SF steak house Espetus causing headaches — literally — for nearby residents

Jessica Samples at the rooftop of her home that overlooks Espetus on Friday, May 10, 2019, in San Francisco, Calif. Jessica Samples at the rooftop of her home that overlooks Espetus on Friday, May 10, 2019, in San Francisco, Calif. Photo: Photos By Santiago Mejia / The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Photos By Santiago Mejia / The Chronicle Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close SF steak house Espetus causing headaches — literally — for nearby residents 1 / 4 Back to Gallery

Sometimes when Jessica Samples cracks the living room window of her Hayes Valley apartment on a sunny day, her air quality monitor jumps to orange or red. That means unhealthy air is swirling outside.

A likely culprit? The Brazilian steak house across the street.

For years, smoke has been billowing from vents on the roof of Espetus, a restaurant that specializes in meat slow-cooked over an open flame. Residents of 55 Page St., a 128-unit apartment building built in 2008, say the smoke has been causing them headaches — literally — as a pungent smell of cooked meat and charcoal penetrates their homes.

The city issued Espetus a Notice of Violation nearly a year ago for violating its conditional use permit that says the restaurant must control noise and odors “so as not to present a nuisance to nearby residents and businesses.” Meanwhile, records show that more than 244 smoke and odor complaints were filed with the Bay Area Air Quality Management District between 2009 and 2018.

Espetus has been open at 1686 Market St. since 2003 without penalty.

“It is deeply frustrating,” said Samples, who lives in a below-market-rate unit with her husband and two children. “I’ll be sitting on the couch and see it (the air quality monitor) start to climb, look over, see the restaurant is puffing, and then shut the windows.”

Her neighbors also complain about not having access to fresh air, especially on the weekends when the restaurant is busiest. Another resident, a cancer survivor, says the smoke aggravates his lung and heart issues. A group of residents hired lawyer Steven Hammond, to advise them as they deal with the city and restaurant.

Inside Radu Patrichi’s apartment on a recent Friday morning, before the restaurant hit its lunch rush, a sharp smell of smoke lingered in the air.

“And this is a good day,” he said. “It’s frustrating that they (the city and restaurant) haven’t moved quicker when there is a clear violation.”

The restaurant’s landlord, the Mosser Co., will appear before the Board of Appeals Wednesday over a Notice of Violation it received in July.

But the warnings from the city originally began in March 2018 with a Notice of Complaint. Then in May 2018, the Planning Department told Espetus to take “corrective actions” within 15 days. Within 11 days, the department agreed to give the restaurant an extension until it had a “thorough evaluation conducted by ventilation consultants.”

Espetus was then issued a Notice of Violation after a ventilation consultant said in an email to the Planning Department that the restaurant’s equipment was near or at the end of its “useful service life.”

Espetus’ general manager, Thays Klein, said the ventilation system hasn’t been changed since the restaurant opened in 2004. She said she does not know how old it was when they moved in. She admits the system needs an upgrade, and said the restaurant spent about $2,000 this year installing new equipment to try and mitigate the smell.

Still, the problem continues.

Photo: Santiago Mejia / The Chronicle Espetus Churrascaria on Friday, May 10, 2019, in San Francisco, Calif.

The restaurant appealed the Notice of Violation at an August hearing. The Planning Department denied the appeal and told the restaurant it had 15 days to fix the problem or face fines of up to $250 a day. The restaurant filed another appeal in October, but that hearing date has been delayed three times, and Espetus has never had to pay fines because it appealed the violation and was making a “good faith effort” to fix the issue, according to the Planning Department.

The department said the restaurant is working to fix the problem, but it will still have to pay $5,416 in administrative fees. Espetus may be subject to more fines if the board upholds the Notice of Violation at Wednesday’s meeting and establishes a deadline for compliance.

District Supervisor Vallie Brown said she is sympathetic to the plight of small businesses in pricey San Francisco, but when it comes to the smoke impacting nearby residents, enough is enough.

“You can’t pollute people’s apartment because of your business. That’s ridiculous,” Brown said. “That is an environmental issue. And if they are going to have a restaurant where they are going to smoke like that, they should have realized they would need to put extra precautions in.”

Klein said the restaurant and the landlord are doing everything they can to solve the problem, and it will cost tens of thousands of dollars to fix it. The restaurant is already struggling financially, she said, as business has declined and the rent has more than tripled since 2003.

“I understand the problem is real,” Klein said. “But all I’m trying to say is that it’s not an easy fix. And we’re not a big enough operation to take on that cost.”

Next door to the restaurant, Andy Gillis sat inside the Green Arcade bookstore, where the door was wide open. When asked if the smell bothered him, he just shrugged.

“Sometimes its bothersome, but it’s not bad,” said Gillis, who works at the bookstore.

Scott Chaffin, at Jonathan Rachman Design next door to Espetus, said he can often see the smoke coming from the restaurant and notices the smell. But he, too, said it doesn’t really bother him.

“Some days it’s like a haze, almost like you see a fire,” he said. “I can see it and smell it, but it doesn’t bother me. But I could understand why it bothers others.”

Steven Deming, manager of Zuni Cafe on Market Street, was even more indifferent.

“It’s never been an issue,” he said. “It’s small stuff as far as I’m concerned.”

But it’s much bigger stuff for those who live with it.

Photo: Santiago Mejia / The Chronicle The Samples� air quality monitor was in their patio for a few...

On the roof of 55 Page St., the smoky meat smell is either barely noticeable — or overwhelming— depending on the direction of the wind. A number of residents said the smoke often makes the roof and their balconies unusable.

“My partner is a senior, and cancer and pneumonia survivor, who currently is experiencing lung and heart issues, which the smoke aggravates,” resident Anthony Newland wrote in an email. “I am also a senior, an asthmatic, and the smoke has aggravated that condition.”

Samples said her family spent more than $4,000 buying air filters to mitigate the smell, and about $1,000 a year maintaining them.

“It is unjust,” said Samples, who works for a nonprofit. “I am basically cleaning up their mess with a high percentage of my low income.”

Trisha Thadani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tthadani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @TrishaThadani