Decades-old dim sum restaurant in SF faces eviction

According to the development organization, City View Restaurant’s most recent lease term was from March 27, 2017, to Oct. 31, 2022, and the restaurant owners were not offered an extension to renew their lease. The restaurant had the option to do so in previous years, beginning in the 1990s.

In addition to vacating the premises, the Chinatown Community Development Center is asking that City View Restaurant pay the sum of $145.84 per day beginning on Nov. 1, 2022, onward for every day “the defendants remain in possession through the entry of judgment.”

A separate filing by the Cantonese restaurant owners alleges that they paid rent through January, despite their terminated lease. Moreover, City View Restaurant’s owners claim that the Chinatown Community Development Center accepted the payments and did not return the checks.

It’s unclear when City View Restaurant will vacate its current home. However, city planning records indicate that the restaurant owners planned to move to a different Chinatown location even before the lawsuit filing. In 2021, What Now San Francisco reported that the restaurant owners filed a planning application to move City View Restaurant to the historic building once occupied by Empress of China restaurant before it shuttered.

City planning records show that City View is looking to take the ground floor of 33 Walter U. Lum Place and open a new 5,000-square-foot restaurant with a liquor license. A permit dated Dec. 28, 2022, reveals that City View Restaurant has already paid a sum to install a single-faced wall sign at the building’s exterior.

SFGATE reached out to City View Restaurant and the Chinatown Community Development Center for comment but did not hear back by publication.