Bi‑Rite expands west; Izzy's praised
- Bi-Rite Market said it is pursuing a fourth San Francisco grocery at 6001 California Street in the Richmond District, pushing the Mission-born chain farther west if permits and lease contingencies clear. - City planning records show roughly $380,000 in upgrades at the former 6001 California Market site, and Bi-Rite co-chief executive Patrick Mills told SFGATE the company is targeting a 2027 opening. - The move would extend Bi-Rite beyond its 18th Street, Divisadero, and Polk Street stores as San Francisco food coverage shifts toward neighborhood anchors over splashy downtown openings. (sfgate.com)
Bi-Rite Market is trying to open a fourth San Francisco store at 6001 California Street in the Richmond District. (sfgate.com) Permit applications filed with the city place the project in the former 6001 California Market space at California Street and 22nd Avenue. Bi-Rite co-chief executive Patrick Mills told SFGATE the company has a lease in progress, but said contingencies still need to be resolved. (sfgate.com) Planning records cited by SFGATE show approved work including accessibility upgrades and additional toilets totaling about $380,000. Mills said the company is aiming for a 2027 opening if the deal holds. (sfgate.com) If it opens, the Richmond store would become Bi-Rite’s fourth market in San Francisco. The company’s current public locations are on 18th Street, Divisadero Street, and Polk Street, according to Bi-Rite’s website. (biritemarket.com) (sfgate.com) That footprint marks a steady westward push for a business that began in the Mission in 1940 and was reworked by the Mogannam family into a grocery-with-prepared-food model in 1998. Bi-Rite says its second market opened on Divisadero in 2013, and SFGATE reported its Polk Gulch store opened in 2024. (biritemarket.com) (sfgate.com) The Richmond address would put Bi-Rite into a corridor better known for neighborhood regulars than for one-off dining stunts. SFGATE said nearby businesses include Pearl 6101, Fiorella, and Lokma. (sfgate.com) The broader signal in San Francisco food right now is geographic, not just culinary. Recent guides from Eater have steered readers toward west-side neighborhood dining in the Richmond, Sunset, and Parkside, underscoring how attention has spread beyond the city’s traditional restaurant cores. (eater.com 1) (eater.com 2) Bi-Rite’s pitch has long depended on acting like a corner market with restaurant standards, and the Richmond plan follows that same script. For now, the clearest fact is simple: the company has identified a west-side address, filed for upgrades, and put 2027 on the calendar. (biritemarket.com) (sfgate.com)
