though he wasn\u2019t sure how to quantify it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Aboufaraj was thrilled when he got a call one morning that the mayor was coming by. Fifteen minutes later, a black car pulled up, blocking the bus lane. The Muni driver began honking, and the mayor, Aboufaraj said, was \u201creally respectful\u201d and directed his driver to park down the street.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Aboufaraj and Lurie talked about the state of the Tenderloin, and also the sandwich menu \u2014\u00a0Lurie ordered the chicken pesto and insisted on paying for it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After eating the sandwich, Lurie left on foot to rendezvous with his black Rivian away from the Geary bus lines.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a good idol for people,\u201d said Aboufaraj, who compared Lurie\u2019s management style to his own. \u201cI don\u2019t give commands to people \u2026 I grab the broom. I show: \u2018This is how we clean it. This is how we fix the sandwich, this is how we clean the windows.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"ADaniel Lurie talking to a worker at The Bud Shop, a flower shop at 2206 Union St. on Aug. 21, 2024 during his mayoral campaign. Photo by Xueer Lu. <\/p>\n

A little nepotism doesn\u2019t hurt<\/p>\n

John Lindsey, who owns an Outer Sunset art gallery named the Great Highway and a soup joint called the Rusty Ladle next door, was not shocked to see Lurie show up \u2014\u00a0the exhibit included a sculpture by Ari Lurie, the mayor\u2019s brother.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But he was more surprised when Lurie shot a video in Rusty Ladle\u2019s kitchen, talking about clam chowder.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis town rocks and rolls when we have conventions and tourism,\u201d Lindsey said. \u201cThe little people benefit when we have a ton of tourists in town. I think he\u2019s done a great job selling the city.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scheduled, with occasional surprises<\/p>\n

When Anastacia Diaz, known affectionately as Ate Tess, got a voicemail that Lurie wanted to visit JT Restaurant at 953 Mission St. in SoMa, the Filipino restaurant she has run almost singlehandedly for 26 years, she thought it was a scam. That\u2019s despite the fact that Diaz is a neighborhood celebrity widely known for helping residents who have just arrived from the Philippines find housing, work, and community.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The next morning, she got a follow-up text. The mayor was really coming. It didn\u2019t sink in until Diaz saw a bodyguard emerge from a black van outside the restaurant.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It felt meaningful, Diaz said, when she served him her beef stew. She has seen an uptick in business ever since. \u201cNow, everybody who comes here, they tell me, \u2018I saw you with the mayor! We\u2019re so proud of you, Tita.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Florent Thomas and Simon Mounier, owners of Cach\u00e9, a French bistro in the Inner Sunset, got no notice at all, they said. \u201cDefinitely a big surprise,\u201d Thomas recalled. \u201cIt was completely unplanned. The mayor was asking questions, and he was genuinely curious about what we were doing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"AFor Florent Thomas and Simon Mounier, owners of Cach\u00e9, a French bistro in the Inner Sunset, Lurie\u2019s visit was a surprise. Photo by Junyao Yang.<\/p>\n

Neither did Aunt Charlie\u2019s Lounge, the Tenderloin\u2019s last remaining gay bar<\/a> at 133 Turk St. in the Tenderloin. The City Hall team was having a bar outing there, and one of the event organizers approached bar manager Joe Mattheisen to say that the mayor would be coming soon.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If they\u2019d had a chance to talk policy, said Mattheisen, he would have brought up the fact that traffic from street parties \u2014\u00a0the people flocking to Downtown First Thursdays<\/a> or to the Tenderloin\u2019s First Thursday Art Walk<\/a> \u2014 is losing him customers. But the interaction lasted all of two minutes, with no discussion of city policy or \u201cwhat\u2019s going on in the Tenderloin.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Anniversaries help, but are no guarantee<\/p>\n

Chun Sheng Tang Herbs<\/a>, which provides traditional Chinese medicines and herbs, as well as acupuncture at 1189 Geneva Ave. in the Excelsior, got a visit from the mayor on its one-year anniversary, which the district\u2019s Supervisor Chyanne Chen<\/a> helped set up.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Wayne Yu, the shop\u2019s 52-year-old owner, said that his appearance on Lurie\u2019s Instagram did not bring in new customers. Most of his clientele are neighborhood regulars, and many don\u2019t even use Instagram. Still, Yu was flattered, and saw the visit as a further sign that Lurie cares about the Chinese community.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"AWayne Yu, owner of Chun Sheng Tang Herbs in the Excelsior District, shares his story of Lurie\u2019s visit to his store on Feb. 17, 2026. Photo by Mariana Garcia.<\/p>\n

Yu remembers the day vividly. Supervisor Chen interpreted and the mayor agreed to a pulse check (a considerably more involved process in traditional Chinese medicine than in the Western medicine). The checker, Dr. Xia, told the mayor that he was in great shape, and cleared him to keep working hard.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Before leaving, Lurie bought a bag of rock sugar Asian pear jasmine tea. \u201cIt will help his digestion,\u201d Yu said. \u201cEspecially after eating greasy food.\u201d<\/p>\n

An anniversary is no guarantee though. When Chelsea Hung reached out to Lurie\u2019s team about the 40th anniversary celebration for her restaurant, R&G Lounge at 613 Kearny St., on March 8, 2025, she was told that his schedule was \u201creally busy\u201d that day and that he probably could not make it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hung\u2019s presence on the Chinese Chamber of Commerce\u2019s board of directors<\/a> may have tipped the scales, because Lurie did eventually make an appearance \u2014\u00a0for about 10 minutes, Hung recalled. In that time he managed to make a video, give R&G Lounge a certificate of honor, and personally congratulate Hung.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She was thrilled. \u201cWe know he is super busy,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"TwoDaniel Lurie talked to merchants at Chinatown during his mayoral campaign on May 8, 2024. Photo by Xueer Lu.<\/p>\n

Was Lurie truly the first?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dontaye Ball<\/a>, chef and owner of Gumbo Social<\/a> in the Bayview, said another mayor is not appreciated for doing something similar to Lurie: London Breed.<\/p>\n

Breed frequently filmed herself out and about at local restaurants and other sites through the city, he said. \u201cLondon Breed doesn\u2019t get enough credit for doing exactly that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Still, he\u2019s \u201cimpressed\u201d with Lurie\u2019s visits to small businesses, especially in Bayview, which despite its vibrant food scene, gets comparatively little foot traffic compared to other San Francisco neighborhoods. Lurie has filmed himself much more often, and posts about many more businesses.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s not only talking the talk, but walking the walk,\u201d Ball said.<\/p>\n

Eleni Balakrishnan, Junyao Yang, Marina Newman, Sarah Hopkins and Oscar Palma contributed to reporting.<\/p>\n

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