Israeli Restaurant Near Me in the Outer Richmond: Hummus Bodega's Kosher Kitchen Window

Hummus Bodega closes every Saturday and opens again on Sunday at 10 am, because it is one of the few glatt kosher kitchens in San Francisco. You order at a kitchen window at 5549 Geary Boulevard, between 19th and 20th Avenues in the Outer Richmond, and the menu reads like a Tel Aviv street corner: sabich, shawarma and hummus topped with whatever came off the grill. It is the most straightforward israeli restaurant near me answer on the west side of the city.

The shop opened in May 2020 inside the Richmond space of Frena, the kosher bakery, as a lockdown pivot. J. The Jewish News of Northern California reported that the founders were Matan Schejter, an Israeli who had served as a combat soldier and often ran field kitchens in the army, and his partner Din Leib, working with Frena co-owner Isaac Yosef. A 2021 Richmond Sunset News story noted the kitchen also hired formerly incarcerated workers.

The first version did not last. Hummus Bodega closed on February 18, 2024, and the neighborhood lost its hummus window. Three months later, in May 2024, two former tech workers from Israel, Yotam Daniel, who had cooked in Tel Aviv, and Daniel Chadash, reopened it under the same name and added shawarma to the menu, according to J. In 2025 they expanded again with a food truck in Santa Clara.

The kosher supervision comes from Rabbi Shimon Margolin of Congregation Ahavath Israel, the synagogue a block west at 5600 Geary Boulevard, and the certificate posted on the restaurant's website runs month by month, with the current one valid through October 31, 2026. The certificate states that all meat served is glatt kosher, the stricter standard many observant customers look for, which is why families from the synagogue across the street count it as their weeknight dinner option.

It also sets the schedule. Hours are Sunday to Thursday 10 am to 9 pm and Friday 10 am to 5 pm, so the kitchen can shut down before Shabbat, and the shop stays closed all day Saturday and on Jewish holidays. In September 2026 the owners posted the Rosh Hashanah closures on their news page, and the same page is where they announce holiday dates through the year.

Start with the Tel Aviv, the house sabich sandwich, at $18: crispy fried eggplant in a pita, built on the classic sabich formula of eggplant, hard-boiled egg and chopped salad that Iraqi Jewish immigrants made a Tel Aviv staple. The Falafel Sandwich is also $18. If you came for meat, the Shawarma Sandwich costs $23, and the menu notes that shawarma is chicken by default, with a Turkish-style beef version on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

For a sit-down plate, the Hummus Bodega Style costs $19 and Hummus Shawarma, the hummus bowl crowned with sliced meat, costs $24. The Plate Shawarma at $27 is the biggest order on the board and the one to pick if you are skipping dinner. Vegetarians should look at the Explodin' Eggplant for $18. Finish with the Halva Mousse for $4, the cheapest item on the board and a sweet, sesame-heavy end to a garlicky lunch.

One honest caveat comes from a 2026 Google review: a diner who spent about $45 said the chicken cutlets were small and was surprised by a $9 charge for a side they expected to be included. Read the menu carefully before adding extras. The sandwiches are the better value here, and one sabich plus a halva mousse is a full lunch for well under $25.

The website tells you to come by the kitchen window, and that is how it works: order at the counter, then wait at a table inside or outside on the sidewalk. If you are short on time, place an order ahead on Toast and pick it up at the window. Credit cards are accepted. Street parking on Geary is metered, so a quick pickup is easier than circling for a long sit-down spot.

The kitchen also caters, and in its September 2026 schedule post the owners asked for one week of notice for large orders or for groups of 60 guests and more.

Take the 38R Geary Rapid to the Geary and 20th Avenue stop, which leaves you almost at the door; the regular 38 Geary also runs along the boulevard. From Union Square the ride takes you straight out Geary through Japantown and the Inner Richmond. Drivers will find metered parking on Geary itself and residential blocks on the avenues to the north and south.

After lunch, walk five blocks south on 20th Avenue to Fulton Street and the northern edge of Golden Gate Park, a good place to eat a second sandwich on a bench on a rare sunny day. On the way you pass Congregation Ahavath Israel, the synagogue whose rabbi supervises the kitchen, a reminder that this window was built to feed an observant neighborhood first and curious visitors second.

Because the window is shut on Saturdays, plan your weekend accordingly. If you are in the city on a Saturday and want hummus, Oren's Hummus at 71 Third Street, near Yerba Buena, is open on weekends and runs a table-service menu with shakshuka and kebab plates. On weekdays downtown, Sababa at 329 Kearny Street serves Israeli pita bowls from 11 am to 7 pm.

Address: Hummus Bodega, 5549 Geary Boulevard, San Francisco, CA 94121, Outer Richmond. Hours: Sunday to Thursday 10 am to 9 pm, Friday 10 am to 5 pm, closed Saturday and Jewish holidays. Glatt kosher under Congregation Ahavath Israel; no dairy. Counter service with indoor and outdoor seats; order ahead on Toast. Ask Karpo in the Karpo APP for a Richmond lunch route that ends in Golden Gate Park.