Gung Ho and Pizza Nostra Meet Their Makers

Diners at Gung Ho. [Photo: Gung Ho]

It's been a rough week over in the lower Potrero/Design District corridor, as Korean-fusion spot Gung Ho and Italian restaurant Pizza Nostra have both closed their doors. Gung Ho, the brick-and-mortar project from Eric Ehler's Seoul Patch pop-up, just opened in December, and despite a positive notice from Jesse Hirsch at the Examiner, it had a sign in the window saying it needed to close "due to unforeseen circumstances" as of this week. Ehler tells Inside Scoop that he's completely out of the restaurant and is currently staying in his Iowa hometown; Gung Ho's owners are now looking for potential investors, who are encouraged to drop them an e-mail. Ehler also mentioned that Seoul Patch will return as a pop-up in the summer, when he gets back to SF.

Meanwhile, down the street at Pizza Nostra, the end appears to be more permanent. The restaurant was most recently owned by Winona Matsuda of Choppers, who purchased it from Chez Papa's Jocelyn Bulow back in 2010. In the last year, Matsuda tried to add a sushi burrito element to the menu, a la Sushirrito, which didn't quite mesh with the whole Italian-pizzeria vibe. No word yet as to whether she'll try to make the whole place more Asian-oriented, or just sell it and the liquor license.

· Gung Ho closes up shop after less than five months [Inside Scoop]
· Pizza Nostra closes in Potrero Hill [Inside Scoop]