“Sunset Buzz” is a recurring column on changes, tidbits and other news from the Sunset. Got news? Send us tips at junyao@missionlocal.com.
Mama’s Boy Pizza, the Oakland-based pizzeria that opened in 2023, is bringing its signature New York style slices to San Francisco, Mission Local has learned.
Things are still in their early stages: The for-lease sign was just taken down last week and the co-owners are starting to work on permitting. It will be a bit of a wait, but hopefully, the storefront at 801 Irving St. on Ninth Avenue, will be filled with the satisfying aroma of cheese and pepperoni by spring next year.
Yes, it will be just steps away from Arizmendi’s triple mushroom with sesame-ginger-garlic vinaigrette slices (this reporter’s personal favorite) and a block from Pasquale’s Pizzeria that has been a neighborhood staple since the 1960s.
But Mama’s Boy has something different to bring to the table: Its $5 to $7 New York style slices have been honored as one of the top 10 pizza slices in the United States — and it may just scratch the itch for that friend who won’t shut up about New York City pizza.
The pizza shop will occupy the vacant space that was once home to the neighborhood pharmacy, Reliable Rexall Sunset, which shuttered in early 2025. For almost two years, the vacancy baffled neighbors, as the space sits on the busiest intersection at Ninth Avenue and Irving Street with heavy foot traffic.
The inaugural TideFest, an all-day festival of live music, DJs, art, food and drinks is taking place on Taraval Street and the Lower Great Highway on Sept. 19 from 1 to 9 p.m.
The festival was organized by the Riptide, a cocktail bar with a history dating back to 1941, and the art nonprofit Artyhood.
It will feature live performance from local musicians including the Mission-based reggae and latin music band Bayonics, the Latin rock music group Momotombo and a soulful rock band Don’t Tell John.
The festival is free and open to all ages. You can RSVP here.
Flower Piano is returning to the San Francisco Botanical Garden. The 11-day affair, from Sept. 10 to Sept. 20, will bring live piano performances to the lawns, groves and meadows of the botanical garden.
Visitors can enjoy the San Francisco Symphony on the lawn at Zellerbach Garden, with their hands literally touching grass, or listen to live jazz at the New Zealand garden under some of the oldest trees in the garden dating back to 1915.
San Francisco residents can attend for free, but reserving a ticket in advance is helpful for receiving information before the event and may make the check-in process “slightly quicker,” according to the San Francisco Botanical Garden.
Sunset Trinket Trade in the Outer Sunset, one of the first honor-system trinket boxes that began a citywide trend, is temporarily closed until further notice, said its creator Deanna Florendo. The box, filled with knickknacks like bracelets, fridge magnets and ceramic figurines, allows visitors to “take a trinket, leave a trinket.”
Florendo, who started the project last winter, said she needed “a little break.”
“It’s a lot of work sometimes,” she said. She has a long list of maintenance work to be done, including deep cleaning the box and finding a tall ladder to trim down the bougainvillea nearby.
In the meantime, she invites trinket enthusiasts to visit the shell library on 45th Avenue between Judah and Kirkham streets. The rules are similar: Take a shell, leave a shell.
