Souvla's Second Location To Add to Soaring NoPa Scene

When Charles Bililies opened fine casual Greek spot Souvla in Hayes Valley in April 2014, more locations were always part of the plan. And now the plan is coming to fruition with a second location set to hit NoPa in mid-2016, occupying the former Herbivore space. "We've had our eyes on that neighborhood for over a year and half now, so we're so, so happy to be able to bring the 'opa' to NoPa," Bililies told Eater. The team targeted the growing neighborhood for two reasons: proximity to the original location ("I can walk back and forth in 15 minutes," Bililies said) and riding the boom it’s currently experiencing. Souvla is joining a long line of businesses about to blow up the Divisadero dining scene, including the new Namu Gaji concept, Sightglass Coffee’s third location, Tsk/tsk’s upcoming switch to Horsefeather and more. "We’re looking a little ahead as far as what’s going to be happening there," Bililies said.

Souvla’s second location will serve the same well-received rotisserie-focused menu as the original, but in a bigger space. While Hayes Valley can seat 40 people, the new spot will fit 60 and have outdoor space in both the front and back. And the biggest thing for Bililies is the location’s ability to handle a higher volume of customers. "The biggest thing is we didn't design the Hayes restaurant to do the volume that we now do. We thought we would be doing one-fifth of the volume we now do. Hayes was predicted to 85 covers a day and we do over 600 covers a day now [with takeout and delivery]," he said. "We’ve been able to make it work, but now we’re going in with that knowledge and really designing from the ground up a restaurant that can handle that type of volume and then some." Souvla is set to hit 531 Divisadero mid-next year.