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A new vegan spot with a fast-casual atmosphere is coming soon to the former Grove space at Hayes and Franklin, just 0.3 miles from NEMA San Francisco. As the face behind such popular restaurants as Beretta, Super Duper Burger, and Wildseed, Adriano Paganini is a legend in San Francisco and no stranger to turning heads in the restaurant game. Now, according to the San Francisco Business Times, he’s about to do it again. Paganini has confirmed his restaurant group Back of the House will open a new restaurant at ​​301 Hayes Street, taking over a 3,351-square-foot location that’s stood empty in Hayes Valley, when its former tenant, The Grove, closed in early 2020.

Though his ultra-popular vegan restaurant Wildseed, which first debuted in Cow Hollow in 2019, recently opened a second location in Palo Alto, Paganini says this project is an original concept. This business will be fast-casual, unlike the full-service model at Cow Hollow’s Wildseed restaurant. Expect a menu composed of salads, bowls, handhelds and plant-based burgers. The Bird and the Italian restaurant A Mano are both just down the road from where his new restaurant will sit in Hayes Valley.

“What I’ve learned is how delicious plant-based food can be, how good it makes you feel,” Paganini told San Francisco Business Times. “Sometimes you want something still very good but simpler in the sense of experience, a little bit faster. It will be a nice, fine casual restaurant.”

Founded in 2009 by Adriano Paganini, BACK OF THE HOUSE, Inc. is the group behind some of San Francisco's most beloved concepts and favorite neighborhood spots: a Mano, Afterwork Bar, Beretta, Delarosa, El Techo, Flores, Lolinda, Starbelly, Super Duper Burgers, The Bird, The Tailor's Son, Uno Dos Tacos and Wildseed. Our group creates concept-driven restaurants that encompass the spirit of their neighborhood.

This project will mark the 33rd restaurant within Paganini’s portfolio. Not only does he have a massive portfolio of eateries, but he makes sure that list includes a variety of different cuisines. The new restaurant doesn't have a name just yet, nor a projected opening date.

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