San Francisco’s Asian-inspired café brand shuttered both locations amid separate rent disputes and a $200,000 court judgment, with no public word from ownership.
Arrive on Valencia Street looking for a matcha order and what you find instead is a locked door. No press release. No closing-weekend sendoff. Just a dark storefront where Outset Coffee used to be — and, buried in court records, a story considerably less photogenic than the drinks.
Both of Outset’s San Francisco locations have closed. The landlords claim significant losses. And founder Toby Sun did not respond to media requests for comment, according to SF Chronicle reporting.
Two Locations, Two Disputes, One Outcome
Separate lawsuits, a reported $200,000 judgment, and a business that went silent in court.
The two closures unfolded through distinct legal channels.
At the downtown shop on New Montgomery Street, landlord 90 New Montgomery Partners served Outset a three-day notice in October 2025, alleging over $121,000 in unpaid rent against a reported monthly base of $9,500. A San Francisco Superior Court judge awarded possession in December 2025. When the Sheriff’s Office attempted the eviction in January 2026, the premises were already empty. According to the SF Chronicle, the Sheriff’s Office later confirmed Outset had vacated the space in August 2026.
The Mission District case carried a steeper financial toll. The Valencia Street landlord alleged Outset stopped paying rent after 2024, with more than $100,000 owed by April 2025 — despite a lease reportedly running through 2028. A court issued a $200,000 judgment covering back rent, attorney fees, and interest, according to SF Chronicle reporting. That figure covers the Mission dispute specifically; combined landlord claims across both locations exceeded $223,000. Outset did not respond to either lawsuit in court, per the Chronicle’s account of the records.
A Bigger Pattern
Sun’s wider beverage portfolio has reportedly faced similar landlord disputes across multiple cities.
Toby Sun is not only an SF café operator. He co-founded Lime, the scooter company, before stepping down as CEO in 2019 and eventually opening Outset’s first location in June 2023. His other beverage venture, Zero& — a fruit-focused tea chain that reportedly expanded to roughly a dozen locations across the Bay Area, Southern California, and Boston — has also faced reported rent delinquencies and eviction proceedings at multiple sites, according to Yahoo News.
No official closure announcement for Outset has been identified in available reporting, and Sun did not respond to media inquiries.
The gap between venture-pedigree ambition and month-to-month commercial reality is familiar terrain in San Francisco. Beloved Treats and businesses alike have vanished from the city’s landscape with little explanation, and whether the business behind Outset’s well-regarded drinks was ever on stable financial footing remains, for now, unanswered.
Customers reportedly discovered the Valencia Street closure only by showing up. No farewell post, no closed sign with a thank-you note — just an empty room behind glass. Sometimes that absence is the only announcement a business makes.
