Miyabi Sushi Closes After 33 Years on Church Street

Welcome to p.m. Intel, your midday roundup of Bay Area food and restaurant news from publications near and far. Tips are always welcome, drop them here.

• Miyabi Sushi, a cozy, reliable, and always-bustling sushi spot at Church and Market Streets, has closed for good, Hoodline reports. The restaurant was known for friendly service, reasonable prices, and ample seats by its window, which looked out onto the bustling intersection. Reporter Steven Bracco notes that the restaurant’s furniture and fixtures have been removed, and that the location is available for rent at an indeterminate “below-market” rate.
• As expected, San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors has agreed to extend the city’s free-outdoor-dining permit situation through mid-April, 2022, the SF Business Times reports. Prior to the pandemic, restaurants were required to pay SF’s Department of Public Works $148 plus $8 per square foot of public space used for tables and chairs the first year, then $74 plus $7 every year following.
• The San Francisco Unified School District texted the families of students that pick up meals from their schools Wednesday evening, warning them that turkey sandwiches they grabbed that day might be contaminated with mold, the SF Examiner reports. “Out of an abundance of caution, we ask that you discard this item,” the SFUSD says on its website, but “if you did not see mold when you served the sandwich we do not anticipate any problems.”
• The Hello Kitty Cafe food truck will make its triumphant return to the Bay Area this weekend, the East Bay Times reports. The snack van (expect cookies, waffles, and the like branded in Sanrio style) will hit mall parking lots on the Peninsula, in the East Bay, and in SF starting with a stop in San Jose on October 3.
• Simileoluwa Adebajo, whose Nigerian spot Eko Kitchen was destroyed by fire, then returned as a pop-up inside SoMa tequila lounge Mercado, tells Bon Appétit that she plans on continuing to cook for food insecure folks even after the pandemic ends.
• Valencia Street pizza spot Pi Bar turns 11 on October 1, but its owners say they aren’t making a big deal out of the milestone. “We had a big blowout for our 10-year anniversary last year. But this year we will probably have a small gathering of regulars who will stop by,” co-owner Jennifer Garris says. “We will be open. That’s about the best thing we can say.” [Mission Local]
• Oakland’s Magnolia Mini Mart has a local and community-focused agenda, including the support of Bay Area chefs and makers. [SF Gate]