Salesforce Transit Center Adds Dim Sum From Koi Palace Chef, More Food Tenants

SF’s $2.2 billion dollar Salesforce Transit Center, whose elevated park reopened in July after a surprise 10-month closure, has announced several new restaurant tenants to feed its comers and goers. Those are SF chocolatier Feve, North Beach pasta maker Acquolina, and a new, to-go dim sum restaurant called Dim Baos. That last quick-service spot comes from chefs Zhong Sheng Huang and Kam-Chiu Leung, the latter best known for his long tenure at James Beard award-winning dim sum restaurant Koi Palace.

In total, the three retail newcomers bring the transit center’s tenants to 13, with 16 remaining to be leased. In terms of physical space, 59,000 square feet out of an available 92,000 has been leased, as the the Transbay Joint Powers Authority, the body in charge of the center, announced today.

Other food tenants already onboard include downtown happy hour hit Per Diem, empanadas maker Venga, Tycoon Kitchen, two cafes from Philz Coffee, Foundation Café, and a branch of Eddie Rickenbackers, whose original, downtown location recently closed. It’s not all food, of course: Locations of Fitness SF, Kaiser Permanente, and Onsite Dental, round out the Salesforce Transit Center’s offerings.

As for the newbies: Feve is a Good Food Award-winning chocolatier based in the Bayview for the last decade. The new location will be its first retail outlet. Aquolina, known for its 1600 Stockton Street location (with a kiosk outpost at Coit Tower), will serve pasta and pizza at the transit center with quick-service and full-service dining areas. And Dim Baos, focused on Hong Kong-style dim sum and gua bao, or pork belly buns, will keep things casual and quick, with prices advertised as between $1.25 and $15.

The Salesforce Transit center’s road has been a rocky one so far: The structure closed a mere six weeks after it opened following the discovery of cracked support beams. Those have been repaired, but the long, unexpected delays have occasionally dismayed neighborhood businesses. Cafe and coffee roaster Andytown, for example, moved into an upper level space at 181 Fremont, connected to the transit center’s outdoor park. With the park closed, the business was essentially cut off from foot traffic. But Andytown muddled through, and now with the park open to the public, it’s greeting many more customers, and serving a full food menu, too.