{"id":206273,"date":"2026-03-05T22:43:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T22:43:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/206273\/"},"modified":"2026-03-05T22:43:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T22:43:13","slug":"ikeas-struggling-food-hall-is-losing-another-restaurant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/206273\/","title":{"rendered":"Ikea\u2019s struggling food hall is losing another restaurant"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ikea\u2019s struggling downtown food hall<\/a> is losing another vendor. Cheezy\u2019s Artisan Pizza will serve its last slice at Saluhall on Friday, following months of issues with management, according to cofounder David Jacobson.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a wild ride,\u201d he said. \u201cI really was optimistic the whole time, until even a few days ago, that it would work out. It feels like a David-and-Goliath moment.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jacobson described a conflict with Ingka, Ikea\u2019s parent company, which took over management of Saluhall<\/a> late last year. In December, Ingka ended its partnership with Kerb Food,<\/a> the British developer that had overseen the complex, and assumed day-to-day operations. Kerb\u2019s departure, aimed at cutting costs,<\/a> led to the closure of Saluhall\u2019s two bars and its cooking school<\/a>, as well as the elimination of bussers, dishwashers, and events and management staff.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"AThe restaurant will serve its last slices on Friday. | Source: Courtesy of Cheezy’s <\/p>\n

Foot traffic dropped with the bar closures and lack of events, while the reductions in onsite staff made it harder to troubleshoot problems, such as equipment issues and financial questions, Jacobson said. Recently, the pizzeria stopped paying rent as it sought a resolution with management. But instead of working with him to address his concerns, Ingka revoked Cheezy\u2019s license to operate, Jacobson said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ingka did not respond directly to Jacobson\u2019s claims. In a statement, the company said it \u201crespects and appreciates all vendors, customers, visitors, and the privilege to operate SALUHALL.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re grateful for all Cheezy\u2019s contributed over the past year and look forward to what\u2019s to come,\u201d the company said.<\/p>\n

Saluhall has been on shaky ground since it opened in April 2024. The multifloor complex has dealt with restaurant turnover<\/a> and a shifting strategic vision.<\/a> While it initially offered primarily vegan and vegetarian options<\/a>, it has since embraced all types of food in an attempt to draw more customers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

With Cheezy\u2019s departure, Saluhall will be down to three vendors. Downstairs, where Cheezy\u2019s operated, burger joint Smish Smash (opens in new tab)<\/a> remains open. Upstairs, Curry Up Now and Filipino fusion restaurant Izzy & Wooks, which opened in January<\/a>, continue to operate.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really sad to hear Cheezy\u2019s is leaving,\u201d said Amy Han, cofounder of Smish Smash<\/a>, which has several months left on its contract at Saluhall. The owner of Izzy & Wooks previously told The Standard that the restaurant had signed on for six months; reps of Curry Up Now didn\u2019t respond to a request for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"AJacobson, left, and his partner plan to offer pop-ups, catering, and pizza-making classes as Cheezy\u2019s moves out of the food hall. | Source: Courtesy of Cheezy’s<\/p>\n

As they prepare to shut down Cheezy\u2019s operations at Saluhall, Jacobson and his partner, Raluca Romero, are shifting their attention to pop-ups, catering, and pizza-making classes. They\u2019re also on the hunt for a new brick-and-mortar location, said Jacobson, who honed his skills at the likes of (opens in new tab)<\/a> Pizzeria Delfina and Flour + Water before starting Cheezy\u2019s.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The way Cheezy\u2019s Saluhall tenure ended \u201creally sucks,\u201d he said. \u201cI feel bad for my staff, and I feel bad for the other vendors.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ikea\u2019s struggling downtown food hall is losing another vendor. Cheezy\u2019s Artisan Pizza will serve its last slice at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":206274,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[3010,818,27230,27231,21401,101,103,102,104,106,105],"class_list":{"0":"post-206273","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco","8":"tag-commercial-real-estate","9":"tag-downtown","10":"tag-ikea","11":"tag-market-street","12":"tag-mid-market","13":"tag-san-francisco","14":"tag-san-francisco-headlines","15":"tag-san-francisco-news","16":"tag-sf","17":"tag-sf-headlines","18":"tag-sf-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206273","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=206273"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206273\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/206274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=206273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=206273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=206273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}