Sunset Social Club Plans 400 SF Block Parties as 5 Dining Spots Debut

After 4 years of neighborhood division over the Great Highway and Sunset Dunes — including San Francisco's first-ever recall of a sitting supervisor and a third ballot measure this week — Sunset Social Club founders Josh Nesbit and Sandi Lam Harder are organizing the Sunset Wave, aiming to stage 400 simultaneous block parties west of 19th Avenue on the spring equinox, March 20, 2027, Emily Landes reported in The San Francisco Standard. Across the city, five anticipated bakeries, restaurants, and bars are preparing to open their doors during November 2026, Lauren Saria and Astrid Kane reported in The San Francisco Standard.

Sunset Social Club Aims for 400 Block Parties on March 20, 2027

Nesbit, a tech-nonprofit founder living near Ocean Beach with his 3-year-old and 6-year-old children, and Harder, an architect and workplace designer near Stern Grove, launched the free Sunset Social Club at the Sunset Village Music Hall — a former Judah Street church rented by Outer Sunset native Tom Kerbleski and named in tribute to the 1940s and 1950s Sunset Village Shopping Center, where fixer-upper homes nearby now sell for upward of $2 million.

After 100 neighbors attended the club's inaugural gathering, membership has grown to about 350 residents. Backed by a $5,000 grant from the WorkDay Foundation and 20 to 40 hours per week of organizing, Nesbit and Harder have 5 months to recruit 400 hosts across the numbered east-west avenues and north-south blocks between Lincoln Way and Lake Merced for driveway, sidewalk, and garage gatherings that will not require street-closure permits. Recent "neighborhood build-a-thon" initiatives also produced an interactive map of idle spaces and a free Nov. 18 backyard tea and tai chi meetup at 22nd Avenue and Quintara Street led by 34th Avenue native Ethan Holtzman.

Five Anticipated San Francisco Restaurants, Bakeries, and Bars Opening in November

1. Lorella (2139 Polk St., Russian Hill — Opens Late November): Chef-owner Melissa Perello and pastry chef Melissa Loar are turning their "Satur-bakes" pop-up into a brick-and-mortar bakery across from Bi-Rite Market, serving country levain loaves, savory tomato-basil croissants, elote-style masa milk buns, and rotating pizza biancas with Zuckerman potatoes and caramelized leeks, complete with a 2nd-floor kids' play area.
2. Julius' Castle (302 Greenwich St., Telegraph Hill — Opens Nov. 12): Originally opened in 1922 and closed in 2007, the 3-level, 130-seat mahogany-paneled landmark purchased by attorney Paul Scott in 2012 is reopening with sustainable Northern California "garden-to-castle" cuisine inspired by Alice Waters, including a third-story "mayor's table."
3. Stir Crazy (1400 Lombard St., Marina — Opens in November): Former Mezcalito bartender Jacob Morris is reviving the former Black Magic Voodoo Lounge into a neighborhood cocktail bar serving à la minute classics, nonalcoholic drinks, and quarterly specials.
4. Scout (2359 Chestnut St., Marina — Opens Early to Mid-November): Eight months after opening Frankie's near their Italian spot Norcina, Kait Bauman and Angelo De Lorenzi are debuting a wood-fired all-day California cafe serving rabbit roulade, ember-roasted pumpkin with zucchini-cashew babaganoush, and grilled prawns.
5. Bare Bones (2325 Taraval St., Parkside — Opens Early November): Taking over the former Bearing West space, three restaurant veterans are launching a counter-service rotisserie chicken and achiote-rubbed porchetta spot with cornbread mini muffins and beer-battered cauliflower sandwiches.