Glen Park’s emergence in September as TimeOut’s 35th out of 39 “coolest neighborhoods in the world” spawned a veritable cottage industry of media attention to our neighborhood. The Glen Park News was the first publication to post the story on its website.
In October The San Francisco Standard published “In California’s ‘coolest’ neighborhood, residents demand somewhere to get a martini,” a hit piece bemoaning the fact that there’s only “one place to order a cocktail.” There are no residents demanding somewhere to get a martini because our Glen Park Station bar has been making the best martinis for 99 years.
One thing on which the Glen Park News agrees with the Standard: “Cool” is not the word to define Glen Park. It has over the years been described as quaint, quirky, cozy, cute and charming, even Little Switzerland (an exaggeration), but never cool.
The Standard article was followed a few days later by a more accurate and better researched, less snarky story in the San Francisco Chronicle. It celebrates the friendliness, community involvement, small businesses, and the beauty of Glen Park, and even a little bit of its history.
What ensued was the original story being picked up further down the news food chain by other local outlets.
Glen Park had another moment in 2025 with the opening of the buzzy French restaurant, La Cigale, owned and managed by chef Joseph Magidow and Daisy Linden. The place garnered a lot of publicity by virtue of its cooking technique–a wood fired oven–its unique setting, 14 seats at a massive counter, and its no-reservation policy, which aims to reinforce the concept of a drop-in neighborhood restaurant.
The restaurant is open Wednesday through Saturday and there are two seatings, at 6:00pm and around 8:30pm, with a rather elaborate waitlist procedure. Resourceful neighbors have been spotted carrying seats to the restaurant to wait out the 4:30pm time when it takes names for the 6:00pm waitlist, before the waitlist becomes online only at 5:00.
The three course prix fixe menu, which changes daily, at $140 per person, includes tax and tip but not wine. The waitstaff is paid $40 per hour. Together these measures make economic sense to guarantee economic stability for the employees and profitability for the owners.
The restaurant was not without its detractors, however. Nearby neighbors complained on Nextdoor about the smoke from the wood-fired oven despite its compliance with local codes. The Chronicle did a follow-up story about the controversy.
Here’s a headline worth noting–further reading blocked by paywall–from the across the pond’s Daily Mail.
A little known fact about La Cigale is that this season it has adopted a nectarine tree from a farm in the Central Valley and Magidow has developed very imaginative ways to make use of every last bit in his cuisine.
The Chronicle has spilled a lot of ink reporting about La Cigale. This month it named La Cigale as among the Bay Area’s 15 best restaurants.
The Standard complained about La Cigale’s no-reservation-reservation system but ultimately decided that the meal was worth going through the trouble.
Other business news:
Joe Schuver at Destination Bakery is laying down his rolling pin and has retired after 25 years of serving delicious baked goods to a grateful Glen Park, where a warm welcome to all prevailed.
Andytown Coffee Roasters, 2815 Diamond Street, a local chain in San Francisco and Menlo Park, has taken over the in-house coffee shop at Canyon Market.
Soluna Yoga and Wellness, 701 Chenery Street, a yoga and wellness studio, has taken over the Glen Park Cleaners space, vacant since a fire in 2022.
Buddies Market, 696 Chenery Street, got a fresh coat of paint. Normally this wouldn’t garner much attention, but to those neighbors who have watched the facade deteriorate over many years and become an eyesore, this was cause for a deep sigh of relief.
Kylie Rowe, PT, has moved her practice, Living Healthy Physical Therapy, from 667 Chenery Street to 498 Broadway.
Opening soon: Celtica Wellness Studio, 590 Bosworth Street, will be offering massage therapy services.
