25-year-old SF restaurant is making a comeback one year after closure

San Francisco Mission District sangria destination Cha Cha Cha is returning from the dead. After closing last July and being replaced by another restaurant called Kuba, the spot is expected to reopen as Cha Cha Cha by the end of this month, as first reported by Mission Local. 

Cha Cha Cha’s original Haight Street location, which first opened in 1984, has remained open despite the 2327 Mission St. closure. Kuba opened in the Mission Street space in April with much of the same Caribbean and Latin-inspired menu and kitchen staff as Cha Cha Cha. However, Kuba closed this summer before the sale even went through, Cha Cha Cha owner Irfan Yalcin told SFGATE. 

Yalcin said that he originally sold Cha Cha Cha because business was slow in the Mission and rent was high, but now the landlord “gave us a good lease to come back,” he said.

He is also hopeful that the neighborhood is now seeing a resurgence, with businesses like Bissap Baobab recently opening nearby.

“I see the Mission is coming back,” he said. “I mean it’s not what it used to be, but at least it’s promising and traffic is going up,” he said.

His team is renovating the restaurant in preparation for the reopening, including completely redoing the private party room with new flooring, painting and lighting. The menu of tapas, including jerk chicken, calamari and arroz con pollo, will be the same as before, and most of the previous staff will return. 

Cha Cha Cha on Mission Street first opened in 1997, known then as “Cha Cha Cha at Original McCarthy’s.” The space was previously a historic bar called Original McCarthy’s, which was one of the first SF businesses to legally serve alcohol post-Prohibition.