San Francisco, CA
San Francisco Is on the Rebound. Just Ask the Multigenerational Crowd at Drag Bingo Brunch.
When Elsa Touche takes center stage on Market Street, she’s known to do so in patterned florals, swirls of blue and white hair, and huge rings on her fingers like wizard’s trinkets. She leads a room full of people: those in their 80s, some not even 10 years old. A tiny pink cage full of green and pink and yellow balls stands before her. Smash burgers pop and sizzle to her right.
It’s a typical drag bingo brunch at Saluhall. But it’s totally the opposite of what so many assume is going on in downtown San Francisco.
The free-to-attend event just rang in its first year of monthly bingo brunches in May 2025. When the event launched in May 2024, about 30 people would show up, per data shared from the business. But since the end of last year, it’s blown up with a minimum of 65 or more folks in the audience. The last show clocked 76. Grandparents, families with small children, and the LGBTQ community alike attend. And, of course, they all grab something to eat while diligently dobbing cards in hopes of winning a gift card to a local business, or a cooking class, or free ice cream.
A year into operations, the Ikea-adjacent food hall is in a state of flux. The return of activity to the downtown corridor many have hailed has taken a long time to hit. The greater downtown area still suffers from a public perception issue, which is sometimes reinforced by reality; on a recent trip to Saluhall, Eater SF spied someone walk in, grab money from a business’s tip jar, and walk out. (Saluhall does maintain security on the premises.) That said, there are some signs of life. In March 2025, the San Francisco Standard wrote, “We’re at the beginning of the end of the remote-work era,” citing Mayor Daniel Lurie and Gov. Gavin Newsom’s mandates to state and federal workers to return to offices. Nevertheless, attendance is up; Kastle’s data shows that company card swipes to enter San Francisco downtown buildings are up 55 percent year-over-year in March.
At Saluhall, that slow uptick in foot traffic means vendors have come and gone — unable to wait out the uncertainty of the market. Two anchor tenants on the second floor departed in March: Taqueria La Venganza and Kayma Algerian Eatery. The former cited low foot traffic and Saluhall taking 12 percent of sales income that made operating untenable, while the latter reported low traffic and the need to spend more time with family. A few newcomers have brought more life to the first floor. Uber-popular player Smish Smash opened in January, drawing long lines, followed by Cheezy’s Artisan Pizza, which showed up in April with phenomenal pies.
The events program, though, has been a reliable high watermark. For her part, Touche says she’s happy to be involved, as one of the city’s most tenured drag stars. She always brings a guest performer. It’s a great venue for her, too, as she’s vegan and Saluhall has plenty of plant-based food. All kinds of fans turn out to see her perform, since so many of her shows are at night or at 21 and older venues. Drag brunches in general have risen in popularity. Tourists, too, who check out of their nearby hotels will come for a meal and to see something zany before boarding Bart to SFO.
Touche says that Saluhall audience is a rare, broader spectrum of ages and walks of life than her other shows. It’s a PG environment. It reminds her of the mall queens of the ’80s, Tiffany and Debbie Gibson. San Francisco is also specific in that even if you’re not someone who regularly goes into queer bars, you probably encounter drag queens somewhat regularly, Touche says. That means it’s not the political act of defiance it might be in, say, Texas.
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Having this kind of win in Mid-Market is not lost on Touche. “The neighborhood is rough, and I really appreciate Ikea coming in and being an anchor there,” she says. “[Saluhall’s] in the post-downtown era of San Francisco, where people don’t go into downtown offices so much anymore. But I think they’re doing a good job.”
Stella Hoffman, Saluhall’s operations manager, moved to the city from London just five months before Saluhall’s opening. She’s responsible for scouting and booking its drag bingo event. Hoffman says that while Saluhall itself has struggled to bring in the numbers the team may have anticipated, she’s proud of how far the events have come. “We definitely have a following for bingo,” she says. “It’s definitely boosted sales for the vendors.”
Further, she points out that the programming at the food hall is part of a shared effort in the neighborhood to strengthen not just businesses but San Francisco itself. Rather than being in competition with other organizations in the area, she finds everyone is working to bring tourists and locals to the area together. For example, the food hall has worked out partnerships with some of the nearby hotel concierge services to ferry over guests. The Mid-Market Business Association also plays a major role. It’s a nonprofit that launched in 2019 to implement programming to bolster the downtown area; its Tenderloin/Mid-Market Community-Based Safety Program is behind Urban Alchemy, all those ambassadors in green vests.
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Megan Garcia’s the marketing manager for the nonprofit, and she’s a huge fan of Saluhall. It’s an example of positive things happening in the downtown community: Contrary to the picture of San Francisco painted by outlets like Fox News, nothing scary — drug use-related or otherwise — has happened at any of Saluhall’s drag brunches. It’s part of Garcia’s job to promote the various events happening there while also raising awareness to the association’s own programming — namely, the Market Street Arts series and its flagship Well-Crafted events, which run through June. Those look a lot like sip-and-paints or screenprinting pop-ups. It launched in December 2024 as a way to support businesses. But from the jump the events sell out, sometimes for gigs with 100-person limits.
Between 60 and 80 people regularly attend the numerous events hosted at Saluhall. Garcia says mostly it’s people in their 20s and 30s, a slight skew toward women. But, like the drag bingo brunch, it’s really all-ages and families, too. Artists featured tend to be of all ages, many who’ve lived in San Francisco their whole lives. They’ve seen the “doom loop” narratives come and go, when the Zodiac Killer arrested the city in fear, when politicians were shot and killed. Like Elsa Touche, they’ve danced through it all.
Garcia isn’t so worried about the city, seeing all this regeneration firsthand. She takes her 6-and-a-half-year-old daughter to the events at the food hall, grabbing smash burgers after drag bingo brunch then going to the Orpheum Theatre for a show. “Come out and see for yourself,” Garcia says. “Take a time where you’re setting yourself up for success, that you’re going to feel the most secure. Then come and explore.”
Bay Area High School baseball fans are treated to a rare opportunity Saturday (April 18) with three games at Oracle Park, home of the San Francisco Giants, including the famed Bruce-Mahoney clash between West Catholic Athletic League rivals St. Ignatius and Sacred Heart Cathedral.
The first pitch of the 20th annual Dante Benedetti Baseball Classic starts at 11 a.m. and pits two more San Francisco private schools as University (9-7), winners of four straight, taking on Riordan (5-11).
That will be followed by the Bruce-Mahoney game at 2:30 between St. Ignatius (12-5, 4-2 WCAL) and the Irish (7-10, 1-5) and finished off with a North Coast Section clash between North Bay’s Marin Catholic (9-7) against Acalanes (7-6-1).
The Benedetti Classic, founded by Dante’s Boys Foundation board member Tom Lounibos and Giants president Larry Baer, benefits the DBF which honors the spirit of Benedetti who for nearly 40 years owned San Francisco’s Mr. Baseball nickname for his kindness and generosity to baseball-playing youth in the area.
Among their philanthropic efforts are glove and baseball equipment drives, field renovations and contributions to scholarships and sponsorships.
After starting the season 0-4 — three of those losses were by one run — University, under head coach Andrew Suvunnachuen, has found its way, winning the last four, all in Bay Counties League play, by a combined 51-6 count over Lick-Wilmerding (16-1 and 11-3) and San Domenico (13-2 and 11-0).
Senior catcher and pitcher Jett Messenger leads the way with a .447 average, while getting on base at a .638 rate. He also leads the team with 20 stolen bases. Junior third baseman Tate Gebhart is hitting .419, while Leo Felder and Behbart share the RBI lead with 15 each.
Junior Matthew Foley is 3-2 on the mound with a 2.38 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 17.2 innings.
Riordan, under second-year head coach Craig Sargent, was 5-5 in nonleague games but lost six straight in the rugged WCAL, losing two tough games this week to Mitty (3-2 and 7-4). Junior third baseman and pitcher Santiono Williams leads the team in batting average (.371), on-base percentage (.488) and stolen bases (nine). He’s also been the team’s top pitcher at 4-2 with a 2.84 ERA.
The teams have split two previous games in their history, with Riordan winning 2-0 in 2023 and University prevailing 5-0 in 2021.
St. Ignatius, led by ninth-year head coach Brian Pollzzie, has already secured the Bruce-Mahoney trophy with four straight wins — one each in football, girls volleyball, boys basketball and girls basketball — but this rivalry is always spirited.
The Wildcats, who are ranked fourth in the Bay Area by the San Francisco Chronicle, are coming off a tough 3-0 home loss to No. 2 St. Francis on Friday after beating the host Lancers 10-6 on Tuesday.
The team is led by Stanford-bound Archer Horn, who is hitting .486 with four home runs and a .604 on-base percentage. The shortstop and pitcher also has not allowed an earned run in three pitching appearances while registering one save.
Pitching is a team’s strength with a 2.59 ERA, led by a brigade of strong arms including Leo Rhein (2-0, 2.38), Tycco Giometti (2-1, 2.62), Charlie Stecher 1-1, 0.72) and Chase Gordon (1-0, 2.80). The team is missing standout Finn Demuth, out of the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
Sacred Heart Cathedral, led by fourth-year head coach Gregg Franceschi, has scored 60 runs on the season and given up 61. The Irish are coming off two losses to eighth-ranked Valley Christian (5-2 and 10-1).
They are led offensively by junior outfielder Brody O’Sullivan (.381) and senior infielder Jacob Vines (.378). Johnny Nepomuceno and Max Nylander are other run-producers. Zach Stallworth (37 strikeouts, 29.2 innings) and Cooper Rogers Lewis (0.25 ERA) have been the team’s top pitchers.
The series has been remarkably close since 2005 with Sacred Heart Cathedral holding a 27-20 edge, though St. Ignatius won both games last season (5-0 and 6-3) after the Irish won 9-7 and 1-0 in 2024.
Marin Catholic hopes to get back to winning after starting the season 9-1, but have since lost six straight, four in Marin County Athletic League play, including 4-2 to Novato on Thursday. Senior outfield Luke Martin is the team’s leading hitter at .478 while senior infielder and pitcher Cooper Mitchell is at .455. Senior infielder Walker Untermann leads the team with 15 RBIs.
Acalanes is at the other end of the spectrum, winners of five of six after a 2-5-1 start. Junior infielder Tyler Winkles, also a highly recruited quarterback in football, leads the team with a .383 average and nine stolen bases. Riley Gates (2-3, 2.49 ERA, 30 strikeouts) is the team’s top pitcher.
The teams have played three times, all since 2022, with Marin Catholic owning a 2-1 lead. Acalanes won last year’s game 8-7.
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Chinatown fatal crash victim ID’d, safety measures proposed
The victim killed in Friday’s Chinatown crash was identified Monday by the medical examiner as Cutberto Zamora-Martinez, 49, of San Joaquin County. At a meeting on Monday, city officials said the cause of the crash is still under investigation.
SAN FRANCISCO – A 76-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and speeding following a crash in San Francisco’s Chinatown that killed a man working in the area.
Zhuo Ming Lu, 76, is accused in the March 27 crash that left 49-year-old Cutberto Zamora-Martinez, of San Joaquin County, dead.
Suspect was trying to park
What we know:
Authorities said Lu was attempting to park near Grant Avenue and Jackson Street when his vehicle jumped the sidewalk and crashed into the landmark New Lung Ting Café, also known as the Pork Chop House. The vehicle also struck two pedestrians, including Zamora-Martinez.
Zamora-Martinez died from his injuries.
He had been working in the area, according to a GoFundMe page. A San Francisco Police Department source close to the investigation told KTVU the victims were carpet installers arriving for work.
The fundraising page described Zamora-Martinez as a husband and father who was the sole provider for his family and “a humble man who wanted the best for his family.”
Before his arrest, Lu had been cooperating with investigators. Authorities have not confirmed what caused the crash.
Some residents questioned whether the driver’s age or a possible confusion between the brake and gas pedals may have been factors.
“Maybe if people hit a certain age, you got to get retested for your driver’s license is something I was thinking about,” said Keith Hong, who works next door to the crash site.
Another case involving an elderly driver
Big picture view:
In an unrelated case, Mary Fong Lau, 80, was sentenced to probation after killing a family of four, two parents and their young children. in March 2024. Authorities said Lau struck the victims as they waited at a Muni stop on their way to the zoo.
Lau pleaded no contest to four felony counts of vehicular manslaughter, and a judge accepted the plea. A Superior Court judge cited her age, remorse and lack of criminal history in the sentencing decision.
She was placed on probation for two years, banned from driving for three years and ordered to complete 200 hours of community service.
The Source: San Francisco Police Department, prior reporting
San Francisco first came to know chefs Laura and Sayat Ozyilmaz through their pop-up Istanbul Modern, and later through their breakthrough Presidio restaurant Dalida. The duo’s success is grounded in their take on Eastern Mediterranean food, which they made a conscious decision to champion 10 years ago.
Fast-forward to 2026, and now Laura is taking on a personal project of her own, with Sayat by her side, placing foods from Mexico’s Guerrero and Sinaloa center stage at Maria Isabel. It’s a refreshing menu that combines both Mexican and local ingredients, through the lens of the Ozyilmazes cooking backgrounds.
Reservations are released on OpenTable 30 days in advance, but Laura confirmed that they do take walk-ins depending on space. Smaller parties or solo diners might have better luck sliding in, thanks to the counter in the brighter, “Maria” portion of the restaurant.
The cocktails from consulting bar director Evan Williams are always worth a glimpse, whether at Dalida or at Maria Isabel. They’re well-balanced and have incredible depth and technique behind them. That being said, the team sourced wines from woman-led wine brands such as LOTIS Wines and Amevive Wine, if you’re looking to explore past the usual selections you’ll see elsewhere.
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