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CBS News
12-04-2025
- Business
- CBS News
San Francisco restaurant week newcomer Bettola serves up Italian cuisine
Despite concerns about tariffs and the economy, many restaurants in San Francisco were packed as the city celebrates restaurant week. The 10-day event is heading into its final weekend, and many restaurants say so far, it's been a huge success. In May of last year, an Italian restaurant and market opened on Clement, a street that's already lined with restaurants. In a short amount of time, it's won over many regulars, but it's a place that customers commonly mispronounce. "People say Bettola, but we're trying to get the word out there that it's Bettola with an accent on the e," said Carolina Zaid with Bettola. Zaid says this is a small, family-owned business that specializes in serving up Italian cuisine. Food that is made fresh every day. "We have homemade gnocchi," she said. "We make the gnocchi every day. It's potato and flour. It's a long process. We also make our ragu every day, our pesto daily." This year, more than 200 places took part in the Spring SF Restaurant Week . Golden Gate Restaurant Association says that, unlike past years, it had a high number of first-timers to join the event. Bettola is one of 37 new restaurants. "You can see, it helps," Zaid said. "It helps small businesses, and it helps us actually meet and interact with other small businesses because when I'm not working, I'm going to other restaurants on Clement during restaurant week. So, it's really nice seeing the community being brought together in SF like this." Customers like Ashleigh Brewer say this is not just their restaurant week spot, but a go-to place for authentic Italian food. "They have a really good gnocchi and that's what we come for," said Brewer. With the uncertainty of tariffs and the status of the economy overall, Bettola says it's definitely had its ups and downs. But they're thankful to already have a strong group of regulars. "I think any little neighborhood spot feels special," Brewer said. "I think it's easy to get into, which is nice in San Francisco, and to have a good meal alongside that is always nice." Bettola also hopes it was able to attract newcomers with their dishes, recipes that have been part of their family for generations. "It's just fun to have prix fixes and be able to show people what we love about our restaurant and then the trust in the prix fix and leaving happy and full is really what we're here for," said Zaid.
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Tariffs' impact on restaurant menu items in SF Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — Shoppers could soon quickly see higher prices for produce and beef in the stores. Due to newly announced tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China from President Trump. Restaurants in the Bay Area like Tacolicious in San Francisco are ready to make adjustments to their menus. The taco-inspired restaurant announced their changes in a letter to their customers, further stating that they will be remixing items, including guacamole. 'The price has to change a little bit due to the tariffs,' said Jerome Dees of Tacolicious. With three locations in the Bay Area, the San Francisco shop isn't the only one having to pivot its menu items. European food hall could be opening in downtown Walnut Creek 'It's hard to operate a restaurant if you can't use cooking oil,' said Amy Cleary with the Golden Gate Restaurant Association. 'They may look at alternate sources from where they were getting them before.' According to experts, these 10 food items will soon cost more. Avocados Strawberries Peppers Nuts Beer Cooking oil Seafood Maple syrup Butter Beef 'This is going to impact every restaurant,' Cleary said. With the growing concern of these trade wars, restaurants and business owners say all they can do is just brace for the impact. 'There were more easily substitutable items here in the Bay Area, unfortunately,' Dees said. 'With the exception of a couple of price tweaks, we've been lucky to keep the menu basically the same.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Axios
19-02-2025
- Business
- Axios
Are more bars the answer to San Francisco's downtown recovery? Some say yes.
San Francisco leaders are hoping more restaurants and bars in the city's struggling tourist areas will help lead downtown's recovery. Driving the news: Sen. Scott Wiener on Tuesday announced legislation that would create 20 new "low-cost" liquor licenses for hospitality zones in downtown SF around areas like the Moscone Center, Yerba Buena Gardens and Union Square. Why it matters: Liquor licenses can be difficult to acquire in California because there is a per-county limit, creating fierce competition in the secondary market that can financially burden new businesses. Since a new business must go through the secondary market to purchase a liquor license, costs can be as high as $200,000 or more, according to Wiener. What they're saying: "We should be making it easier, not harder, for businesses to set up here," Mayor Daniel Lurie, who is partnering on the legislation, said on Tuesday. Amy Cleary, with the Golden Gate Restaurant Association, is supportive of efforts to encourage new restaurant openings, but added that it's also important to find ways to "support existing businesses who have made significant economic investments in San Francisco." How it works: Senate Bill 395 would create a new type of liquor license with a one-time cost of $20,000 for businesses in specifically-designated areas that contain at least one million square feet of retail shopping space. Annual fees, and an application fee – which could cost up to $19,315 – must also be paid. Wiener's bill is partly modeled after a law passed in 2016 that created Type 87 licenses, which helped more businesses open in certain neighborhoods like Portola, Bayview and Outer Sunset where the licenses are restricted to. Between the lines: The announcement follows what Wiener called a "very successful weekend" of events marked by a large celebratory Lunar New Year parade and NBA All-Star festivities that brought a $350 million economic boost and hundreds of thousands of people to the city. "We need to continue to build on the progress that we are making," Wiener said. "We see that when you give people a reason to be downtown, they go downtown." Catch up quick: The new bill is the latest move in a wider plan to help lead what Lurie has called the city's " comeback."
