The Blue Fig, a Valencia Street coffee joint, closed quietly late last month, unable, the ownership posted in a handwritten note posted to the door, to find staff to operate the cafe.
Neighbors said that the cafe, which opened in in 2010, closed on Oct. 28.
An employee at Afterlife Boutique, next door, said he saw family members pitch in hours to maintain the cafe. Increasingly, he said, the family was taking over the day-to-day operations of the shop.
Blue Fig owners have not responded to e-mail requests for an interview.
The note posted on the cafe’s window reads:
“Dear Friends,
With a heavy heart, we are sad to announce that Sunday was the last day for the Blue Fig.
When We opened the Fig almost 9 years ago, we had a simple mission: Good food, good music, relaxing neighborhood spot. We’re grateful that you chose to come here for your morning coffee, our infamous egg sandwich or just to meet a friend.
It takes a lot to keep a place like this going, and lately we have found it hard to find great people to help us. The type of folks who you have gotten to know over the years — students, artists, cooks — can no longer afford to live in San Francisco. We’ve seen Valencia Street transform during our time here — some of it for good, some not — but we hope there will always be room for those willing to put in the hard work.
It has been a pleasure serving you. Thank you for the beautiful memories, conversations, and connections!! See you around the neighborhood
So Much Love,
The Blue Fig”
Tear it down, replace it with a three (or more!) story building with housing. As it stands a single floor retail building does not fit with the character of the neighborhood.
Link to street view
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Blue+Fig/@37.7571437,-122.4212065,3a,75y,264.83h,107.29t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sgD5YyUnJ_odB6IIWWxwN5w!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DgD5YyUnJ_odB6IIWWxwN5w%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dsearch.TACTILE.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D234%26h%3D106%26yaw%3D268.64548%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0xfc57922fc99fa746!8m2!3d37.7571463!4d-122.4213353
Come to Hercules. We are DESPERATE!!
Another business closure that we can attribute to Supervisor Ronen (aka MEDA Comandante Hilary) — as she valiantly continues the tradition of her predecessor, Comrade Campos, by thwarting housing creation, thereby contributing to skyrocketing rents and displacement.
Karl, why are you so down on San Francisco?
The policies that have been in place for the last 30 years are the reason that so much of the world’s tech happens here. People want to live here. Have you noticed.
San Francisco is about .000000001 % of the earth but a big percent of the world’s economy and next generations leadership happens here because of the type of policies Campos pushed, and San Francisco values. Its not random luck that SF is so desired, despite what you call “bad policies.” The tech economy happened here because of the forward looking policies for the last 30 years. SF used to ask that those who win big of its culture, contribute their fair share.
Sad that it is gone. It did closed earlier that October 28. Here is my tweet of the closure on October 16th with the same hand written note.
https://twitter.com/DPClean/status/1052274352006127617