Irving Street's Next Two Cafes Are Opening at Fifth Avenue
October 15, 2026
October 15, 2026
Yahya Munsar opened KJ Produce at Fifth Avenue and Irving Street in 2022 with his brother and father. By this fall, according to Mission Local's Oct. 8 Sunset Buzz, he knew the regulars by name. He had also picked up Spanish from working alongside delivery drivers and grocery workers. Now he wants the space across the street. "It's been so neglected compared to Ninth Avenue," he told the paper about his end of the block.
He has a point, and he's about to have company. Two cafes are heading for the 400 block of Irving. Meanwhile, the strip's most visible corner, Ninth and Irving, sits behind brown paper until at least spring 2027. Looking at the past few months of openings, closings and stalled storefronts, foot traffic hasn't been what decides which doors open on Irving or when. Lease terms and landlord decisions have.
The first is Abanico Coffee Roasters, a Mission roaster. In August, owner Ana Valle announced a second location at 424 Irving St. near Fifth Avenue and was aiming for late September. As of Mission Local's Oct. 8 column, the shop was still described as opening, right next to KJ Produce. No opening date has been confirmed yet.
The second is Munsar's project at 403 Irving St. He calls it a Yemeni cafe and dessert lounge, and the target is early 2027. The plan, as he described it to Mission Local:
"We'll try to be a little bit different," Munsar said about sharing the block with Abanico. He pointed to Latin American coffee next door versus Yemeni at his place, and to his later hours.
The timeline at 403 Irving is the telling part. The space last held Shin Dig, a small venue for weddings and private events, and has been empty for about six years. A storefront doesn't sit dark for six years and then get two cafe neighbors in one season because of a sudden jump in foot traffic. It filled because someone with a business across the street decided to commit to it.
Four blocks west, the pattern runs the other way. Reliable Rexall Sunset, the neighborhood pharmacy at 801 Irving St., closed in early 2025. Mission Local described the vacancy that followed as something that "baffled neighbors," because the space sits on the busiest intersection at Ninth and Irving, with heavy foot traffic.
The answer arrived in September. Mama's Boy Pizza, an Oakland pizzeria that opened in 2023, signed for the space. Its New York-style slices run $5 to $7, and one was named among the top 10 slices in the United States. The for-lease sign came down in early September, and the co-owners were just starting on permits. Spring 2027 is the hoped-for opening.
That puts a third style of pizza within one block. Arizmendi is steps away, and Pasquale's Pizzeria, a neighborhood fixture since the 1960s, is a block over. Count from the pharmacy's closure to that projected opening, and Ninth and Irving's most visible storefront will have gone about two years without a tenant serving the public. That's not far from what the "neglected" end of the street went through, even though the corner has all the foot traffic.
Poke Origin shows how this works. The poke spot at 716 Irving St. opened in 2017 and served its last bowl on Oct. 1. Owner Cyrus Shen gave the reason plainly: the 10-year lease had ended, and it was time to move on.
Even before it closed, the space had a would-be successor. Around June, UMe Tea, a Cupertino tea shop, was interested in the location. Shen said the landlord didn't want a tea shop competing with Easy Breezy Frozen Yogurt next door. Approval was a second hurdle. San Francisco treats chains with 11 or more locations as formula retail, which needs special permission from the Planning Commission.
So a well-located storefront with a tenant ready to go still has no announced successor. Two decisions made far from the sidewalk, a landlord's view of the block's tenant mix and a city approval process, shaped that outcome. Shen told Mission Local he'd be interested in Inner Sunset spaces for a third Q Specialty Coffee. Whether that lands at 716 Irving or elsewhere hasn't been reported.
The same forces show up in different forms all along the strip. Each of these is a lease, a permit or an owner's decision playing out on its own schedule:
Small, owner-run openings have moved much faster than the big corner. Tight Knit Vintage & Modern planned an Aug. 1 soft opening at 1327 B Ninth Ave., by Irving next to Arizmendi. Owner Ashley Von Edge said she'd mix vintage with modern secondhand clothing and keep prices affordable. By late September, the Richmond Review/Sunset Beacon reported the shop had opened. The same report noted CSK Japanese Kitchen, from the owners of Sakura, serving pickup orders at 420 Judah St.
None of these needed a landlord to turn away a competing tenant or a pharmacy-sized space to be rebuilt. They took small spaces and opened on their own schedules. Munsar is following the same playbook on a bigger scale, betting on a block he already works on every day. "We are super committed to the neighborhood. That's why we are doing this," he said.
The Inner Sunset's street events are still on a regular schedule while storefronts turn over:
Sunday, Oct. 11. The Inner Sunset Flea holds its "Tricks, Treats, & Treasures" edition on Irving between Ninth and 11th avenues, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., per the Sunset Mercantile schedule.
Sunday, Oct. 25. The Inner Sunset Merchants Association's Trick or Treat & Fall Fest in the Commercial Corridor runs 10 a.m. to noon. It starts at the Eighth Avenue entrance of the Inner Sunset Farmers' Market.
Sunday, Nov. 8. The flea returns with "The Big Lunch & Annual Pie Contest," same blocks and same hours.
Saturday, Dec. 5. The 6th Annual Inner Sunset Holiday Stroll runs 5 to 9 p.m., with moving mannequins, live music, a scavenger hunt, raffle prizes and holiday specials.
The Holiday Stroll falls in the same month the new studio rent takes effect at 12th Avenue. That's also when Irving Subs might decide what to do with its empty dining room. By then, Abanico's long-awaited Fifth Avenue opening may have happened, and the counter at 403 Irving will be a few months from its target.
On Irving, storefronts change hands on lease and landlord timelines, and the same timelines affect what a nearby home is worth to a buyer. If you own near these blocks and want to understand what a new tenant at the corner could mean for your plans, James Kil can walk you through the numbers. Schedule a free consultation.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
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