Rosamunde, the Mission’s signature spot for sausages and sauerkraut, will close up shop in late November, the restaurant announced Thursday.
The Mission Street eatery just south of 24th Street first opened its doors in 2010. It has become known as a spacious, casual place to go grab a pint and some kind of wurst: The menu features around 20 beer options and 15 different sausages.
During soccer season, the place filled with fans, and even those who could not afford a sausage would stand by the front windows and watch the big screens from the sidewalk. Much like in a biergarten, those inside would sit at long, communal tables to eat, drink and help themselves to self-service condiments: Curry ketchup, spicy mustard, dijon.
The business has struggled to make a comeback since the pandemic, said Ciro Alarcón, the kitchen manager. The closure may well have something to do with nearby trouble around the 24th station BART plaza, he said.
The BART plaza has, in recent years, filled with illegal — and persistent — street vending, which has crowded the sidewalks. Supervisor Hillary Ronen last month announced a ban on all sidewalk vending starting in early November in the latest attempt to clear the plazas, to the chagrin of the vendors themselves.
Rosamunde’s Mission location was the last one standing: The original location, in the Lower Haight, shut its doors in 2019 after more than 20 years of business. Its Brooklyn location closed in 2017; another one in Oakland closed in 2020. Rosamunde’s menu will continue to be offered at Willkommen, an indoor beer hall in the Castro.
Alarcón said he will miss the lively atmosphere and the friends he made at the restaurant — staff and customers alike. “It was fun to be here,” he said, in Spanish.
Rosamunde’s last day of operation will be Tuesday, November 21.
What awful news. Went there all the time. Less since they stopped doing brunch, but still. Dammit.
This is really sad news. I loved going to Rosamunde for a vegan Beyond brat salad and a beer. They always had a great beer selection and friendly bartenders. I’ll miss this place.
Saddest news in a long time. This was always a favorite place of mine. Now I will go to Berliner Berliner on Lower Haight and take your sausage to the Toronado.
more news from London Town
Good riddance
The comment that is trying to associate this restaurant closing due to the the 24th st BART re-sale thieves… what does that have to do with it? MissionLocal is trying to sensationalize the news in order to get the mayor to do something about it, and we really can’t complain, but there is no connection there at all. The article mentioned “lower patronage” and sales post-pandemic.
Hi Mike —
Mission Local is not trying to “sensationalize the news in order to get the mayor to do something about it.” This is very silly in every sense; that’s not how we do things and we’re pretty sure the mayor need not read a story about a sausage restaurant closing to know the extent of the situation at Mission and 24th.
Best,
JE
Mike, I can tell you that my family used to go there all the time. However, since conditions have deteriorated around the BART plaza, we do not feel safe, avoid this whole area and we have not been to Rosamund for over a year. Anecdotally, I know plenty of neighbors who are in the same boat, especially families with kids.
Holy crap, MissionMike, have you walked by 24th and Mission on a weekend lately? What’s happening there is local news. I occasionally disagree with Mission Local’s take on the story, but this is not sensationalism at all. It’s news and I’m glad they’re covering it. And they’re doing by far the best job of it, even if it’s a little more sympathetic to the unlicensed vendors than I would personally like to see.
(Shuffles monocle in place, mine not yours)
It’ll comfort you then that I at least stopped going to Rosamunde long before the pandemic: The sausages got smaller and smaller – disappearing into the buns. I called Rosamunde “the vanishing act” for that reason.
Honory mention: For long, there was no need to worry, Wurst Franz used to be the lick anyways. He put Rosamunde and all these “best” hot dog places to shame, R.I.P.
Usually I roll my eyes at bitching in the Mission. But this time… yeah.
It used to be lively on a weekend. Then it got crazy. We avoid lingering around 24th because of the vendors and the religious a-holes with the megaphone and the homeless. There was always some of that, but it got turned up to 10.
I can say for sure the family didn’t want to go to Rosamunde these last few years for that reason.
On a more serious note, let me add that it probably doesn’t help how you can buy bacon wrapped hot dogs off the sidewalk seemingly at every other street corner these days. All the while, running a restaurant, you get to pay rent and taxes up the yin-yang for privilege of being at risk of getting run out of business by the health department every six months.