Souvla’s Plans for World Domination Continue With Third Location

It was only a matter of time before fast casual Greek restaurant Souvla announced its next location, and today is the day. Come early 2017, the space that until very recently housed Grub (758 Valencia St. between 18th and 19th Streets) will become the city’s third Souvla.

Owner Charles Bililies is no fool; the restaurant group is deliberately joining a very hot block that Craftsman & Wolves, Dandelion Chocolate, and Tacolicious also call home. Bililies has been very intentionally hunting for new spaces, and chose the Grub space — which sizewise is in between the first two locations — for its high ceilings, natural light, and outdoor seating. The newest location will be open daily for lunch and dinner, serving the same well-received rotisserie-focused menu that you already know.

The first Souvla opened in April 2014 in Hayes Valley, followed a little more slowly by the June opening of its second location on Divisadero Street. After the Mission store opens around January, there’s no doubt that the empire’s next openings won’t take as long. Bililies and his team are actively scouting new locations, which Bililies told Eater SF they would probably cap at four or five locations in San Francisco.

“We start by identifying iconic neighborhoods within San Francisco and then honing in on the iconic street,” he said. “Souvla has always been intended to be a neighborhood restaurant and to be there as an all-day place for anybody visiting or working in or living in those neighborhoods. The reality is right around store four or five, we're going to start looking outside the city and probably more into a new market.”

One thing is for sure: There is more to come.

• All Coverage of Souvla [ESF]