"Soon enough, the intersection of Ninth and Irving may have the highest density of pizzerias outside of North Beach," Mission Local wrote on Oct. 22. Two well-known pizza operators have now claimed storefronts at the corner. One is a Neapolitan champion opening his first restaurant in the United States. The other is an Oakland slice shop with a national ranking. Neither has a firm opening date in 2026.
The only new tenant at the corner with a city vote behind it is a bank. On Sept. 17, the San Francisco Planning Commission approved BMO Bank's application for 800 Irving St., 5 to 0, on consent. The new pizza is filling two buildings that sat empty for a long time, and city approvals set the order in which the corner fills.
Two Dark Corners at the Busiest Intersection
The SF Standard put it bluntly in its Oct. 22 report: "Two yawning vacancies have plagued the Inner Sunset's busiest corridor for more than a year at 9th Avenue and Irving Street." One is the former Reliable Rexall pharmacy at 801 Irving St. It closed in early 2025, and Mission Local reported that the empty space at "the busiest intersection" had puzzled neighbors for almost two years. The other is the former Bank of America branch across the street.
Each vacancy now has a tenant lined up. They are moving through different processes.
At 800 Irving, BMO needed a Conditional Use Authorization to open as a "Formula Retail Financial Service." Planning Commission records show case 2026-006728-CUA passed on the consent calendar. No commissioner, staff member or member of the public asked to pull it for discussion. No opening date has been announced. Susannah Wise, president of the Inner Sunset Merchants Association, told the SF Standard that a bank would "bring foot traffic to that corner, and light up a spot that has been dark for a long time."
At 801 Irving, the old Rexall is headed somewhere tastier, on a slower schedule.
The Slice Shop Waiting on Permits
Mama's Boy Pizza opened in Oakland in 2023. It sells New York-style slices for $5 to $7, and 50 Top Pizza ranked those slices among the top 10 in the United States for 2026. The Irving Street shop will be its first location outside Oakland, and Mission Local reported in October that the owners have signed the lease on the former pharmacy. When Mission Local broke the news on Sept. 10, the for-lease sign had only just come down and the co-owners were starting on permits. Their target is spring 2027.
The lease has help behind it. The SF Standard reported that the deal is backed by the nonprofit SF New Deal and the new Inner Sunset Neighborhood Vibrancy Fund. Inner Sunset neighbors put $300,000 into that fund. Nearly 100 local businesses applied for grants of $5,000 to $20,000. Twenty-eight recipients were announced Oct. 22. SF New Deal executive director Simon Bertrang told the Standard the group "saw that there were some pretty persistent vacancies, and we were hoping to encourage some businesses to fill those vacancies."
So the grant money is aimed at empty storefronts. That helps explain why so much new food is landing on one block of Irving at the same moment.
A Champion's First American Room, With No Date Yet
The second pizzeria is taking over a space that turned over this month. Inle Burmese Cuisine opened at 822 Irving St. in 2023 and closed on Sunday, Oct. 18. Co-owner Morgan Sue told Mission Local the restaurant is on break and may come back in a different form.
Vincenzo Capuano is the next tenant. He won the world championship of contemporary pizza at the 2022 Caputo Trophy and runs 24 restaurants across Europe and Asia. Vincenzo Capuano SF will be his first in the United States. He is opening it with Osilio Florese, who owns Mona Lisa Ristorante and Steps of Rome in North Beach. The address has served pizza before, as a Patxi's. No opening date has been published.
That puts two 50 Top Pizza honorees within steps of each other. Both are still behind paper on the windows.
Where the Corner Stands This Week
| Address | Tenant | Status as of late October 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| 800 Irving St. | BMO Bank | Planning Commission approval Sept. 17; no opening date announced |
| 801 Irving St. | Mama's Boy Pizza | Lease signed, permits underway, spring 2027 target |
| 822 Irving St. | Vincenzo Capuano SF | Announced; no published opening date |
| 403 Irving St. | 403 Coffee | Grant awarded; December target |
| 424 Irving St. | Abanico Coffee Roasters | Own site still reads "Coming Fall 2026" |
| 641 Irving St. | Mayer's Delicatessen | Name tiled at entrance; no opening announced |
Further down Irving, Mission Local reported that "Mayer's Delicatessen" tiles went in this month at 641 Irving. That storefront, once the longtime cafe Tart to Tart, has been empty for four years. Abanico had aimed to open its second location at 424 Irving in late September. Its own website still lists the Inner Sunset shop as coming this fall.
The Opening Most Likely to Change Your Evenings
Of everything in that table, 403 Coffee has the nearest date, and it is built around a gap in the corridor's hours. The cafe comes from Ali Munsar and his sons Yahya and Yaseem Munsar, who have owned KJ Produce Market across the street since 2022. They took a $20,000 Vibrancy Fund grant for the 1,200-square-foot space at 403 Irving, which has been empty for years. The plan includes cedar plank ceilings and burgundy tile counters, with pour-overs, espresso drinks and fresh baklava. It will be the first Yemeni cafe on the west side.
The neighborhood is "definitely awake after 3 p.m., when most of the coffee shops close," Yahya Munsar told the SF Standard. He said the missing piece is "a spot that stays open til 10 p.m., a nonalcoholic space." The cafe is aiming for December.
The same fund is paying for smaller changes along Irving. Beautification grants for murals and lighting went to 20 businesses between 5th and 19th avenues. The list includes Peasant Pies, San Francisco Women Artists, The Game Parlour, Luke's Local Grocery and Green Apple Books on the Park. Exterior work like that tends to show up on the street well before any new pizza oven is fired.
Pizza You Can Actually Order Tonight
While the new places work through permits, the corner's pizza still comes from the three shops that were already there.
- Arizmendi Bakery, 1331 9th Ave. The worker-owned cooperative makes one pizza a day with seasonal ingredients, starting at 11 a.m. It is open Tuesday through Sunday, 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., and closed Mondays. Mission Local's reporter named the triple-mushroom slice with sesame-ginger-garlic vinaigrette as a personal favorite. Check the daily pizza page before you walk over.
- Cybelle's Front Room, 1385 9th Ave. The menu highlights gluten-free and vegan options. Hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday, noon to 9 p.m. on Saturday and noon to 8 p.m. on Sunday. It is closed Tuesdays. Its ordering site has the current menu.
- Pasquale's Pizzeria, a block from Arizmendi. Mission Local describes it as a neighborhood staple since the 1960s.
Arizmendi's Monday closing and Cybelle's Tuesday closing never fall on the same day, so between the two, the corner has pizza every day of the week, and evenings belong to Cybelle's.
Nov. 8 on the Blocks Where All This Is Happening
The best day this season to see the corridor full is Sunday, Nov. 8. The Inner Sunset Flea Market holds its season finale and "Big Lunch" from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Irving Street between 9th and 11th avenues, according to Sunset Mercantile. That stretch covers 822 Irving, the Inle space where Vincenzo Capuano is coming, and the 9th Avenue corner where the old Rexall and the old bank branch face each other. You can pick up a slice from Arizmendi, which opens for pizza at 11, and walk past every storefront in this story.
If you'd like help reading the Inner Sunset's changes block by block, or making sense of what a new tenant on a nearby corner could mean for your own home, Bay Homes Collective is glad to talk it through with you, clearly and without pressure. Start the Conversation.