Name: Couple behind Art’s Cafe in the Inner Sunset are retiring — and so is the beloved diner
Brand: sfchronicle.com
SKU: sfchronicle-com-55
Availability: OnlineOnly

critic

Couple behind Art’s Cafe in the Inner Sunset are retiring — and so is the beloved diner

preview

Art’s Cafe, one of San Francisco’s beloved old-school diners, has closed after more than 30 years in business. The owners, Sarah and Hae Ryong Youn, closed the Inner Sunset diner at the onset of shelter-in-place in mid-March, posting a sign in the window proclaiming that they’d reopen in early April.Little did we know that March’s hash brown sandwiches would be their last. The couple are retiring, and so is the cafe, according to family members.Music label manager Ari Simon was the first to break the news on on Thursday. “I’m happy the owners get to retire but I’m sad this part of my childhood is gone and a piece of my city is leaving that I feel is truly irreplaceable,” he wrote. “Irving Street will NEVER be the same. Samurai + Swiss w/ rice and a strawberry lemonade. Forever.”Simon is a superfan of the diner, and his story is typical of the San Franciscans whose lives intertwined with the Youns’: Over the years, he’d brought countless friends, family and associates to the place, to sit in one of the dozen or so stools at the counter and watch Hae Ryong grill burgers and beef teriyaki omelets (“Samurais”) on the flattop. Sarah, who took customers’ orders, was like an aunt to him. He grew up there, and he’d hoped to bring his own kids there one day. The diner’s counter was decorated with eclectic postcards and notes sent from regulars like Simon.More Food StoriesIt’s hard to appreciate how exceptional Art’s Cafe was in a time when Asian ingredients and techniques are a commonplace sighting at American or Californian-style restaurants. The Youns, who immigrated from Korea in the 1980s and met here, bought the diner, then known as Art’s Fine Foods, in the 1990s. They incorporated Korean ingredients into what was otherwise a very straightforward greasy-spoon diner menu. At Art’s, you could get a plump omelet with tofu and gochujang tucked inside or a crisp hash brown folded over bacon and fried onions; bibimbap was cooked alongside corned beef hash.Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more.The Youns’ take on the diner was an exemplar of Asian Americana, perfectly befitting the diverse Inner Sunset neighborhood.Simon says that he and his friends offered to start a GoFundMe, hoping to keep Art’s Cafe open, but the Youns apparently declined. They’ve been working six days a week for three decades. They’re ready to rest.Soleil Ho is The San Francisco Chronicle’s restaurant critic. Email:Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more.

Art’s Cafe, one of San Francisco’s beloved old-school diners, has closed after more than 30 years in business. The owners, Sarah and Hae Ryong Youn, closed the Inner Sunset diner at the onset of shelter-in-place in mid-March, posting a sign in the window proclaiming that they’d reopen in early April.Little did we know that March’s hash brown sandwiches would be their last. The couple are retiring, and so is the cafe, according to family members.Music label manager Ari Simon was the first to break the news on on Thursday. “I’m happy the owners get to retire but I’m sad this part of my...

public

@sfchronicle food critic | not the editor of @SFChronicleFood | hello@soleilho.com

Soleil Ho

Delivering the Bay Area’s best journalism every day. Subscribe and support the newsroom: http://SFChronicle.com/subscribe

sfchronicle.com

Credible

Speculation

Anecdotal Evidence

Generalization

Stacking the Deck

Appeal to Authority

Straw Man

Slippery Slope

Emotional Appeal

Red Herring

False Dilemma

Illogical

Moral Equivalency

Ad Hominem

Correlation w/o Causation

Semantics

Begging the Question

Faulty Analogy

Non Sequitur

Bandwagon

Dogmatism

Failing Occam's Razor

Biased

Pure Opinion

Hit Piece

Racial Bias

National Bias

Religious Bias

Financial Incentive

Political Agenda

Gender Bias

Misused Image/Video

Study Misinterpreted

Mistake

Misused Term

Science Misrepresented

Factual Error

Satire

Surface Level

Lack of Reliable Sources

Sensational

Not Credible

Investigative

Balanced

Well Sourced

Great Context

sports

entertainment

U.S.

international

business

technology

science

culture

politics

media

health

Couple behind Art’s Cafe in the Inner Sunset are retiring — and so is the beloved diner

No article scores yet.

CRITIC REVIEWS

PUBLIC REVIEWS