Divisadero After a Summer of Fires: Who's Coming Back, Who's Still Rebuilding, and Where the Bread Went

The two fires that hit Divisadero in June 2026, on June 11 and June 29, struck the same two-block stretch about two weeks apart. This fall, the two businesses they closed are on very different schedules. Che Fico has announced an October 18 reopening. The Mill has no date at all. A few blocks north, the corner where Oasis Cafe served the neighborhood for 15 years has been empty since 2022. The fire is the shortest part of each story. Recovery time on this street depends on insurance claims, repair costs and lease negotiations, and those move at their own pace.

Gazetteer SF summed up the pattern in a September 29 report: "Fires, in many ways, have defined the ebb and flow of Divisadero Street in recent years." If you walk the strip from the Panhandle up toward McAllister, you can see each stage of that cycle on one stretch of sidewalk.

Where each storefront stands as of mid-October

Three of the six sites in that table have been dark since 2022. The fires that closed them happened within a week of each other that year, and none of the three has reopened.

Four months at 838 Divisadero

Che Fico had the fastest turnaround on the block, and it helps explain why. The fire on the 800 block damaged the rear of the building. According to Hoodline's October 3 report, the dining room itself was not damaged and no one was hurt. Co-owner David Nayfeld, who owns the restaurant with Matt Brewer, announced on Instagram that the lights and the sign would be back on October 18.

Accounts still differ on where the fire started. An SFFD source cited by SFist at the time said it appeared to begin in the flue connected to Che Fico's grills and wood oven. Later, an SFFD lieutenant told the San Francisco Chronicle it began in the kitchen flue of neighboring Foghorn Taproom and spread to the roof area around Che Fico. Either way, the businesses on this block share walls and rooflines, so a problem in one kitchen can close the restaurant next door. Foghorn's own website currently lists its daily hours at 846 Divisadero.

Che Fico opened at 838 Divisadero in March 2018 and has since added a Menlo Park location and a pizzeria at Chase Center. The Chronicle's coverage of the reopening announced no menu changes. As of today, October 11, the 18th is still a scheduled date, so a call or a check of the reservation page before you go makes sense.

Why The Mill is still dark

The Mill's fire was smaller in some ways, but its recovery has been slower. The café, which houses Josey Baker Bread and Four Barrel Coffee, is in a single-story brick building constructed in 1929. In mid-July, the Chronicle reported that the doors were locked, the windows covered, and the smell of smoke still lingered weeks after the fire.

Community support has been substantial. The GoFundMe for the rebuild had passed $93,000 by that July report and topped $100,000 by Gazetteer SF's September 29 update. That money hasn't set the timeline. By mid-August, Josey Baker said restoration had stalled while insurance was sorted out, with cleanup expected to start in the following weeks. Gazetteer's September report gave no reopening date.

The closure affects more than the café itself. Four Barrel said it would keep two café managers on through the rebuild and temporarily lay off its other baristas. Kelly Ishikawa, owner of Perish Trust, told the Chronicle that foot traffic on the block has dropped since The Mill closed. A busy morning café brings people to the shops around it, and when it closes, those shops lose that traffic too.

Where the bread went

Josey Baker Bread didn't stop baking. It moved. Here is where the loaves and the coffee are available for now:

1. Saltwater Bake Shop, 1309 Howard St. in SoMa. Josey Baker Bread is temporarily baking here. The café is open Tuesday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. and weekends from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Josey Baker Bread's baking classes have also moved to this address.
2. Grocery shelves. Loaves are still sold at Bi-Rite Market, Rainbow Grocery, Berkeley Bowl, Mollie Stone's and Falletti Foods. Falletti, on Broderick, is the closest to the Panhandle.
3. Four Barrel online. Four Barrel's website links to an online coffee shop.

What four years looks like at McAllister

The corner of Divisadero and McAllister shows how long these recoveries can take. In 2022, a three-alarm fire that started in a third-floor apartment displaced 13 residents. Water damage closed Oasis Cafe, which owner Taddesse Haile opened in 2007, first as a grocery and later as an Eritrean and Ethiopian restaurant and café. The apartments upstairs were rebuilt and are occupied again. The storefront below them was not. According to Gazetteer SF, insurance did not cover the construction costs, including electrical, paint and plumbing repairs, and getting the space restored ran into lengthy rent negotiations.

That gap between apartments and storefront is the key detail. The building has recovered and the residents are back, but the ground-floor business is still waiting. Gazetteer SF reports that a new coffee shop, Cafe MD, will open at 901 Divisadero in the coming months. It has no announced date. Kava Lounge, next door, was damaged in the same fire and is still vacant.

Toward Haight, at 244 Divisadero, a fire a week after the Oasis fire displaced another 13 residents and closed Phuket Thai, which had been there 35 years. Gazetteer described the building as still vacant and in disrepair as of late September. It is the oldest open question on the strip.

New tenants are moving into the gaps

The vacancies are starting to fill. At 354 Divisadero, Hannah Collins Tate of Roy Hospitality, who has spent 20 years designing restaurants, is opening her own café, Olive Juice. The San Francisco Standard reports it will serve olive oil smoothies, salads and espresso drinks. It is scheduled to start as a back-patio pop-up in mid-October, with the full café planned for next year. Cafe MD at McAllister is the other arrival in progress. Both openings follow the pattern on this street, where the space opens before anyone can name a firm date.

The Panhandle side of the neighborhood has a busy month too:

• Saturday, October 17, noon to 3 p.m. A free sandwich potluck and zine party at Clayton and Fell. RSVP is required, and guests are asked to bring an ingredient.
• Saturday, October 24, 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The free fifth annual Firefighter Family Ride gathers at the Panhandle Blacktop at Fell and Ashbury and rides to JFK Promenade.
• Oak Street. SFMTA's Oak Street Quick-Build page lists curb-ramp work at Oak and Masonic as complete for a protected eastbound bikeway between Stanyan and Baker. Corridor work is listed for summer 2026 through early 2027.

The firefighter ride falls six days after Che Fico's scheduled reopening, in a year when much of Divisadero's news has been about fires.

If you're weighing a move near the Panhandle or thinking about what your home on these blocks is worth, Highrises2Homes can walk you through what's changing on your street. Schedule a Consultation with Leslie Bauer whenever the timing suits you.