Damn, I didn't know that Samovar closed. It used to be absolutely amazing around 2010-2014 when I went there every so often (the location at 498 Sanchez St). But when I went for the final time in 2016, it was nowhere near as good as it used to be and the menu had been cut significantly.
When I was back in SF again in 2019 I went to the Yerba Buena location and it was absolutely awful. It seemed like they tried to expand too fast, and none of their locations were ever as cozy nor as delicious as the place on Sanchez St was a decade ago -- it was the perfect place to go on a date. I don't know if it changed owners or what, but somebody drove it into the ground. I'm not surprised it's gone for good now.
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Completely agree about the 2010-2014 era. It was magic.
What happened is more complicated... I knew the owner really well. As expenses like rent and labor became more expensive, he was forced more and more to try to find a balance between food (which was a good business) and tea (which wasn't as good). The smaller store on Valencia sort of cracked the code, though it didn't have all of the magic of Sanchez / Laguna. Then Covid came and that was more than the business could handle.