Mama Ji's Last Night Is Halloween. What Else Is Happening on 18th Street That Saturday?

"Work is a lot; I won't miss the work," Lily Ji told The San Francisco Standard in early October. "But I will miss the people." Ji is the Mama Ji of Mama Ji's at 4416 18th St. She and her husband, Marv Wolpa, plan to serve their last dinner on Saturday, October 31. That same evening, from 5 to 10 p.m., Castro Halloween takes over 18th Street.

Castro Halloween is now an 18th Street event, and much of that street has changed hands since last October. There's a new burger place in a former steakhouse, a scoop shop in an old 7-Eleven corner, and Northern Thai cooking where Thai Chef used to be. Then, on the same Saturday, one of the street's longest-running dining rooms closes.

Halloween moved to 18th Street, and the street changed under it

The old unsanctioned Castro Street party was shut down more than a decade ago, the Bay Area Reporter notes. Since then, organizers have rebuilt the holiday in smaller pieces. In 2023, the Civic Joy Fund spent more than $100,000 on 43 storefront activations around the neighborhood. In 2024, The Bold Italic described a two-day program for October 26 and 27 with face painting, tarot, DJs, drag and a pie-eating contest, built around closures near Noe and Beaver.

In 2025 the event became a Halloween edition of the Castro Night Market. The city's Interdepartmental Staff Committee on Traffic and Transportation voted unanimously to close 18th Street from Noe to Diamond. Organizer Chris Carrington of CG Events told the Bay Area Reporter that the footprint was one block longer than the Pride Month market's. The Bay Area Reporter's recap said that night drew thousands, with nearly 70 vendors and the San Francisco Pride Band.

This year's version keeps that format. CG Events, the Castro Merchants Association and the Civic Joy Fund are presenting a free evening of local food vendors, merchants and live entertainment. The Eventbrite listing gives the location as 18th Street between Diamond and Noe, the same blocks as last year. The general Castro Night Market site, which is still taking applications from entertainers and vendors, shows a different map. Its caption describes Castro Street and 18th Street between Collingwood and Hartford, and the page doesn't say whether that map is for the Halloween edition. As of mid-October, the Castro Merchants Association event page still says more information is coming. Check the final footprint against SFMTA's street closure list before Saturday.

Who holds the 18th Street storefronts now

If you skipped last year's night market, several of the storefronts along this stretch will look different. Here are the spaces that changed hands in 2026:

• 4248 18th St., formerly Flora King, now Iggy's Burger. The Argentine couple who ran the steakhouse handed the space to their grown children, who converted it in five days. It opened in July as the first San Francisco location of the Sonoma-based smashburger brand, The Standard reported. The menu has five burgers, including the Renegay with jalapeños and chipotle Thousand Island. House-style tallow fries topped with chunks of patty cost $11, and all the sauces are made in house at no charge.
• Two blocks down 18th Street, formerly a 7-Eleven, now Angela's Ice Cream. It's the third San Francisco Angela's, and it opened several weeks after Iggy's. The corner was last a 7-Eleven about five years ago. Before Angela's, the neighborhood had been without a scoop shop since Double Rainbow and Castro Fountain closed. A coffee bar was announced for the weeks after late September.
• 4133 18th St., formerly Thai Chef, now Ka Kai. Thai Chef closed in January when its owners retired, Hoodline reported in February. Ka Kai serves Northern Thai food. The Standard's August profile said it had opened about six months earlier and that its owners first expected diners to need an introduction to the cuisine.

Two of those three storefronts belong to the same family. Iggy's first opened in Healdsburg in 2023 alongside its sister business, Angela's Ice Cream. Iggy is Ignacio Garat, and Angela is his mother. Cielo Garat-Zanella, the family's director of brand, marketing and product, told The Standard, "We really, really care about the beef. Probably because we're Argentinian." In the same review, The Standard said Iggy's and Ka Kai, which sits across the street, were the best things to happen to the Castro's food scene this year.

In each case the address stayed and the operator changed. The Flora King space stayed in the family. Thai Chef's space went to new owners after the previous owners retired. A corner that sat between uses for years now has a business again.

The neighbor leaving the same night

Mama Ji's has the deepest roots of the group. Ji and Wolpa live in the Castro. They started serving the food Ji grew up eating as a pop-up and moved into a full restaurant in 2013. The Standard visited on a Monday night in October and found the dining room and sidewalk tables full. Waiters were carrying out kung pao shrimp, triple "C" wings and hot-and-numbing fish, plus a special inspired by Ji's latest trip to Sichuan province: crispy lotus-root cake topped with minced pork in fish sauce.

The couple posted a letter on the door thanking their neighbors and saying it was time to focus on their personal lives. Ji told The Standard that the landlord had raised the rent, citing rising insurance costs and limits on what could be charged for the residential unit upstairs, and that she decided not to continue. Asked what comes next, she said: "Relax!"

Iggy's took over a space through a family handoff. Ka Kai followed owners who retired. Mama Ji's is the one change on this list that came from a lease decision rather than a planned succession. The October 31 date is a plan the owners announced, so check Mama Ji's own site before you count on a table that night.

Saturday, October 31, in order

The night's anchors are spread across the evening, so it's possible to see most of them.

1. 5 p.m. Castro Halloween opens on 18th Street with food vendors, merchants and live entertainment. Organizers say there is no parking on site and suggest Muni's 24, Castro Station or the 35. Leashed dogs are allowed.
2. Dinner. Mama Ji's final service. With a closing announced and a street event outside, an early table is the safer plan.
3. 7 p.m. Doors open at the Castro Theatre for DJ Mandy's The Raveyard. The show starts at 8 p.m.
4. 10 p.m. The 18th Street event ends. Iggy's sits on the same stretch, and The Standard called it a good stop before or after the bars.

The two weeks after

The new arrivals keep coming after Halloween. On Monday, November 2, the Castro Theatre screens SFFILM's 35mm presentation of Club Kid. On Thursday, November 5, it hosts Frameline's Elsinore. Jandii Cafe plans to open its second San Francisco location at 3499 16th St., in the former Kitchen Story space. Hoodline reports an early-November target but no official date yet.

The next longer-term change is at the transit entrance. Artist proposals for the Harvey Milk Plaza redesign go on public display November 9 through 20. The city's schedule calls for artist approval in January 2027 and completion in fall 2028, according to the City of San Francisco's project page. The display window comes before the artist is approved. Castro Street itself is settled. San Francisco Public Works lists the streetscape project from Market to 19th, with its wider sidewalks, new lighting, trees, Rainbow Honor Walk plaques and Jane Warner Plaza paving, as completed.

If you own a rental near 18th Street, storefront turnover like this changes what renters see on a showing walk. A new burger place and a scoop shop on the corner are part of how a unit gets described. Ray Amouzandeh follows the Castro block by block, and if you have a vacancy coming up this fall, he can build listing copy around the street as it looks now. Get a fast leasing plan by scheduling a free consultation.