What Happened to 20th Century Cafe After Food Paradise?
Food Paradise, Season 17 San Francisco, California Closed June 2021
Current status
As of October 2026, 20th Century Cafe has closed — confirmed via hoodline.com, April 29, 2021.
What the source shows: Hoodline's April 2021 article, quoting owner Michelle Polzine, reports the cafe's closure that June, and the business's site is now unreachable while a Google Places listing marks it permanently closed. How we decide a status →
- Episode Season 17, Episode 13
- Address 198 Gough St, San Francisco, CA 94102
- Website 20thcenturycafe.com
- Show map
© OpenStreetMap contributors © CARTO
What happened after Food Paradise?
20th Century Cafe was a Vienna- and Prague-inspired pastry cafe and bakery in the Hayes Valley neighborhood of San Francisco, best known for its Russian honey cake as well as strudel and blintzes. According to Hoodline (April 29, 2021), owner Michelle Polzine announced the cafe would close in June 2021 after eight years on Gough Street, citing the difficulty of running a small business in San Francisco, conflict with neighbors over homeless encampments outside the cafe's door, the physically demanding pastry work, and a 2020 health scare. The same Hoodline article reported that Polzine had installed a front gate in response to the encampments, which drew accusations from other residents that she was hostile toward unhoused neighbors. Hoodline quoted Polzine saying, 'I've been through a lot..enough is enough.' A Google Places listing checked 2026-09-08 marked the business as permanently closed, and the restaurant's former website (20thcenturycafe.com) did not respond.
The episode
Also in Season 17
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Ep 13Band Box Diner
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Ep 13Big Al's Deli
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Ep 13Lexington Candy Shop
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Ep 13Matthews Cafeteria
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Before you go: Businesses change fast. Always confirm directly with the restaurant — call ahead, or check its own current website or social media — before making plans around anything on this page.
Sources we checked
- hoodline.com https://hoodline.com/2021/04/hayes-valley-s-20th-century-cafe-to-close-in-june/
We work hard to keep every status accurate and dated, but restaurants change fast and our sources aren't perfect. If something here is wrong — a status, a name, an address, anything — tell us what you're seeing and where you saw it, and we'll check it.
Record fp-1451 · checked by Cal Marchetti.