Since he opened the doors to his Peasant Pies restaurant at Mission Bay in 2009, store owner Ali Keshavarz has been a part of the UCSF community. But his connection to UCSF started long before that.
When his daughter was born in 2004, she had a medical condition that required her to be in and out of the hospital. During that period, Keshavarz developed a special relationship with the people at UCSF - the doctors, support staff, everyone he met. It was then that he knew he wanted to part of the UCSF community, and he began working with the Campus Life Services Retail team to develop a store at the new Mission Bay campus.
Fourteen years later, Keshavarz has seen the UCSF campus grow along with the Mission Bay neighborhood. “There are a lot more people living at Mission Bay,” he said. “We’re seeing more customers on the weekend who live here.”
Keshavarz said the installation of cabanas, large umbrellas and new tables along the Gene Friend Way Plaza has created a European atmosphere. “There are no cars, and that helps make the space beautiful,” he said. “The cabanas are creating an oasis for people to get together and have lunch and enjoy each other’s company.”
Customers are also attracted to the food at Peasant Pies, and it’s not just the hand-held pies that are the hallmark of the restaurant. “Our organic quinoa and lentil salad is very popular,” Keshavarz said. “People want healthy options. That’s why we embraced the university’s Healthy Beverage Initiative when it launched in 2015. Our business is built around a healthy concept. My wife is a nutritionist and we worked together to design our menu. Our restaurant is literally a healthy fast-food café, and the Healthy Beverage Initiative was a perfect fit for us.”
Keshavarz also went through the process of becoming a certified green business with the City of San Francisco. Completing the process had less to do with business and more to do with Keshavarz’s personal philosophy. “I practice the principles of sustainability at home, so it made perfect sense to do the same at my business,” he said. “The foundation of my business is built on sustainability.”
Keshavarz has introduced a new loyalty program to reward his regular customers. “You don’t have to carry a loyalty card. You simply put in your cell phone number, and you get a loyalty discount.”
Customers will also notice that Keshavarz has upgraded the restaurant’s coffee. “We source our coffee from a local roaster that gets its beans from a plantation in Guatemala. It’s the same coffee you find in high-end coffee shops. We’ve also expanded our selection of cold drinks.”
While business hasn’t quite returned to pre-pandemic levels, Keshavarz said he sees more and more customers visiting the restaurant. “People are coming to work, and they seem happy to talk with us and other customers. It’s good to get out of the house. There is no social interaction when you work from home.”
Keshavarz has a communal table inside the restaurant and people gather with friends, and sometimes strangers, during lunch. “It’s not just coworkers sitting around the table. People come in and chat with complete strangers while they eat their lunch. They are happy to be around other people.”
Keshavarz also owns Peasant Pies restaurants in Noe Valley and the Inner Sunset. He said all three locations attract different clientele. “Our customers at Mission Bay are bound together by academics, scientific research, and a focus on health,” he said. “We are happy to be part of the Mission Bay community.”
Eat, Shop, Cater with Campus Retailers.
