San Francisco's busy Inner Sunset neighborhood has lost a Peruvian restaurant after 13 years with the closure of Fresca on Irving Street.
In a September Instagram post, the restaurant announced its last day of service at 737 Irving St. was Sept. 30. A picture posted to the restaurant's door wished Inner Sunset diners well after 13 years in business.
Fresca wrote in the post that they were "extremely sad to leave this amazing neighborhood."
Its new Noe Valley location at 3945 24th St. will soon reopen after a remodel, Fresca's post said.
Fresca first opened its doors in San Francisco in 1996 and since then it's been dishing out Peruvian classics for brunch, lunch and dinner, such as lomo saltado, pollo a la brasa and ceviche.
Neighboring restaurant Art's Cafe had a deal with Fresca to use their parklet during the morning before Fresca opened, as Art's did not have its own parklet. The outdoor seating area has helped boost revenue for Art's Cafe by doubling the restaurant's seating capacity.
"Us, all the customers, we're so sad to lose them," Art's Cafe owner Young Lee said.
Art's Cafe is working with the city to take over Fresca's former parklet, according to Anne Yalon, a spokesperson for the city's transit agency, which runs the Shared Spaces parklet program. Lee said Fresca filed with the city to initiate the ownership transfer on Sept. 26.
In April, tensions rose between Art's Cafe, Fresca, and the transit agency over the restaurants' parklets. The city threatened to remove two parklets used by both restaurants to add a loading zone, enraging the restaurants' owners, before later backing down.
Peruvian and Peruvian-fusion cuisine could be on the upswing in San Francisco, with a new rooftop Japanese-Peruvian fusion restaurant slated to open near Union Square later this month.
Fresca owner Ivan Calvo-Perez did not immediately respond to requests for comment.