โโโRichmond Buzzโ is a recurring column on changes, tidbits and other news from the Richmond. Got news? Send us tips at tips@missionlocal.com.
The February sunshine has burned off the fog, for now.
Calls for a national strike in solidarity with Minneapolis late January brought tough decisions upon small business owners. Now, trepidation over federal law enforcement presence in the Bay Area looms ahead of the Super Bowl, despite the Mayorโs assurances.
But this month also has in store a handful of lighter-hearted festivities. Hereโs whatโs going on in the Richmond District.
The Lunar New Year is nearly upon us, and festivities are taking shape from the Excelsior to the Richmond. Along the outer Balboa corridor, The Richmond Neighborhood Center has organized โSuper Horse, Super Hope,โ its third annual parade and night market set for Saturday, Feb. 7, from 3 to 8:30 p.m. The free-to-attend festivities began thanks to Sarah Li, the organizationโs neighborhood resource coordinator, who hails from mainland China.
โWhen Sarah came on board with The Richmond Neighborhood Center, there had been no Westside, large-scale Lunar New Year celebration, to our knowledge, ever,โ said Yves Xavier, their community programs director. โAnd so Sarah saw this cultural gap.โ
That gap became evident, Xavier said, when lines wrapped around the block at the Richmond Neighborhood Centerโs campus for their first Lunar New Year event in 2024.
This year, the celebration will span five blocks (from 35th Ave. to 40th Ave.), each with its own theme. Booths will include more than 100 vendors and community organizations, and Xavier is expecting the turnout to exceed last yearโs headcount of some 5,000.
โThereโll be senior activities, family activities,โ Xavier said, and plenty of entertainment for โanybody else that loves being out a little later.โ
As for the parades โ one beginning at 3 p.m., and another at 5 p.m. โ expect lion dancers and more than 30 other groups to usher in the year of the horse. Theyโll be marshaled by popular Chinese internet personality Zhou Baobao, also called the โHanfu Lady,โ whoโs known for dressing in traditional Chinese styles.
As for Li, she’s excited to bring in the new year with family and friends, and said that dumplings, which signify good luck, are in order.
The day following โSuper Horse, Super Hopeโ is, not coincidentally, the Super Bowl. Those looking for an alternative to the sports-bar watch party may venture to the Balboa Theater at 3630 Balboa St. for free admission to see SB LX live on the silver screen. (Stay long enough after and you may catch a glimpse of infamous director Tommy Wiseau in person.)
Flatscreen-lined watering holes like Steins and The Richmond Republic are also sure to have the game on. Otherwise, check out where else we recommend going around and totally outside of Super Bowl week.
Irish pub The Plough and Stars at 116 Clement St. will host live music every weekend this month with the โHillbilly Robotโ series, advertised as โan urban Americana music event.โ This year marks the 11th annual installment of the event by promoter Shelby Ash.
In lieu of typical Valentineโs Day gushiness, Pasta Supply Co. at 236 Clement St. will host its third-annual Goth Prom night. Diners with a preference for gloom (and New Wave music) can head to the restaurant on Feb 13 and 14. A sign outside the restaurant advertised black pasta dishes, opportunities to โshred your exโ (by which they mean a photo), free gothic makeovers and more.
Those closer to Pasta Supplyโs Mission District location at 3233 22nd St. can also find the same Goth Prom festivities there.
If two nights of goth Valentineโs werenโt enough, the Blarney Stone at 5625 Geary Blvd. will (by some miracle) also be hosting a โGothic Valentinesโ party on Sunday, Feb. 15. Thatโs right: you could, in theory, spend all three nights of Valentineโs Day weekend at goth parties. Posters outside of the Blarney Stone directed the curious to this Instagram page.
For the more traditionally minded, we spoke with Paul Robertson of the eponymous floral design studio at 14 Clement St. He said heโs more than ready for Valentineโs Day chaos, and will have plenty of arrangements of local flowers to pick from.
In other, less festive business news: it appears that two Vietnamese Pho restaurants in the outer Richmond have closed.
Pho Huong Viet at 5733 Geary Blvd is taking a month-long hiatus and will reopen March 5, according to a sign out front.
Pho Kim Son at 3614 Balboa St appears to have closed without any apparent timeline to reopen. A sign out front reads โClosed for maintenance โ Sorry.โ Local patrons have affixed drawings and pleas to reopen to the restaurantโs front door.
Breadbelly on Clement Street was open Tuesday, marking its first week open seven days a week. (It was previously, like many businesses in the neighborhood, open every day except Tuesday.) One employee there predicted it should be a smooth adjustment.
Last month, we reported that Everbank made its presence known on the Geary Boulevard corridor, having taken over Sterling Bank and Trust and rebranding its locations across town.
Now, following those renovations, the outer Richmond branch of Everbank is closing up at 5498 Geary Blvd. on Feb. 27. It’s moving to a bigger space just a few blocks west, at 6001 Geary Blvd. โ formerly a branch of the (now shuttered) First Republic Bank โ opening March 2, according to a sign out front.
Earlier this week, harrowing videos following a fire at Melโs Drive-In on Lombard Street circulated online. While that location is closed until further notice, 3355 Geary Blvd. remains in operation (okay, technically just a few blocks east of the Richmond!).
And perhaps now is as good a time as any to remind ourselves that Clement Streetโs Hamburger Haven began as an offshoot of the early Melโs enterprise.
So thereโs the Buzz.