SAN FRANCISCO – The cost of doing business in San Francisco is just too high for a popular Italian restaurant that was very busy and profitable, before the pandemic.

Che Fico Alimentari located on Divisadero Street says it’s a vastly different restaurant than it was when it opened in 2019 to great fanfare. Alimentari is the casual spinoff of its wildly popular original and sister restaurant, Che Fico. 

The restaurant announced the difficult decision this week on its Instagram, that next Thursday, May 9, will be its final dinner service.

Over the last six months, co-owner Matt Brewer said the harsh economic realities of running an independent restaurant in the city became clear. He and chef and co-owner David Nayfeld decided to absorb Alimentari within Che Fico, and close Alimentari’s dinner service in its current form.  

“We still plan on keeping it for an event space, but in its current iteration, it’s just not sustainable given a lot of the rising costs of doing business in San Francisco as a restaurant,” said Brewer.

Che Fico Alimentari said it would typically see about 120 guests during weekday dinner hours, before the pandemic. Now, they’re seating about half of that on weeknights.  

The two Che Ficos will merge upstairs, and the downstairs operation will focus on to-go orders and serve cocktails as well. 

The decision comes months after Alimentari cut prices by 20%. 

It also recently cut its dine-in fee in half, something it instituted in 2021 to help ensure better wages and full benefits for workers.

“We have seen our payroll continue to rise, we manage it as best we can, but when we’re not seeing the additional revenue come in, people are choosing not to dine out as much,” said Brewer. “It’s not just us, it’s a citywide issue.”

One of its most striking costs is electricity. Brewer said between the two spaces, Che Fico used to pay about $7,000 a month to PG&E before the pandemic. That same bill now costs about $11,000.

San Francisco resident Jessica Roman is a loyal diner.

“We heard it was closing, which is devastating, because I’ve been coming here for as long as I can remember, so we had to come here and celebrate,” said Roman. “A lot of people moved out of the city. I feel like Che Fico attracted a lot of corporate clients and there’s fewer corporate dinners happening, and I feel like that’s where the money is, so I understand.”

“I think at the end of the day the most important thing about a restaurant is its food, and it’s still delicious here,” said diner Jonathan Klein. “It’s unfortunate, but absolutely the upstairs is still going to be as delicious as it was before.”

Ultimately, Che Fico said it’s committed to evolving and thriving in San Francisco.

“We’re bullish on the future of San Francisco, we just know it’s going to take a little bit of time right now,” said Brewer.

Brewer and Nayfeld recently opened a new market called Il Mercato di Che Fico, near its sister restaurant in Menlo Park. The owners are also planning to open another Che Fico at Mission Rock near Oracle Park in 2025.

The San Francisco Giants will begin their 10-game road stretch against the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday in a period that will test if they truly can be contenders when they face two teams with winning records.

It’s still early, but there have been some warning signs that suggest this year could be a struggle.

Manager Bob Melvin addressed that after the Giants didn’t quite get off to the start they were hoping for after signing some high-profile players this offseason.

But, despite sitting one game under .500 after 29 contests, one of their former legends is confident they will be able to turn things around.

“I’m excited about this team. I know they’re sitting right around .500 right now, but honestly feel like they haven’t come close to playing their best baseball as a group,” Buster Posey told Tim Kawakami of The Athletic.

The strength of San Francisco right now is their starting pitching staff, who is ranked 10th entering their contest on Tuesday with an ERA of 3.67.

The hope is that the Giants’ offense will eventually come around, while their starters continue to give them good innings, so they can finally string together enough wins to truly put them into the playoff picture.

Posey was asked if he thinks this team will be able to make the postseason for the first time since 2021 during his final year with the franchise before he retired.

“It goes back to your first question about the excitement around the staff. I think if you get into the playoffs and you’ve got two, three studs at the top, it can carry you a long ways … You think about the playoffs, what is that? It’s about pitching, good defense and getting hot offensively at the right time,” he said.

As far as the offensive issues go, Posey actually thinks it could work out in San Francisco’s favor down the line when they eventually do start hitting.

“The offense to this point hasn’t really done much. To my eyes, that’s encouraging, right?” he said.

It’s certainly a positive way to look at what has taken place on the field, but it’s also hard to argue with Posey who has won World Series titles with the Giants because of the strength of their starting pitching and the lineup getting timely hits.

Maybe that can happen for this team.

Posey certainly thinks they’ll be contending for a shot to at least have an opportunity to make a deep run.

A man was shot dead Monday evening in San Francisco’s Bayview neighborhood, police said Tuesday.

According to preliminary information, officers from the Bayview station responded around 9:30 p.m. Monday to Quesada Avenue between Newhall and Third streets for a report of a possible shooting.

When officers arrived, they found a man lying on the ground with gunshot wounds to his face and chest.

Paramedics transported the victim to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 10:05 p.m.

His identity was not immediately available, pending next-of-kin notification from the city’s Office of the Medical Examiner.

The San Francisco Police Department Homicide Detail is leading the open investigation. Police did not say if any arrests have been made.