New Start-Up Turns Popular Restaurants Into Coworking Spaces By Day

Snag a two-top for your laptop

A New York-based startup called Spacious that rents out restaurant dining rooms as office space during the day has landed in San Francisco. For $95 a month, Spacious members can work from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at dinner-only restaurants like Alta, Finn Town, Park Tavern, The Press Club, and The Elite Cafe, where they’re treated to WiFi, outlets, and coffee — but no food, sadly. “Technology allows us to work from anywhere we want,” Spacious founder Preston Pesek told Eater New York last year. “Why not pick a place that’s beautiful and inviting?”

75 percent rent hike closes decades-old FiDi restaurant Mercedes

Longtime Mexican restaurant and bar Mercedes closed last week following a reportedly massive, 75 percent rent increase on their lease at 653 Commercial Street (between Kearny and Montgomery). The restaurant opened in 1994, and according to owners Kate Riley, Leanna Lewis, and Janine Galligani, operated as another Mexican restaurant before that. While the Mercedes trio considers the new, jacked-up rent to be way too high for the location, a new group of restaurant owners is willing to shell out for it, according to a liquor license transfer.

Beloved bourbon, beer, and hummus empire expands

Caleb Pershan

After years in construction, Healthy Spirits’ fourth shop is open at 14th and Valencia. Owner Rami Barqawi is stocking the shelves with lots of beer and bourbon, including his own, hand-selected, Healthy Spirits-branded imports, not to mention a very healthy selection of mezcal. Then, of course, there’s “Rami’s Mommy’s” hummus, a fan-favorite recipe from Barqawi’s mother that Healthy Spirits has sold since its first shop opened in 1998 at 15th and Castro. “I tried to stop making it a couple times, but I got hate mail,” Barqawi tells Eater SF. “It’s got a following.” So do Healthy Spirits free, in-store beer and liquor tastings at its Richmond and Bernal stores, which Barqawi will apply for a license to hold at the Valencia location, too.

Eater’s 2017 Gift Guide for the food obsessed is here

Have the gourmands in your life been naughty, or nice? If they make the cut, consult Eater’s Holiday Gift Guide for recommended cookware, cookbooks, and treats, such as Manresa’s massive Breton-styled Kouign Amann and goodies like a tote bag made specifically for baked goods in San Francisco.