If you blink when walking down Bush Street in the Financial District, you might just miss Belden Place. An alley in the middle of a block dominated by high rises, the lunch and dinner destination is understated.

Restaurants line old brick buildings The dining spots vary in formality; some are tended to by waiters in black ties while other servers are in T-shirts.

The establishments set up tables and chairs that reflect their character — some wooden, covered in white linens, and others metal and colorful.

“It’s nice to have this little walkable area here,” said a woman named Malia who works on the other side of Pine Street.

While outdoor dining became a signature of the pandemic, alfresco has been a Belden signature for decades. Some tables sit empty, even during mealtime rushes, as — like many segments of the restaurant scene — Belden Place has not yet fully bounced back from COVID-19.

“This reminds me of the UK, of the pub environment,” local Noah Lakritz said. “Each restaurant has their own al fresco dining options. This city has a lot of offshoots, alleys like this; the vibe is good.”

“I was here yesterday at 12:30 pm, and it was packed,” said the restaurant supplier.

A bump in foot traffic and subsequent sales indicate that Belden Place, the home of the original parklet, is returning to its iconic status.

Restaurateurs argue it’ll take more than an in-person workplace comeback to help them flourish, however. They attest it’ll take city and business leaders thinking outside the box.

Businesses in the small square went from being shut down entirely to offering a limited to-go service. Finally, businesses to being able to open back up outside — an era that brought face covering and vaccine card requirements. Today, even with San Francisco’s COVID-19 infection rates facing a slow rise, restaurants are finally making money off of their full menus inside and outside their establishments.

Getting to this point was step one.

“We went back and forth with the law, with the regulations. It was tough,” said Cafe Tiramisu proprietor Guiseppe Scoppetto said.

Toy Soldier owner Johnny Metheny agreed, calling the winter wave of 2020 a “financial disaster” that forced him to lay off workers he had just brought back right before Christmas. He said that one would need a psychologist and a CPA to unpack the stress that business owners endured throughout the last two years.

“It was emotionally draining. Every day I was waking up wondering what was going to happen,” Metheny said. “I’m having more fun now, I feel like, than I have since my 20s and 30s because after surviving I have the biggest smile when I walk in. When I see all the employees working, I get so happy.”

To offset these challenges, businesses came up with new practices such as installing parklets or posting menus and flyers with QR codes. Scoppetto, Metheny and their peers learned how to make money off of making people comfortable.

Moving beyond relying on the mass arrival of tech workers and the money they are willing to spend in the city again is step two.

“You can tell people are tired of staying home. But we need to bring people downtown, more tourists. The city is supposed to take care of that. Without tourists, there is no business.”

Managing the message

Peter Quartaroli, managing partner of Sam’s Grill, has kept alive a legacy business that had just hit its stride right before the pandemic began. Additionally, he joined the board of the Downtown Community Benefit District, where he has met with others invested in the vitality of The City’s core in brainstorming about its reinvention. (Examiner owner Clint Reilly is an investor in Sam’s.)

“What is our message? How will we be viewed? How do we grow and keep going downtown? I do believe that the sense of community is a big part of that,” Quartaroli said. “The restaurants who rely on that are wonderful and have longevity but when something like this comes up, it can be hard to keep going.”

What it comes down to, Quartaroli explained, is reminding people of the value of the elements of a world-class city. This means presenting entertainment and dining in a safe and welcoming environment: A multi-pronged agency project to refresh Belden Place through improved lighting and fire safety equipment.

“We are hoping to have a whole bunch of string lights going down Belden and to raise the gate out in front to block off traffic, a little loading zone perhaps on either side or a drop-off area, maybe some cobblestone streets or some nice art (such as) stained concrete to make it visually appealing,” he said.

Mostly, the project will act as a prototype that makes alleys a warm place for pop up or regular businesses rather than a dark and intimidating shortcut.

This will personally benefit Quartaroli and his staff, who dealt with an incident of Arson on their section of the alley on an early Sunday morning in late April. Two men with a blow torch, hoodies and a mask watched as the flames they set nearly took the building entirely.

“We’ve dealt with the damage of it plus a couple of break-ins, a little vandalism but in downtown you have to be resilient,” he said. “We’re old and stubborn and want to be here. We are here for the long haul.”

Attracting more patrons to the area with these features could help to offset the high prices that proprietors now face. Metheny said that inflation and trucking shortages posed issues that never existed before the pandemic, ones that required maneuvering and creative thinking to get doors open and keep them that way.

“One of the things I wanted to keep going was the simple concept of good, fresh food. We stick to the program and provide people what they want and don’t overprice,” Quartaroli said. “Crab is crazy this year but you can’t skimp on that quality, so I took it off the menu for a while. I don’t want to charge that, I just can’t.”

Metheny experienced his friends who owned restaurants coming together to support one another.

“We had gone through a battle together. We almost became family,” the owner, who also runs The Blue Light on Union Street.

Something similar must happen with the Belden Square proprietors, contended by Quartaroli, as their interests are shared.

“(It’s about) talking through it with the department heads from different city agencies and saying, ‘This is what we would like to see. How can we work together and make this happen?’” Quartaroli said. “We can come up with solutions instead of pointing fingers.”

mhartman@sfexaminer.com, @_melissahartman

Giuseppe Scoppetta, co-owner of Cafe Tiramisu at Belden Place, said working with The City how to operate the restaurant during the early stages of the pandemic was “tough.” (Craig Lee/The Examiner)

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CHICAGO – Entering Sunday’s game against the Chicago Bears, it was fair to ask if Jimmy Garoppolo made his final start as the starting quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers in the same location where he made his first: his hometown of Chicago.

With the Niners in the middle of a four-game losing streak and rookie quarterback Trey Lance returning from a sprained left knee, another loss combined with fights from Garoppolo could have seen Lance join the line-up at some point, maybe next Week.

Instead, Garoppolo put together perhaps his best overall performance of the season in front of more than 100 friends and family from the Chicago area he grew up in, and the Niners improved to 3-4 with a 33-22 win at Soldier Field .

“It means a lot,” said Garoppolo. “Every game does, but when you go back to your hometown it just feels different. Landing at the airport, getting into the city, all the familiarity, all the good stuff, it’s just a special feeling. It’s a good day. “

Not only was it a good day, it was a necessary day for Garoppolo, who weathered last week’s battles in a rain-soaked loss to the Indianapolis Colts. After a few early drops from his receivers, Garoppolo hit receiver Deebo Samuel for a 50-yard stroke to set up a field goal just before half-time.

That deal seemed to ease things up as Garoppolo finished 17 of 28 for 322 yards without interceptions for a pass rating of 100.6. He added a couple of roaring touchdowns, the first multi-score game on the floor. According to ESPN Stats & Information research, Garoppolo is the third player in franchise history to throw 300 yards and score multiple points in a game, along with Steve Young and Jeff Garcia.

All of this came after Garoppolo’s two interceptions in last week’s 30:18 loss to the Colts. That performance made the drumbeat louder for Lance, even as coach Kyle Shanahan declared Garoppolo to be this week’s starter on Monday.

Despite Lance’s return to the backup role, he didn’t snap a shot of the bears.

“I wanted to be on the safe side with the packages for him this week,” Shanahan said. “It was his first week back so I wouldn’t just put him in there just to do that kind of thing.”

Garoppolo underscored the first of his roaring touchdowns – a broken game that should go to Samuel – with an emphatic spike. After his second goal, Garoppolo uncorked a throw in the stands, the first time since a league win in Seattle at the end of the 2019 season.

“My college roommates were in that end zone, so hopefully one of them got it,” said Garoppolo. “It was just so much emotion. I’m not used to capturing it right from the start, so it was pretty cool when it happened.”

For all of these efforts, Shanahan awarded Garoppolo a cue-ball, a train that caused loud cheers from a cheerful Niners’ locker room.

“When he got home in front of his fans, he had his back to the wall just like everyone else in our building, but it was great to see him show up and play like he did today,” said Shanahan.

It wasn’t the only ball Shanahan handed out on Sunday. The other went to someone else who made an even more important birth on Saturday night: punter Mitch Wishnowsky’s wife, Maddie, who gave birth to the couple’s first child in Northern California.

“I gave Maddie one because I heard she was very tough,” Shanahan said. “And we kept checking her, he said he couldn’t eat, he vomited, he was so nervous he didn’t get one, she got one.”

After giving birth to his daughter, Wishnowsky flew to Chicago on Sunday morning and arrived around 7 a.m. Wishnowsky, however, did his usual holding duties.

“Poor Mitch had to fly all the way out of here and only hold balls for field goals,” said center Alex Mack with a laugh.

Unfortunately, not all of the news from Sunday’s game was happy for the 49ers. Free Safety Jimmie Ward was eliminated in the fourth quarter with tight quadriceps that could hold him out for a while.

“It’s a pretty big concern,” Shanahan said. “I don’t know yet, but when you talk about pulling a quad, it’s a lot like pulling a hamstring, so we’ll see if that is the case.”

The post San Francisco 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo bounces again with hometown win in Chicago appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

CHICAGO – Entering Sunday’s game against the Chicago Bears, it was fair to ask if Jimmy Garoppolo made his final start as the starting quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers in the same location where he made his first: his hometown of Chicago.

With the Niners in the middle of a four-game losing streak and rookie quarterback Trey Lance returning from a sprained left knee, another loss combined with fights from Garoppolo could have seen Lance join the line-up at some point, maybe next Week.

Instead, Garoppolo put together perhaps his best overall performance of the season in front of more than 100 friends and family from the Chicago area he grew up in, and the Niners improved to 3-4 with a 33-22 win at Soldier Field .

“It means a lot,” said Garoppolo. “Every game does, but when you go back to your hometown it just feels different. Landing at the airport, getting into the city, all the familiarity, all the good stuff, it’s just a special feeling. It’s a good day. “

Not only was it a good day, it was a necessary day for Garoppolo, who weathered last week’s battles in a rain-soaked loss to the Indianapolis Colts. After a few early drops from his receivers, Garoppolo hit receiver Deebo Samuel for a 50-yard stroke to set up a field goal just before half-time.

That deal seemed to ease things up as Garoppolo finished 17 of 28 for 322 yards without interceptions for a pass rating of 100.6. He added a couple of roaring touchdowns, the first multi-score game on the floor. According to ESPN Stats & Information research, Garoppolo is the third player in franchise history to throw 300 yards and score multiple points in a game, along with Steve Young and Jeff Garcia.

All of this came after Garoppolo’s two interceptions in last week’s 30:18 loss to the Colts. That performance made the drumbeat louder for Lance, even as coach Kyle Shanahan declared Garoppolo to be this week’s starter on Monday.

Despite Lance’s return to the backup role, he didn’t snap a shot of the bears.

“I wanted to be on the safe side with the packages for him this week,” Shanahan said. “It was his first week back so I wouldn’t just put him in there just to do that kind of thing.”

Garoppolo underscored the first of his roaring touchdowns – a broken game that should go to Samuel – with an emphatic spike. After his second goal, Garoppolo uncorked a throw in the stands, the first time since a league win in Seattle at the end of the 2019 season.

“My college roommates were in that end zone, so hopefully one of them got it,” said Garoppolo. “It was just so much emotion. I’m not used to capturing it right from the start, so it was pretty cool when it happened.”

For all of these efforts, Shanahan awarded Garoppolo a cue-ball, a train that caused loud cheers from a cheerful Niners’ locker room.

“When he got home in front of his fans, he had his back to the wall just like everyone else in our building, but it was great to see him show up and play like he did today,” said Shanahan.

It wasn’t the only ball Shanahan handed out on Sunday. The other went to someone else who made an even more important birth on Saturday night: punter Mitch Wishnowsky’s wife, Maddie, who gave birth to the couple’s first child in Northern California.

“I gave Maddie one because I heard she was very tough,” Shanahan said. “And we kept checking her, he said he couldn’t eat, he vomited, he was so nervous he didn’t get one, she got one.”

After giving birth to his daughter, Wishnowsky flew to Chicago on Sunday morning and arrived around 7 a.m. Wishnowsky, however, did his usual holding duties.

“Poor Mitch had to fly all the way out of here and only hold balls for field goals,” said center Alex Mack with a laugh.

Unfortunately, not all of the news from Sunday’s game was happy for the 49ers. Free Safety Jimmie Ward was eliminated in the fourth quarter with tight quadriceps that could hold him out for a while.

“It’s a pretty big concern,” Shanahan said. “I don’t know yet, but when you talk about pulling a quad, it’s a lot like pulling a hamstring, so we’ll see if that is the case.”

The post San Francisco 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo bounces again with hometown win in Chicago appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

With the Niners in the middle of a four-game losing streak and rookie quarterback Trey Lance returning from a sprained left knee, another loss combined with fights from Garoppolo could have seen Lance join the line-up at some point, maybe next Week.

Instead, Garoppolo put together perhaps his best overall performance of the season in front of more than 100 friends and family from the Chicago area he grew up in, and the Niners improved to 3-4 with a 33-22 win at Soldier Field .

“It means a lot,” said Garoppolo. “Every game does, but when you go back to your hometown it just feels different. Landing at the airport, getting into the city, all the familiarity, all the good stuff, it’s just a special feeling. It’s a good day. “

Not only was it a good day, it was a necessary day for Garoppolo, who weathered last week’s battles in a rain-soaked loss to the Indianapolis Colts. After a few early drops from his receivers, Garoppolo hit receiver Deebo Samuel for a 50-yard stroke to set up a field goal just before half-time.

That deal seemed to ease things up as Garoppolo finished 17 of 28 for 322 yards without interceptions for a pass rating of 100.6. He added a couple of roaring touchdowns, the first multi-score game on the floor. According to ESPN Stats & Information research, Garoppolo is the third player in franchise history to throw 300 yards and score multiple points in a game, along with Steve Young and Jeff Garcia.

All of this came after Garoppolo’s two interceptions in last week’s 30:18 loss to the Colts. That performance made the drumbeat louder for Lance, even as coach Kyle Shanahan declared Garoppolo to be this week’s starter on Monday.

Despite Lance’s return to the backup role, he didn’t snap a shot of the bears.

“I wanted to be on the safe side with the packages for him this week,” Shanahan said. “It was his first week back so I wouldn’t just put him in there just to do that kind of thing.”

Garoppolo underscored the first of his roaring touchdowns – a broken game that should go to Samuel – with an emphatic spike. After his second goal, Garoppolo uncorked a throw in the stands, the first time since a league win in Seattle at the end of the 2019 season.

“My college roommates were in that end zone, so hopefully one of them got it,” said Garoppolo. “It was just so much emotion. I’m not used to capturing it right from the start, so it was pretty cool when it happened.”

For all of these efforts, Shanahan awarded Garoppolo a cue-ball, a train that caused loud cheers from a cheerful Niners’ locker room.

“When he got home in front of his fans, he had his back to the wall just like everyone else in our building, but it was great to see him show up and play like he did today,” said Shanahan.

It wasn’t the only ball Shanahan handed out on Sunday. The other went to someone else who made an even more important birth on Saturday night: punter Mitch Wishnowsky’s wife, Maddie, who gave birth to the couple’s first child in Northern California.

“I gave Maddie one because I heard she was very tough,” Shanahan said. “And we kept checking her, he said he couldn’t eat, he vomited, he was so nervous he didn’t get one, she got one.”

After giving birth to his daughter, Wishnowsky flew to Chicago on Sunday morning and arrived around 7 a.m. Wishnowsky, however, did his usual holding duties.

“Poor Mitch had to fly all the way out of here and only hold balls for field goals,” said center Alex Mack with a laugh.

Unfortunately, not all of the news from Sunday’s game was happy for the 49ers. Free Safety Jimmie Ward was eliminated in the fourth quarter with tight quadriceps that could hold him out for a while.

“It’s a pretty big concern,” Shanahan said. “I don’t know yet, but when you talk about pulling a quad, it’s a lot like pulling a hamstring, so we’ll see if that is the case.”

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