Ten years ago, Glen Park was a destination for diners. Customers in 2014 regularly queued for pizza at Gialina, packed the bar while waiting at Le P’tit Laurent and reserved weeks ahead at Chenery Park.
Today, it’s a different story. Gialina has briefer waits, Le P’tit Laurent is mothballed and Chenery Park is long closed.
This is part of a persistent local and global phenomenon. In the wake of COVID-19, people are eating out less worldwide. In San Francisco last year, spending on dining out was down 15%.
Glen Park restaurateur Manhal Jweinat, who owns three neighborhood eateries, acknowledges his challenges. Still, he sees brighter days ahead.
Recently Jweinat (pronounced “J-way-not”) had a conversation with Glen Park News. We started with his coffeehouse Higher Grounds.
Jweinat said that after a slow recovery, business at Higher Grounds has returned to pre-pandemic levels. Since the start of the pandemic his coffeehouse has weathered challenging times. Throughout much of 2020, food delivery companies kept the coffeehouse alive, he said. Today delivery requests are less frequent, but pick-up and take-out remain popular post-pandemic.
Like other restaurant operators in San Francisco, Manhal Jweinat faces challenges in staffing. The problem is that he needs only occasional help on weekends, particularly what he terms “crazy Saturdays.”
“I would love to be able to have someone take orders, run to collect ingredients, do dishes, and clean up at the end of the day,” he said, “but it’s hard to find someone to work one or two days a week.”
“I’ve spent most of my life in Higher Grounds,” he added. “I love the place. It’s like my home. When I’m there alone I get in a groove when it gets busy it’s a nice challenge.”
Jweinat’s other operating restaurant, Manzoni, offers Italian fare and a more traditional dining experience. There, business is significantly down. Jweinat said that Manzoni’s patronage at is about 50% of pre-pandemic levels.
Still during weekends, Manzoni can be crowded. On slower nights, Jweinat enjoys talking to old friends from the neighborhood. He is pleased that his chef Raul has remained with the restaurant since its opening.
Many in Glen Park fondly recall Le P’tit Laurent at 689 Chenery and its popularity as a neighborhood hangout. Chef Laurent Legendre opened the restaurant in 2007 and ran it until the fall of 2019 when he moved back to France to rejoin his family, who had moved home in August.
Jweinat bought the building and re-opened the restaurant briefly in January of 2020 before it had to close due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It has now been shuttered for more than four years, but Jweinat has vowed to reopen it one day. When asked, he said he had no plans to lease P’tit Laurent to another restaurateur.
“I have dreams for the space,” he said, “but I’m planning: menu, design, staff. I am considering how to make the restaurant my own – what to keep and what to change. I wish I had more hours in every day.
“I’m just not ready yet,” he added. “There are a lot of things to consider, but it will happen — and it will be really, really good. This is the first time in my life when I can really have fun with the process. Le P’tit will be a passion project, and I’ll get to it as soon as I can.”
