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Here’s Why A Lobster Roll Could Cost You $35 In San Francisco

Plus, locally loved fast-casual chain Souvla is coming to Dogpatch and more food news

Lobster roll in red and white paper. Cousins Maine Lobster
Lauren Saria is the editor of Eater SF and has been writing about food, drinks, and restaurants for more than a decade.

In case you didn’t already know, it’s pretty expensive to live and eat in San Francisco. But SFGATE recently undertook the mission of finding out exactly why a lobster roll, specifically, costs so much in the city. According to their report, restaurant and food truck owners cite spiking gas prices and warming ocean temperatures as the main causes.

The general manager of Luke’s Lobster, which has a location in SoMa, told the outlet the $35 price tag for the shop’s 6-ounce lobster roll makes sense in part because the company doesn’t use middlemen in their sourcing process, opting instead to work directly with fishermen; the owners of the Bay Area franchise of Cousins Maine Lobster food trucks say it’s more expensive to source Maine lobster, which caused them to raise prices $2 for their rolls.

Here’s the good news: there are still plenty of affordable non-lobster roll options for your lunching needs. And by the way, if you really want to splurge on a lobster roll, check out the $39 option at Leo’s Oyster Bar.

Souvla’s fifth location lands in Dogpatch this summer

Souvla will bring its Mediterranean fare to Dogpatch in June the company announced in a press release Wednesday. The San Francisco Chronicle has all the details including that it’ll be the largest restaurant yet (taking over the former Magnolia Brewing space) and will have a 10-seat marble bar where customers can explore a list of Greek wines.

Sacramento’s best bread bakery to open second location

The east Sacramento suburb of Folsom will get a new destination for country loaves, pains de mie, and naturally leavened baguettes when Faria debuts its second location in the city’s historic district, per the Bee. Since 2019 the original Oak Park location has drawn long lines of customers seeking black sesame kouign-amann and buckwheat coffee cake.

Pizza and natural wine takeover former Venticello space

Sister and brother team Monica and Randall Hom will open a new pizzeria and wine bar in the ex-Venticello space in Nob Hill, per Tablehopper. The first-time restaurateurs own the building and say their mom once operated a restaurant in the space; they plan to fire pizzas in a wood-burning oven and spin vinyl for good vibes.

Keep an eye out for this missing beer van

Temescal Brewing took to Instagram to ask fans to keep their eyes out for the company’s new delivery van, which was recently stolen: