After eight years, Sweet Maple's SFO location at Terminal 2 is expected to close following the approval of the termination of its lease. The popular Asian fusion local brunch chain licensed its name to airport food and beverage operator SSP America Incorporated to open the SFO eatery in 2018. The restaurant is expected to close in early fall, airport spokesperson Doug Yakel told SFGATE.
“This location has been underperforming financially compared to other food & beverage counterparts in Terminal 2,” Yakel said in an email. “This space will be used for a news & retail market slated to open early next year.”
During the July 8 Board of Supervisors Budget and Finance Committee regular meeting, SFO government and policy assistant Daniel Tsang said that approving the lease termination would allow the airport to free up another space — originally intended for the aforementioned news and retail market — for a future passenger lounge. Yakel told SFGATE that the future passenger lounge is still to be determined, “as the American Express Centurion Lounge will continue to occupy that space for two more years until it can return back to Terminal 3.”
Supervisors on the committee advanced the resolution with a recommendation for approval.
Sweet Maple co-owner Hoyul Steven Choi told SFGATE that he has no ownership interest in the SFO eatery, as he licensed the Sweet Maple name to SSP America Incorporated, but that he thought the closure would be positive for both him and SSP America.
“It’s good for them so they are not losing money anymore, and good for us because if you ever look at their Yelp review or Google reviews, unlike all my other restaurants, they are in the two stars range,” Choi said. (Sweet Maple’s SFO location currently has 2.6 stars on Google and 3 stars on Yelp.)
Google and Yelp reviews complained about the quality of the food, the service and the menu prices. On a recent visit to the SFO restaurant, SFGATE found the Sweet Maple menu offering a breakfast burrito for $24, chips and dip for $15, and fish and chips for $26. SFGATE reached out to SSP America for comment but did not hear back in time for publication.
Sweet Maple still has locations in SF’s Lower Pacific Heights, Palo Alto, Cupertino, Walnut Creek and Santa Monica. Earlier this year, Choi’s other brunch restaurant concept, Kitchen Story, closed its SF location after 12 years. In June, Sweet Maple and Kitchen Story co-owner Jiyeon Choi opened a new concept called Jandii Cafe in San Francisco’s Parkside neighborhood, with plans to open a second Jandii Cafe in the former San Francisco Kitchen Story space soon.