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Dim Sum Destination Hong Kong Lounge II Reborn in SoMa

Also: Oakland startup turns ethically-killed crickets into protein bars, and more news to start your day

Caleb Pershan

It looks like Hong Kong Lounge II won’t be reopening on the city’s West side, but fans of its dim sum offerings can soon satisfy their cravings in SoMa.

Hong Kong Lounge II, a Bib Gourmand–winning dim sum restaurant on Geary Boulevard, was dreadfully damaged by a 2018 explosion and hours-long fire. Since then, its spot at the corner of Geary and Parker Avenue has remained shuttered, with plywood on the windows and burn marks still visible on its exterior — and owner Annie Ho has remained silent on the restaurant’s future. But now, Tablehopper reports, the business is set to reopen in a glossy new structure located just off Folsom Street.

Ho’s new spot will be called Hong Kong Lounge Bistro, and a look at city records suggests that it’s been in the works since last November, when it filed for a business license at 1136 Folsom Street. That address is also the address of 99 Rausch, a luxury condo development located between Seventh and Eighth Streets.

While reps for the development or restaurant were reluctant to comment, Tablehopper reports that “they just want to get ready for their opening, which should be happening soon.”

And in other news...

  • A court in San Diego has issued a preliminary injunction saying that SF-based grocery delivery service Instacart must reclassify its shoppers as employees. The judgement only applies to workers in San Diego, but SD City Attorney Mara Elliott says that she’ll push to have the ruling cover Instacart shoppers — which the company has classified as contractors — across the entire state. [SF Business Times]
  • With the closure of its Oakland location last year and its L.A. spot last weekend, the SF location of so-called “beer Mecca” Mikkeller Bar is the only one in the mini-chain left standing. [Eater LA]
  • One of Oakland’s most popular craft beers is an under-the-radar brand called Montucky Cold Snacks. Its Bozeman, Montana brewery has gotten the brew into bars like Eli’s Mile High Club, where it sells 40-60 cases per week. [SF Gate]
  • When the window of Castro beer bar Willkommen was mysteriously smashed, staffers turned the damage into a satirically-intended “art installation” called “City Angst.” [Hoodline]
  • After seven years of false starts, upscale Healdsburg restaurant Cyrus (which closed in 2012 after a brutal dispute with its landlord) will reopen in Geyserville. Don’t scramble for reservations quite yet, though — first there’ll be a $5 million renovation of its space (currently a 2008-vintage live-work property) that’s expected to take 18 months or more. [SF Chronicle]
  • After Safeway purchased local grocery store chain Andronico’s in 2016, it rebranded some (but not all) of the stores with their company name. Now they’re switching the names of four locations back to Andronico’s, a move that “appears to be an effort to brand these sites as local markets, rather than big-box chain stores.” [Berkeleyside]
  • Oakland startup Bug Out Bar has just released a chocolate brownie-flavored protein bar made with ethically slain crickets. Testers say the bar is “dry and chalky,” not unlike most other protein bars on the market. [SF Business Times]

Eli's Mile High Club

3629 Martin Luther King Junior Way, , CA 94609 (510) 808-7565 Visit Website

Willkommen

2198 Market Street, , CA 94114 (415) 766-9225 Visit Website