A month after closing his longtime Dogpatch location, owner Tony Hua is still serving the community in a different form
Soul-food staple Hard Knox Cafe remains on the east side of San Francisco after trading the rustic vibe of its original Dogpatch location this month for a SoMa ghost kitchen. Gone are the regulars chatting at the bar, and the walls filled with old-school diner paraphernalia, like an oversized Coca-Cola bottle cap and a giant stuffed marlin.
But the crispy fried chicken and fluffy corn muffins that made it a foodie fixture for more than 20 years are still going strong. “We’re continuing the Hard Knox legacy, just at a different location,” Owner Tony Hua told The Examiner on Tuesday. After closing its longtime 3rd Street restaurant last month — Hua said he and the building’s landlord could not reach an agreement on a new lease — Hard Knox Cafe opened a SoMa commercial kitchen which prepares pickup or delivery orders only and does not offer dine-in service. Hard Knox is the newest tenant inside SOMA Food Court, an unassuming warehouse found along a narrow Morris Street alleyway. Nearly 30 restaurants have rented out small kitchens inside the building as standalone establishments. The food court is usually surrounded by parked mopeds and gig workers who are either staring at their phones or carrying bags of takeout containers. Most of the other tenants only exist inside the food court as a delivery-only restaurant, unlike Hard Knox Cafe, which still has a sit-in restaurant in the Richmond district. But Hua’s recently shuttered Dogpatch location was the original Hard Knox and the first restaurant he ever opened, which is why he said it was especially hard for him to say goodbye to it. While the setting is different, everything about the Hard Knox’s ghost kitchen food is the same The taste, ingredients, recipes and cooks all made the move from Dogpatch to SoMa, and many of the kitchen staff have been with the restaurant since around the time it opened in 2002. Maintaining the exact same workforce — including the head chef of the last 20 years — was a priority for Hua and a significant part of the motivation for him to keep the restaurant alive, he said.The menu is largely the same as its previous iteration, save for a few smaller items. But the favorites, like the fried chicken, waffles, ribs, and catfish, are still available. Customers can order from the Hard Knox ghost kitchen either in person or through a food delivery app and on the Hard Knox website. Drivers will deliver the food to anywhere within a 10-mile radius of the food hall. Ex // Top Stories New report quantifies SF need for behavioral-health beds Supes president says additions must be a “higher priority” After struggles on SF streets, Michael Sims can stand tall Now in recovery and living in supportive housing, the 49-year-old former basketball player has a lot to say New exhibition brings approachable vibe to SF Art week FOG gets its own ‘Karl’ during annual celebration of The City’s art scene Hua and his workers only are responsible for cooking the food and leaving it outside their kitchen unit. The SOMA Food Court staff takes care of the rest. Hua said moving to the new space has been an adjustment for him and his staff, but business has been improving each day. “We've been trying to find a rhythm and a system, and so that's what we've been doing the first week,” he said. “There’s been a lot of issues that we just learn, figure out and solve.” Some of those pain points involve fielding phone calls from customers, he said, who are unaware of the recent changes and still want to put in an order at the old 3rd Street location. While chatting with The Examiner, Hua had to frequently pause to answer his cell phone and tell regular customers that they can still order food from them, just through a different medium. Of course, the ghost kitchen doesn’t include the human and community connection Hua said he and the staff cherished at 3rd Street. The location drew a diverse set of regular customers including former Giants manager Dusty Baker.“ holds a special place in my heart and the community’s,” he said. “We’ve met a lot of great people. That’s the toughest part — not being able to interact with the regulars and all the customers.” Hua admitted that they’ve taken a financial hit since closing on 3rd Street, but he’s confident that the takeout service will be able to get stable footing once more people learn about their new location. “Once the word gets out and people are used to ordering from here, I think we’ll go back to normal,” he said. Hua also said he’s “not ruling out” the possibility of reopening another brick-and-mortar Hard Knox on the east side. He said he currently views the ghost kitchen as a “stepping stone” until they find another permanent location.
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