San Francisco, CA
We're millennial brothers and business partners who left San Francisco's tech bubble for the Midwest manufacturing scene. We never would have been able to afford to launch our startup in California.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with John Yuksel, 33, and Matine Yuksel, 29, two brothers who moved from San Francisco to Dubuque, Iowa, in 2020 to start Beltways, an accelerating walkway company. The brothers then moved to Cincinnati in 2022. Their company is based nearby in Northern Kentucky.
John: We’re children of immigrant parents who grew up in southern Arizona.
I’ve always known I wanted to be close to my brother. He’s my only sibling. We lived in San Diego for a few years after college, and then we moved to San Francisco in 2018.
Matine: San Francisco is amazing. It’s the most diverse environment I’ve been in, and it’s high-caliber for business, especially tech.
John: Matine was working for Walmart e-commerce and then later got a job with Apple. I was working as an attorney.
We were paying incredibly high rent but we had the best view, looking over the Pacific Ocean with the sunset in our windows each night.
But San Francisco was apocalyptic. During COVID, the streets were barren. It felt unsafe. I had my car broken into multiple times.
Matine: COVID helped us rethink and reprioritize things. Rather than work to release the next-generation iPhone, I wanted to make a new product that few people have ever heard of.
John: Beltways is really our father’s dream. Forty years ago, he was living in Istanbul and he realized today’s forms of mobility were not moving people efficiently. He thought up a modular design to make walkways 10 times faster.
Courtesy of John and Matine Yuksel
My brother and I always wanted to do something together and years after our father came up with the idea, we started looking into it.
Matine: We established Beltways in July 2020. We quickly realized we had to move out of San Francisco. It would have been way too expensive to do what we needed there.
John: It wasn’t the right place for our startup. We’re a big hardware manufacturing startup. It made a lot more sense to be near industrial clusters of technology. We wanted to be in the Midwest, where there’s still viability for manufacturing.
Matine: John met someone with experience in the walkway industry and he offered us a shop out in Iowa.
We moved to Dubuque, Iowa, in 2020
John: It was a very small town in the middle of the cornfields, an hour and a half from any airport. Dubuque is a beautiful, quiet town on the Mississippi River. We could drive anywhere in town in two minutes.
We basically lived in a mansion. We had a three-story, four-bedroom place for half the price of our condo in San Francisco.
Matine: The snow was definitely a change of pace. We got our fair share of workout shoveling.
It was a different way of life. We needed to be focused and Iowa was good because we didn’t have too many distractions. The two years we spent in Iowa went by very fast.
Courtesy of John and Matine Yuksel
John: We built the prototype for the world’s fastest-moving walkway while we were living there. It was a hundred-foot-long system and it got us our first VC check.
That was a big milestone for us. We put all our money into this company. We left stable jobs. We refinanced our home. There’s been nothing more fulfilling than making our father’s invention something commercial.
Matine: It was a surreal day when he came out and rode the system for the first time. It was the icing on the cake to see his excitement standing on something he thought up so many years ago.
John: We needed to start scoping out the next spot for our company. The next step was to pilot our walkway. We were invited by several airports to do a pilot demo of our system.
We knew CVG Airport in Cincinnati had a real track record of innovation and taking care of startups. The area was also advantageous for manufacturing. It’s super cheap. The facility we’re currently in is only a little more expensive than my rent in San Francisco, and this is 20,000 square feet.
We moved to Cincinnati in 2022
John: We even moved our parents out here, too. We wanted our father to work with us and be part of the company in person. Our parents live three floors below us in our building in the Mount Adams neighborhood.
Moving to Cincinnati felt like we were back in a big city after two years in Iowa. We have major sports teams and a large hub airport. It’s a much more temperate climate.
The winters have been pretty mild so far. The spring is lush and green. You can kayak down the rivers, and there are amazing trails nearby. The air quality is great. And the summers aren’t 120 degrees like they were in Arizona.
I met my partner, and now I have a child that was born here in Cincinnati. The city has become home for us. The company is here, the whole family is here.
Courtesy of John and Matine Yuksel
We miss life on the coast sometimes. California is a beautiful place. We love that climate and the diversity of people. San Francisco is where tech starts and bleeds out from. It’s really the birthplace of a lot of amazing stuff.
Matine: But Cincinnati’s tech scene has also been very good to us. It’s growing. It’s a close-knit startup community. From the moment we got here, the community has been so welcoming.
John: And it’s a lot cheaper here.
Bringing our father’s dream to life has been incredible
Matine: We started Beltways in a humble garage in Tucson, where my brother built prototypes himself. Now, we’re in a 20,000-square-foot facility here in Northern Kentucky, right next to our first airport customer. And we’re US-made.
John: Our goal is to become an official partner of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics to provide temporary high-speed conveyance.
Cincinnati is a great place to raise a family and have a business. We see ourselves staying for the foreseeable future.
But our ultimate goal is to make our walkways commonplace and spread this technology around the world. So wherever we have to go to make that possible, we will. This is bigger than us.
San Francisco, CA
A Locals-Approved Modern Guide to Fisherman’s Wharf: Seafood, Beer Gardens + Iconic Bay Views
Most locals wouldn’t come within a quarter mile of kitschy, over-touristed Fisherman’s Wharf if they didn’t have to.
But if the last time you visited the neighborhood was when family were in town, prepare to be surprised. There’s more to this waterfront neighborhood than meets the eye—and more to come, as the resurgence of the area, hit hard in the pandemic, picks up speed.
In our locals guide to Fisherman’s Wharf, we remove the wheat from the chaff, directing you only to the good stuff that’s hiding in plain sight—along with a neighborhood hotel recommendation for when those out-of-towners inevitably come to visit.
Where to Eat in Fisherman’s Wharf
Contemporary Filipino at Abacá
(Courtesy of @restaurantabaca)
Scoma’s (1965 Al Scoma Way) is one of the city’s best seafood spots, and not just because it’s located right where the city’s last working fishermen bring in their daily catch. The bayfront restaurant has been in business since 1965 and it has a classy, old-school vibe with a warren of small dining rooms with views, signed memorabilia on the walls, and a mid-century-style showpiece bar at its center. Their cioppino is legendary, along with their Dungeness crab cakes, Louie salads, and perfectly-spiced Bloody Marys. // A leader in San Francisco’s contemporary Filipino food boom, Abacá (2700 Jones St.) chef Francis Ang is known for his creative, California-influenced takes on traditional flavors and dishes. Inside an airy atrium on the ground floor of the Kimpton Alton, the bright and unintimidating restaurant has an extensive lineup of seasonal small plates, barbecued skewers, noodle and rice dishes (you must try the lobster noodles!), and mains like stuffed quail tinutungan with fava beans and morel mushrooms. Don’t skip the cocktails: they’re inventive, unexpected, and pair beautifully with the food. // Stop by Cafe de Casa (685 Beach St.) at breakfast and lunch for Brazilian cheese bread sandwiches, tapioca crepes, and escondidinho, along with a variety of espresso drinks. // A recent addition to the neighborhood is the Japanese-inspired grab-n’-go vegetarian eatery, coffee shop, and market, Bunny Cafe (1327 Columbus Ave.), so named for its lounge full of adorable, adoptable rabbits. They work with a different local rescue organization every quarter, helping to find needy bunnies new homes, and you can reserve a 30-minute spot to visit them whether you’re in the market for a rescue or not. // Korean restaurant Surisan (505 Beach St.) serves up a mix of American-style and K-breakfasts by morning (think jook, bulgogi fried rice, and benedicts) and Korean fried chicken, BBQ, and dishes like bibimbap for lunch and dinner in an inviting, industrial-accented space off the tourist track. // On the second level at the entrance to Pier 39 is Eagle Cafe (Pier 39, Floor 2, A-201), a Fisherman’s Wharf staple since 1928 serving up crowd-pleasing classic breakfasts and lunches like fish and chips and burgers. If the weather is cooperating, eat out on their balcony overlooking the water. // Fog Harbor Fish House is the best spot for dinner on Pier 39. You may be one of the few locals in the crowd but if you’re in the mood to crack into a whole Dungeness crab or take down some clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl, this family-owned restaurant specializing in responsibly-sourced, sustainable seafood is the place to do it (plus, you can’t beat the views).
Coming Soon
The second location of affordable, delicious Saigon Sandwich (333 Jefferson St., #125) is set to open in Fisherman’s Wharf later this summer, adding soju cocktails to the menu alongside its beloved banh mi. // Cult-favorite fast-foodery Raising Cane’s is also planning to open later this summer, bringing their famous chicken fingers and Texas toast to the neighborhood (211 Jefferson St.).
Where to Drink Coffee, Cocktails + Beer
Humble Sea opened a beer garden on Pier 39 in 2025.
(Courtesy of @humblesea.sf)
The Buena Vista (2765 Hyde St.) has built its reputation on Irish Coffee, which was allegedly invented by a bartender here in 1952. But the classic cafe with wide windows overlooking the bay next to the cable car turnaround has charmed many a local and visitor for decades (check out the behind-the-bar memorabilia from frequent patron, Hunter S. Thompson). It’s an ideal spot for a nostalgic cocktail—coffee-flavored or otherwise. // Humble Sea (Pier 39, Unit N-111-1) may be a fairly recent addition to Pier 39 but the whimsical, ocean-themed brewery has been making waves since it opened its first taproom in Santa Cruz in 2017. Its newest location has a beer garden on the wharf, and a colorful indoor bar with plenty of hoppy IPAs on tap. // Tiny Signal Coffee Roasters (2701 Leavenworth St.) will brighten up your morning with small-batch, house-roasted coffee drinks and beans, specialty bevvies, and in-house bakes.
Coming Soon
Later this summer, homegrown SF brewery Woods Beer & Wine Co. will open their new taproom in the nautical-themed remains of the historic former seafood spot, Fishermen’s Grotto No. 9 (2847 Taylor St.). The long-term pop-up is slated to have a full liquor license that will add barrel-aged and batched cocktails to their craft beer and wine offerings.
What to Do in Fisherman’s Wharf
A scene from one of the antique games at Musée Mécanique
(Courtesy of @museemecaniquesf)
If you’re not charmed by the Musee Mechanique (Pier 45), you’re dead inside. No, seriously: This place is an absolute gem, featuring more than 300 antique mechanical arcade games (one of the world’s largest private collections) kept lovingly in working order. Many originally came from Playland, the amusement park that operated on Ocean Beach from 1928 to 1972, (along with creepy Funhouse mascot Laffing Sal) and each machine costs just 25 to 50 cents to play. // You don’t have to be from away to want to spend some time with the sea lions at the Viewing Area at K Dock (Pier 39). The pinnipeds post up here by the dozens all year round, barking, sparring, and swimming in the bay, oblivious to the crowd of onlookers. Come in spring to see babies just old enough to climb onto the docks. // If you get a kick out of the more gruesome side of science, check out the Truhlsen-Marmor Museum of the Eye (645 Beach St.). On the ground floor of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, it’s chock-full of interesting exhibits about eyeball anatomy, vision, perception, and medical innovation. // Despite its recent scandal, the Cartoon Art Museum (781 Beach St.), an institution endowed by comic god Charles Schulz, is worth a visit for its small but well-curated collection of cartoon and comic book art. // If you’re into naval history, step on board the S.S. Jeremiah O’Brien (Pier 35) or U.S.S. Pampanito (Pier 45), a restored naval ship and submarine from the World War II era.
Where to Stay in Fisherman’s Wharf
Guest rooms at Hyatt Centric Fisherman’s Wharf have just been completely renovated with an eye towards guest wellness and sustainability.
(Courtesy of Hyatt Centric Fisherman’s Wharf San Francisco)
If you’ve got friends or family coming into town who’d rather avoid staying in the hustle of downtown, Fisherman’s Wharf is a good, transportation-connected alternative. While the Kimpton Alton (2700 Jones St.) is the most luxurious option in the neighborhood, the Hyatt Centric Fisherman’s Wharf (555 North Point St.) is an excellent, more affordable alternative that’s just been completely renovated with a special emphasis on sustainable design and guest wellness. The freshly redone guest rooms—some of the most spacious in town—have a modern look accented in responsibly harvested wood and natural materials free of toxic substances, bronzed lighting and mirrors, patterned wall coverings, and subtle nautical accents.
An outdoor sun deck framed by the hotel’s upper floors has a heated pool and hot tub, along with new loungers and cabanas, and the 24-hour fitness center is full of top notch equipment including treadmills, bikes, and free weights (in-room yoga classes are also available on demand). Brick & Beam, the hotel’s signature, brick-walled gastropub, is open all day, serving generous plates of brioche French toast and croissant sandwiches at breakfast, and a wide range of handhelds, flatbreads, and other crowd pleasers at lunch and dinner. Note the happy hour at the full bar (5:30pm to 7:30pm), where margaritas, beer, and wine are just $6—definitely among the lowest prices in town. A 24-hour market in the lobby also offers snacks and drinks to go. You can’t beat the location which is just two blocks back from the water and a short walk from Pier 39.
San Francisco’s Fourth of July celebration along the city’s waterfront quickly turned into hours of gridlock, dangerous fireworks incidents and a surge in emergency calls.
Thousands packed Crissy Field to watch fireworks launched from the Golden Gate Bridge. But once the show ended, it wasn’t exactly a smooth ride home.
While many left with great memories. Others found themselves stuck for hours in gridlock, caught in a massive backup involving dozens of Waymo cars, while firefighters across the city were responding to fires and serious fireworks injuries.
For Rose Peterson, the ride home after San Francisco’s Fourth of July fireworks took an unexpected turn.
“We were pulling up to a four-way stop and this guy was shooting off a firework in the middle of the road, and then our Waymo starts driving, and we’re like ‘Wait, what’s happening?’,” she said.
No one inside was hurt, but Peterson says the experience left her questioning how autonomous vehicles respond in unpredictable situations.
“I definitely think it needs to be more sensitive of anything that can come into the path of the road,” she said.
That wasn’t the only challenge after the show.
As thousands left Crissy Field and the Presidio, traffic came to a standstill. Among those stuck was Dave Guingona, who had friends visiting from the Philippines and wanted to show them a memorable Fourth of July in San Francisco.
“Five minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes went by, then we realized people were getting out of their cars, yelling and screaming at these Waymos because there were no drivers,” he said.
He says nearly two hours later, Waymo employees finally began driving the vehicles out.
“They had a great time, but this is what they’re going to remember for the rest of their lives. This was unbelievable,” he said.
While traffic barely moved, San Francisco firefighters responded to more than 500 calls for service, including four fireworks-related wildfires, numerous outside fires across the city and a vehicle fire on Connecticut Street believed to have been sparked by illegal fireworks.
Crews also responded to two life-altering fireworks injuries.
Captain Jonathan Baxter says the incident Peterson experienced in the Waymo was another reminder of how quickly things could have turned tragic.
“That situation could’ve had a far worse outcome—not only for the individuals in the car that could’ve been injured or worse—but for the individuals who lit the fireworks. They could have their life altered for the rest of their lives as well,” Baxter said.
Waymo says extreme traffic congestion disrupted operations for several vehicles after the fireworks and crews worked with city officials to clear them from the area.
The company also says it’s evaluating the incident surrounding fireworks, adding it’s committed to learning from situations like this.
San Francisco fire officials are reminding people that even fireworks marketed as “safe” can cause devastating injuries and fires. As for Waymo, the company says it’s reviewing both last night’s traffic congestion and the incident involving Rose’s ride as it looks for ways to improve operations during major events.
An unoccupied Waymo autonomous vehicle caught fire Saturday evening after driving over a small firework in a San Francisco roadway, according to a company spokesperson.
The incident occurred near the 1200 block of Connecticut Street. No one was inside the self-driving car at the time, and no injuries were reported.
Waymo stated it coordinated with the San Francisco Fire Department and local authorities to safely remove the damaged vehicle from the scene.
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