San Francisco, CA
Serving up a slice of Palestine at Old Jerusalem in the Mission District
Ahmed Ali Mazen can’t remember the last time he missed the call to prayer.
Five times a day, he heads out the back of his restaurant, Old Jerusalem at 25th and Mission streets, and climbs the stairs to his rooftop, which overlooks the Mission and Bernal Heights.
He always concludes the routine with a Marlboro Gold and a scorching-hot cup of tea with fresh mint.
It’s a lifetime away from the farm where Mazen, now age 58, was raised, one of 11 children, in a small village named Saffa in Ramallah, Palestine. His family grew cucumbers, tomatoes, watermelon and, on the village’s mountaintop, olives.
The Mazen family raised cows, sheep and goats. Mazen had his own pet donkey, which he said he loved dearly.
“Donkeys were for those who couldn’t afford horses,” he said. “Those who couldn’t afford donkeys walked.”
Mazen’s donkey was his most prized possession. He would use it to plow the family’s land and carry produce back from the top of the mountain.
He looks back on his childhood fondly, remembering the village’s ceremonial olive harvest and the fiercely competitive soccer matches.
He and his friends would wait outside the nearby girls’ school in the afternoons, each picking who they said they would one day marry.
“Of course, we never had the guts to go up to them and introduce ourselves. It was just fun to love from afar. That’s what kids do.”
Mazen was 19 during the first intifada in 1987, a political uprising against Israel in which more than 1,100 Palestinians, many of them children, were killed.
“Nothing was ever the same,” he says.
He was still in his teens when he left to start a new life in the United States. In San Francisco, he worked all sorts of odd jobs: Bagging groceries at Mike’s on Mission Street, tow-truck driver, and endless kitchen gigs.
Next came an arranged marriage. “She had seen a photo of me beforehand, I didn’t, but I didn’t really care,” he recalled. “I just wanted to get married.”
His bride was another Palestinian from Ramallah, possibly one of the girls he’d admired from afar during his school days.
He said falling in love and wanting to raise a family motivated him to be self-sufficient by starting his own business. Mazen felt there was a gap to be filled, that existing Middle Eastern restaurants weren’t serving “true” Palestinian food.
One day, Mazen noticed a new “for sale” sign in a window on his commute home. The asking price was far above his price range, but with loans from a bank, family and friends, he cobbled together enough money to buy it.
Old Jerusalem Restaurant opened in 2005. At first, business was so slow that he had to borrow another $40,000 loan from a friend, but eventually it picked up.
Now, 21 years later, Old Jerusalem offers authentic Palestinian dishes like pistachio-crusted lamb chops and Nablusi kunefe, a dessert made of crispy, shredded phyllo, layered with melted cheese and soaked in sweet, fragrant syrup.
“We serve the food I ate growing up, no compromises,” Mazen said.
On its face, Mazen’s story is one of the many successful stories of Palestinian immigrants. He has a wife and three kids, all of whom went to college, and a longstanding business.
He has friends in the Palestinian community here, like Sami Rami, who owns the nearby Middle Eastern market. These days he goes to countless weddings for his friends’ grown children. And he has come to love this sanctuary city.
“This place has everything you need to love it,” he said. “There is so much diversity here: Arab, Chinese, Black, you name it. If you want to get to work in this country, there’s also the money for it.”
Yet Mazen longs for the life he left behind. The annual olive harvest has become nearly impossible due to the current conflict, he says, but he still visits home about once a year to check in on his mother.
“Do you want me to tell you what is good for the story, or do you want me to be honest?” he asked. “I’m so grateful for what God has given me, but if I could go back 20 years from now, I would have never left.”
“The biggest mistake anyone can make is to leave their country,” he said.
“Money doesn’t fix anything. It doesn’t fix that feeling of comfort hearing the mosque’s call to prayer, or seeing your children gather with your nephews, and grow up alongside their cousins. No matter how much money you make, you’ll never be able to get what you once had at home.”
San Francisco, CA
San Francisco Pride kicks off with rainbow lasers, ValQueeries celebrate at Valkyries Pride Night
San Francisco kicked off Pride weekend with the return of the Market Street Pride lasers, while the Golden State Valkyries celebrated Pride Night alongside the ValQueeries, an LGBTQ fan group building community through basketball.
San Francisco, CA
Newlyweds celebrate Pride-themed weddings inside SF City Hall as parade preparations underway
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — On Friday in San Francisco, hundreds of newlyweds began the next chapter of their love story at City Hall.
As they got married inside, Pride preparations were also underway outside of City Hall.
These Pride-themed City Hall weddings were all happening as the setup for the Pride celebration at Civic Center were wrapping up in preparation for Pride Saturday and Sunday.
More than 250 couples arrived for Pride Friday, some of them getting commemorative Pride marriage licenses.
2026 SAN FRANCISCO PRIDE PARADE: How to watch exclusively on ABC7, what to know
Couples like Chris Parker and Jared Duensing got a very special officiant: San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie.
“This is such a wonderful day, and so happy to finally be married after four years of knowing each other in such a wonderful location. Being married by the mayor was so special,” said newlywed Chris Parker.
“Just happy and excited for those couples, and I’m happy and excited for our city to show off what makes San Francisco so great — and our LGBTQ+ community is a huge part of why San Francisco is so special,” Lurie said.
All of this leads to a huge weekend in San Francisco.
The stage being set up just outside of City Hall will mark the end of the parade route — but there’s a lot happening before that.
MORE: San Francisco Pride insiders reveal their must-know tips for the weekend
On Friday afternoon, the annual Trans March takes place at Dolores Park.
On Saturday, both the Trans Ally March and Rally and the Dyke March will take place.
On Saturday, performers will start taking the stage at Civic Center Plaza starting at noon.
All of this, of course, is leading up to Sunday’s big parade when thousands will line Market Street.
Zach Fuentes will be hosting SF Pride Parade coverage only on ABC7 Eyewitness News this Sunday with Drew Tuma, Cameron Bopp and Tara Campbell — as well as with our community guest hosts.
Copyright © 2026 KGO-TV. All Rights Reserved.
San Francisco, CA
I own a Turkish Restaurant in San Francisco. Turkey’s World Cup match here has changed my business.
This as-told-to essay is based on an interview with Aziz Aslan, 45, the owner of Turquaz, a Turkish restaurant on Mission Street in San Francisco. It has been edited for length and clarity.
I opened my Turkish restaurant, Turquaz, in San Francisco in February 2025. Typically, most of our customers are locals, and Turkish diners make up a small minority.
But Turkey’s World Cup appearance in San Francisco has brought a different type of customer through our doors.
Over the past week, we’ve had far more Turkish customers dine with us. Reservations are up, walk-in traffic has increased, and we’ve hired additional staff to keep up with demand.
Gabriela Hasbun for BI
Turkey qualifying for the World Cup changed my business
As soon as we heard that San Francisco would be one of the World Cup host cities, we were thrilled. We knew it would bring visitors to the city, and potentially new customers to our restaurant.
At that point, we didn’t yet know whether Turkey would qualify.
Gabriela Hasbun for BI
In March, Turkey secured its place in the tournament, and we later learned the team would be playing at the San Francisco Bay Area Stadium on June 20. That’s when I knew we needed to start preparing for the tournament.
Over the last few weeks, we launched targeted advertising campaigns on social media. One Instagram post was written in Turkish. In another, we told visitors that wherever they were traveling from, if they were looking for good food, they should come to us. It helped spread the word about our restaurant.
Gabriela Hasbun for BI
Most of my customers aren’t usually Turkish
I’m originally from Istanbul, although I’ve been in the Bay Area for about 10 years. Compared with places like New York and New Jersey, there aren’t as many Turkish people in this part of California.
Usually, our customers come from a wide range of backgrounds, with Turkish people making up only 5% to 10% of those who dine with us.
With our usual customers, our most popular dishes are chicken kebabs and lahmacun, a flatbread topped with minced meat, vegetables, and herbs. We’re a traditional Turkish kitchen, and our pastry section is popular as well, especially our fresh baklava.
Gabriela Hasbun for BI
In recent weeks, however, we’ve had a lot of Turkish customers, which is unusual for us. Some have come from places like New Jersey and Texas, while others have flown in from Istanbul, all to watch Turkey play.
Turkey’s World Cup match in San Francisco has changed who our customers are and what they’re ordering. Dishes like beans and braised meats aren’t as popular with our usual clientele, but we’re selling a lot more of them now because of our Turkish customers.
Gabriela Hasbun for BI
They’ve been ordering foods like white beans with pilaf, braised meat with pilaf, and salads, all of which are really traditional dishes. Turkish customers can be tough critics because they’re comparing our food to what they have back home, but I feel confident in our food, and we’ve received compliments so far.
It hasn’t really affected our stock, thankfully. We have good inventory management, and my warehouse for the wholesale food business is only a short drive away, so we can pick up products whenever we need.
We’ve hired extra staff to meet demand
To prepare for the World Cup, we’ve had to hire additional employees. On top of the 24 staff members we already had, we added three more because of increasing demand. The staff is also working longer hours than usual.
Gabriela Hasbun for BI
For Turkey’s first match, against Australia, we didn’t do anything special, other than create a football-shaped cake. We decided to host watch parties for Turkey’s second and third matches because customers kept asking for them. We set up a big screen for fans to watch together.
I think the World Cup is giving Turkish people a reason to gather, reconnect, and talk about soccer.
I hope the World Cup leaves a lasting impact
The first few months of opening a restaurant are never easy. We spent them getting things set up, perfecting our recipes, and building awareness. We’re still a relatively new restaurant, so it’s been encouraging to see this positive momentum from the World Cup.
Gabriela Hasbun for BI
The city feels busy. You can see it on the streets. There’s an energy in San Francisco right now that’s having a positive effect on businesses like ours, and I hope we can keep that going.
Of course, the World Cup is a one-time event, but we’ll do our best to serve these customers well. If we can meet their expectations, I hope they’ll come back.
And who knows? Maybe the Turkish national team will stop by for a meal before the tournament is over. I’m still holding out hope.
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