San Francisco is dishing out millions of dollars to small businesses in a new attempt to fill vacant storefronts and keep beleaguered neighborhoods lively, but one grantee is already calling it quits less than three months after it got a six-figure paycheck.
Chicken Fried Palace owner Seth Stowaway announced this week that his Mission District restaurant is now closed, citing sidewalk problems and a health scare as reasons for the closure. Stowaway had received $100,000 from the city in the spring as part of the city’s new Storefront Opportunity Grant program.
The new grant program is part of Mayor Daniel Lurie’s “efforts to drive San Francisco’s comeback” by reducing vacant storefronts in neighborhoods, according to a February news release. The city has so far given over $3 million in grants through the program to 39 different businesses, including Bayview Oyster Bar and Tender Heart Thrift in the Tenderloin. Chicken Fried Palace appears on a list of grantees for the program but is not included in a news release posted on June 23.
The city is now reviewing Stowaway’s grant approval and is asking the city attorney if further action should be taken against the business.
“OEWD’s grant programs have supported hundreds of businesses across San Francisco, and the overwhelming majority continue to operate successfully,” Kate Reardon, a spokesperson for the city, said in an email. “We are reviewing the current status of the business, and we will be consulting with the City Attorney’s Office regarding appropriate next steps.”
It’s not clear if Chicken Fried Palace’s sudden closure violates any of the program’s requirements. The grant requires that businesses have a new lease that started on Oct. 1, 2025, or later, and that lease must be for three consecutive years. Chicken Fried Palace opened in November of last year.
Stowaway did not return multiple SFGATE requests for comment. He told the Standard that the restaurant space is now available for events and pop-ups, and that he’s working with the landlord to find a new tenant.
Stowaway is a veteran in SF’s food scene, previously working at Mister Jiu’s and Bar Agricole before opening Osito in 2021, which quickly earned a Michelin star before closing last year. He opened Chicken Fried Palace within months of closing Osito, although he quickly ran into financial trouble. In April, Stowaway launched a GoFundMe asking for $60,000 to help transfer a liquor license to Chicken Fried Palace. He had received over $6,000 by this week.
Stowaway is still pushing forward in the industry. He has a consulting company and co-op called “the Same Sun” that asks member restaurants to pay 6% of revenue in exchange for business services, according to the Standard. And he recently launched a fine dining concept called Folklore, which is a “10-seat tasting salon in San Francisco’s Financial District,” according to its website. Folklore is still taking reservations and appears to be active, as a Craigslist ad was posted this week calling for a new general manager.
