Gumbo Social Is Bringing Dinner to Bayview This October
Updated: 19 hours ago
Contact
Dontaye Ball (aka Mr. Gumbo)
Gumbo Social
+1 415-655-9195
hello@gumbosocial.com
Instagram @gumbosocial
July 28, 2026
For Immediate Release:
San Francisco, California: We’ve been talking about dinner service for a while now, and we’re excited to finally put a date on it.
Gumbo Social’s dinner pilot is planned to launch Friday, October 16 — the first day of Fall SF Restaurant Week. We’ll be testing evening service as part of Restaurant Week, with the goal of giving our Bayview neighbors another place to grab dinner after work.
But getting dinner service up and running has meant making some changes behind the scenes, too.
A Lot Has Been Happening Behind the Scenes
During our summer downtime, we were able to make some important upgrades to the restaurant.
We got a new freezer, which is making it possible for us to offer our frozen gumbos for sale. These are gumbos made at Gumbo Social that you can take home and keep on hand for later.
We also brought in a new oven, and this thing is fast. It can go from room temperature to 350°F in about 4½ minutes. That’s already making a difference when we’re preparing for larger events and catering orders.
Chef Dontaye, aka Mr. Gumbo, recently talked about some of these changes in a video about the support we received from Mastercard.
Since reopening, the response from our community has been overwhelming. People have continued to show up, order food, come to our events, and ask when they’ll finally be able to get Gumbo Social for dinner.
We’ve been listening.
Dinner Service Is the Next Step
The plan is to pilot evening takeout and delivery, with service extending beyond our current 6 PM closing time.
That means you could pick up gumbo or a po’boy on your way home, or order dinner from Gumbo Social and have it delivered.
We’re building this carefully. The new equipment is part of that work, but there are still costs involved in getting the dinner operation ready, including the service window, security improvements, staffing, and the other operational expenses that come with extending our hours.
We’ve made a lot of progress, but we still have 30% of our fundraising goal to go.
If you’ve ever told us, “I wish y’all were open for dinner,” this is the part where you can help make that possible.
Every contribution helps us get closer to opening the window, turning on the lights, and serving Gumbo Social to the Bayview in the evening.
Help us get the final 30% of the way there.
We’ll see you for dinner on October 16.
Stay Connected
Follow @gumbosocial on Instagram for updates, or sign up for our email list.
PRESS
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Cortez, Mario. " 'Our time to shine': There's a wave of new restaurants in this S.F. neighborhood." San Francisco Chronicle, 23, May 2025, https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/restaurants/article/bayview-restaurant-food-san-francisco-20327182.php
Jackson, Robbie. “Gumbo Social is stirring up some conversations on 3rd Street.” San Francisco BayView, 26, April 2024, https://sfbayview.com/2024/04/gumbo-social-is-stirring-up-some-conversations-on-3rd-street/
Duffett, Becky. “It’s Finally Gumbo Go Time in San Francisco.” Eater San Francisco, 1 Feb 2024, https://sf.eater.com/2024/2/1/24057522/gumbo-social-san-francisco-dontaye-ball
Kassin, Kate. "The 12 Most Anticipated Restaurant Openings of 2023." Bon Appetit, 19 January 2023, https://www.bonappetit.com/story/2023-anticipated-restaurant-openings
The Kelly Clarkson Show. “Single Dad Starts Successful Gumbo Restaurant Amid Pandemic.” YouTube, 22 June 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvLjBf7CUWM&t=54s
