Hey there, San Francisco. 

Earlier this year, I came across something I hadn’t seen before on Instagram – a restaurant reaching out to its followers, looking for investors. 

The restaurant (Shuggie’s Trash Pie + Natural Wine) looked great. And, its goal (to upcycle food) seemed like something to get behind. So, I wrote about it here. 

To my delight, one of our readers (Luke Russert) saw the note, reached out to Shuggie’s, and soon thereafter, became a backer. 

“I did have some experience investing in a restaurant in my hometown of Washington D.C. So I knew what to look for and the questions to ask,” Russert told me over email recently. “I personally got involved with Shuggie's because I believe in the Mission and the mission.” (Shuggie’s is located at 3349 23rd Street, between Mission and Valencia.) 

Russert also believes restaurants “give a city an identity.” 

“They’re gathering places where memories are made – dates, birthdays, spontaneous celebrations. It's nice to help provide that,” Russert said. “The pandemic killed off too many wonderful spots.” 

So how can you invest in a restaurant? 

I’d say to make sure you follow your favorite pop-up or local chef on social media. You never know when they’re going to make the leap and open their own brick-and-mortar store. 

Recently, I’ve come across a couple more examples of this: 

• Midnite Bagel, a pandemic pop-up that had a stand at the Ferry Building farmers’ market, has a Kickstarter campaign to help it open its Inner Sunset shop. 

• And, Outta Sight Pizza, which makes its pies out of Fig & Thistle wine shop in Hayes Valley, is raising funds on SMBX for its Civic Center slice house.  

As for the perks of being an investor, Russert told me: “The only special treatment I require when I visit [Shuggie’s] is some facetime with the restaurant dog Beef – a studly bulldog.” 

With that… onto the news… 

Quick bits: News to know

🏙 The final day that city supervisors were able to submit charter amendments for the November ballot was on Tuesday, and as Mission Local writes, “in came a rush of proposals.” 

• There are nine in total, and reporters Annika Hom and Will Jarrett provided a nice roundup here. 

• Notably, supervisor Aaron Peskin proposed applying rent control to new, “upzoned” buildings. As the Chronicle’s JK Dineen explains: “That means if a rezoning allows a project to grow from 60 to 100 units, all apartments would be rent-controlled.” If passed, Peskin said it would be “the largest expansion of rent control in this town since 1979.” 

• Still, each amendment will need to receive a majority vote from the board of supervisors to reach the ballot this fall. (Mission Local / Chronicle) 

🏗 “Vertical construction” is expected to begin in one year for the $2 billion Potrero Power Station project that’s slated to feature over 1.5 million square feet of office space, 2,500 housing units, 100,000 square feet of retail space, and a new, waterfront hotel. 

• Renderings of the redevelopment (which plans to keep the 300-foot tall smokestack in place) can be seen here. (SF Business Times / SFist) 

👀 The labor union that represents the U.S. Park Police officers said on Tuesday that due to its “officer staffing crisis… families should avoid unnecessary travel” to the Presidio and Golden Gate National Recreation Area, which includes Fort Mason, Fort Point, Lands End, Baker Beach, Ocean Beach, and Fort Funston. Apparently, there are only 11 officers available to patrol those areas. 

• “Simply put, they are not safe,” the union’s chairman Kenneth Spencer said in a statement. Spencer went on to tell the Chronicle that he was hoping to get Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s “attention.” 

• “She loves the Presidio, we love the Presidio and we want to be able to do our job,” he said. “We’re hoping she steps in.” 

• Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Golden Gate National Recreation Area told the Chronicle: “The safety of our staff and visitors is always our top priority and park areas remain open and available to the public we serve.” (Chronicle) 

💦🚫 California adopted a plan on Tuesday that bans the watering of “ornamental lawns,” like those found in common areas of commercial properties and housing subdivisions. 

• The restriction does not pertain to grass used for recreational activities, sports, or community events. 

• Still, it’s the first mandatory water ban from the state since 2015. (SFist / The Hill) 

What else I’m reading: Links to browse

• Mayor Breed proposes $67 million investment in homeless housing, following Chronicle investigation (Chronicle) 

• Tenderloin Linkage Center Gets Approved for Six More Months, But Don’t Call It a ‘Linkage Center’ (SFist) 

• Carnaval SF returns in full festival splendor this weekend (Mission Local) 

• Fermentation Lab set to open a second restaurant in Japantown later this year (Hoodline) 

And finally… 🍳 Breakfast sandos 

Over the past year, SFGATE editor-in-chief Grant Marek has been searching for “life changing San Francisco breakfast sandwiches.” He tried around 50 and biked over 150 miles in the process. 

As for the breakfast sandwiches Marek would “go out of [his] way to eat again,” his list included those from: 

• Kahnfections

• Newkirk’s

• Breakfast Little

• And, Lou’s Cafe

And, for Marek’s list of “breakfast sandwiches I will tell friends visiting SF to at” and his “platonic ideal of a NYC bodega breakfast sandwich,” check out his full write-up here. 

That’s all for today! Thanks so much for reading y’all and I’ll see you back here tomorrow. - Nick B. ☀️