When I asked Max Blachman-Gentile if his pizza could sing, what would that be? What’s their dairy-oke song?  “It might have to be ‘No Scrubs.’ Can’t have any scrub pizzas […]

People We Meet: Max, a pizzaiolo at Jules Pizza

Michael Nano Solorzano, also known as NanosauR, paused the application of mascara to his eyelashes to stand up and show off two tattoo-covered arms.  His favorite? ‘’Don’t cry at my […]

People We Meet: NanosauR the DJ

The story of Super7 employee Brent StJames and toys goes back a while. Born into a family of toy collectors, the 54-year-old got his first childhood friend — a Snoopy […]

People We Meet: Brent StJames at Super7

Daniel Pon was studying pre-med in the late ’90s and was on track to becoming a doctor — any Asian parent’s delight. But today, the 49-year-old’s office is a 3,000-square-foot […]

People We Meet: Creating beauty in a world of ugliness, one aquarium at a time

Growing up, her mom always allowed Anderson to develop her own style. “I once wore black for an entire year,” Anderson said. “She just said, ‘whatever.’” 

People We Meet: Lindsey Anderson has a lot of STUFF

Frankie calls himself a “connector.” Not the type that makes an electrical circuit work, but … sort of.  In his day job, he works at a family resource center near […]

People We Meet: Frankie, creator of SanFam

Visiting Jane Willson’s latest exhibition, “Cozy Planet,” at her 355 29th St. studio feels less like stepping into a gallery, and more like exploring the living room of an eccentric […]

People We Meet: Climate artist Jane Willson

Regulars at Thanh Tam II, the hole-in-the-wall Vietnamese food joint on Valencia Street, know Johnny Le as the guy behind the register, or the one running up and down greeting […]

People We Meet: Johnny Le at Thanh Tam II

Leer en español Every holiday season, Mission Lotería‘s Luis Quiroz and Fiorella Monteza visit each of the Mission Street corridor’s 400 storefronts several times, attempting to include more in the […]

People We Meet: Mission Lotería’s Luis Quiroz and Fiorella Monteza

Melissa “I had to hustle all week to make sure I could get off early to do this,” says Melissa S. of Santa Clara. She left her job doing compliance […]

Keeping the culture of tamales alive: In line at La Palma

San Francisco Auto Works, a 3,000-square-foot car repair and maintenance shop with a baby-blue storefront, is hard to overlook if you stroll down Valencia Street. The shop, situated at 21st […]

People We Meet: Kimberly Sawyers, Mission’s proud and happy trans auto mechanic

“It’s extremely busy,” said Lenore Estrada, owner of Three Babes Bakeshop, amid cartons of bourbon pecan pies and cookie samplers piled to the ceiling. The popular Mission pie business, which […]

People we meet: Three Babes Bakeshop’s Lenore Estrada, last ‘babe’ standing

So you are a professional clown, and there is a global pandemic. Sounds like a setup. Alas, no. For longtime Mission District resident Moshe Cohen, AKA Mr. Yoohoo, it meant […]

People We Meet: Mr. Yoohoo, a life of making people laugh

Loïc Maestracci used to live a double-life: consumer marketer by day and electronic musician at night.  All that changed when he got laid off in January from Twitter, the social […]

People We Meet: Loïc Maestracci, electronic music producer

Yet even as a programmer living on tech’s periphery, he enjoyed the boom times. He attended soirees underwritten by 20-somethings who presciently bought URLs and sold them for $10,000 to companies that belatedly realized they were necessary. “I went to a house party funded by someone selling ‘heineken.com’ to Heineken,” he laughed. 

‘Uprising’ video-game designer remembers SF tech’s rise and fall

Micheal Ryan has always been into scents. On a recent Tuesday, the 33-year-old store manager of Ministry of Scent, a perfume shop on Valencia Street, pointed out the store’s collections: […]

People We Meet: Michael Ryan from Ministry of Scent

“You are you and I am me,” he said, flashing a gap toothed grin. It’s just another quirk of his that makes “me crazy,” Hernández said.

The man bedazzled by Betty Boop

On Friday morning outside Arizmendi Bakery, Niki Berkowitz is wearing a bright pink T-shirt listing her different identities among different communities, each firmly defined with a period:  Tati.  Honey.  Playa […]

People We Meet: Niki, a woman with many names

On Monday afternoon at Sunny Launderette, the sewing machines were quiet, and Shirley Xu had just finished lunch.   Inside Sunny Launderette on 20th Street, a dozen pieces of clothing hung […]

People We Meet: Shirley Xu at Sunny Launderette

If you go thrifting down Valencia Street, you might just meet Shaelyn Dalziel, who will greet you with a smile.  The 22-year-old, who works curating clothes and art at Valencia […]

People We Meet: Shaelyn Dalziel from Valencia Street Vintage

Most summer weekends, you can find Aracely García Aleman and Julio Molina behind a table at 23rd and Mission Street, shelling beans. Their truck nearby, piled high with bundled branches […]

People We Meet: Aracely and Julio, shelling beans

If there’s a line out the door at Breakfast Little on 22nd Street, you can rest assured it will move swiftly, thanks to Jenny Reyes.  The 39-year-old, who appears a […]

People We Meet: Jenny Reyes from Breakfast Little

Nearly every Saturday, you can find David Giesen sitting in the lobby of the American Youth Hostel on Mason, pulling chess pieces and stuffed cows out of his backpack. The […]

People We Meet: Local educator leads free tours on city’s history 

The Michael Jackson impersonator was killing it on the deck of the Martin Luther King Jr. pool in Bayview. He leapt, tumbled, and moonwalked all over the deck while the […]

People We Meet: Shari Chadwick, water woman

In the hustle and bustle of the Bay Area Rapid Transit system, Kevin Briscoe, a BART train operator, radiates influence that extends beyond the operator’s cab and into the lives […]

People We Meet: Kevin Briscoe, BART operator and conductor of kindness

Beside the rumbling traffic on Valencia Street, tucked in next to a parklet, stands a painter and their easel. They prop a palette on their hand as delicately as a […]

People We Meet: Jirsa paints buildings in a rainbow skirt

Matthew Souzis fumbles around behind a red-eyed plastic head that hangs off a fake tree branch in his living room — one surrounded in all directions by books.  “All these […]

People We Meet: Matthew Souzis of the Whybrary

If you had to guess who in the Southwest Mission was a master puppeteer, you might stop at the door with the mannequin head peeking out a front window.  You’d […]

People We Meet: Larry Reed, shadow artist

Nestled among the array of storefronts adorning Valencia Street, Super Simple stands out with an allure rooted in its very namesake: Simplicity. The store sells a variety of home goods […]

People We Meet: Creative consultant Erickson Liongson

Reggie Wise has been on a healing journey since he was a child born on the wrong side of Geneva Avenue in 1965. “My name technically means ‘King Wise’ — […]

People We Meet: Reggie Wise, the smile of 21st Street

Sorting through piles of clothes, scrubbing out stains and fiddling with broken zippers is a typical day for Emily LaRoche, owner of Double Vision Thrift in the Mission.  “At first, […]

People We Meet: Emily LaRoche at Double Vision Thrift