Rize Up Bakery is opening a cafe in its SoMa warehouse on Sept. 10, adding a public-facing service area to a business that has sold breads wholesale and at farmers markets since moving into the warehouse in 2022. Owner Azikiwee “Z” Anderson said he always wanted to welcome people to the front of the space, and the opening gives customers a view of the bakers at work while they order.
What customers can order
When the cafe opens, customers will be able to order tricked-out toast, grilled cheese sandwiches, and fresh pastries. The new setup brings the bakery’s bread and pastry work into view from the front of the space, which Anderson said makes the experience especially meaningful. He said, “I’m really proud of what we do,” and added that inviting people in “to peer over and see us doing our thing” is special.
A warehouse built for production
The cafe sits inside a cavernous 5,000-square-foot warehouse that is mostly used for production. Levy Art + Architecture pushed back the existing cafe area to make it a slightly cozier 1,000 square feet. The front room has 22 seats total, arranged at a communal table, smaller tables, and a window counter.
The window counter was crafted from reclaimed cypress by woodworker Joel Passovoy. A glass pastry case is part of the setup, and uplighting helps the room glow. Anderson said it “kind of feels like the oven.”
Design details inside the space
Anderson, a former pro skater, was inspired by a half-pipe, so there is a curving wooden ramp flipped upside down and built into the ceiling. Shades of golden brown on terra-cotta tiles and the granite counter echo freshly baked bread. The room combines the bakery’s production side with a smaller customer area, while keeping the baking operation at the center of the warehouse.
Diners had not been inside the warehouse for six years, after Vive la Tarte used the space to bake viral croissant-tacos before the pandemic. Rize Up’s cafe now changes that arrangement by opening the front of the warehouse to customers while the back continues to support bread production.
Delays, damage, and community support
The cafe took four years to complete because of delays. In 2023, burglars broke in overnight and stole cash and equipment. In 2024, a fire broke out next door, and flooding reached the bakery. Anderson estimates that each incident cost him more than $100,000 in lost labor, ingredients, and sales.
He said the silver lining was how the community rallied. “It was like, ‘We got you,’” he said. Anderson has bootstrapped the business without investors since the beginning, and donations helped the team get back on track with construction.
Anderson attended SF Cooking School. Rize Up Bakery is San Francisco’s first Black-owned sourdough bakery, and the cafe opening adds a new chapter to the SoMa operation.