Pegasus Food Shop

What is the point of this place? No, really? They don’t sell anything. Are they laundering money or they just simply that awesomely weird? We’ll never know, but for now it’s a great conversation topic with our guests. Thank you existing Pegasus.

They’ve (finally) been shut down.

Twilight zone.
Shady old asian lady: What you doing here?!
Me: Can I buy some Jameson?
SOAL: No Jameson!
Me: Ok how about a bottle of champagne?
SOAL: WHAT CHAMPAGNE?!
Me: Ok never mind you’re crazy.
SOAL: NO, YOU’RE CRAZY!
I don’t know what they sell here, but I’m not buying it. Triad front for sure.

My friend actually lives above this place, and when I was coming to visit, he told me not to make direct eye contact with the market, or I might die by eye contact alone. Of course, I was immediately intrigued. Looking in the place, it really is just a very expensive hoarders closet. tt’s the dirtiest, dustiest «store» I’ve ever seen in my life.
It was Christmas Eve, and when I got to my friend’s place he had a little Christmas tree. He bought it from Pegasus (the owner’s name is David by the way) for $ 10.00. The next day when we were leaving, I unfortunately very much needed tampons. Half joking, he said, «ask David if he has any». We peer in the door on Christmas, and see him sitting there with his mother sitting in a distant corner (judging). My friend James asks David how many other suckers bought a Christmas tree from him. David proceeds to tell us, oh I sold one other tree to another guy (yah right). I then say sheepishly, do you have any tampons? He shuffles back in the shop, and comes back with a box of tampons. He looks at me and says «uh just give me like a dollar for them». Um ok. I was really afraid that I would instantly get tss from these tampons, probably from 1942 and made out of deer skin, but I survived and I only paid like a dollar for them. So all in all, 5 stars.

zero stars would be more appropriate! why the dept of health hasn’t closed down this place is a huge mystery. what the heck does the owner, a very dirty looking asian guy, do all day. i have lived nearby for many years, and i have come to the conclusion that he is running some sort of illegal activity here. the place is a mess and disgusting. how about all of us calling the health department and reporting this filthy place to them. he should not be in business! call 311 and make your report. it’s a real disgrace!
in the past, i have seen mice in the window and he used to have a cat to kill them. i don’t think he sells food anymore cause it was always expired and old. he steals newspapers and sells them along with his dead orchid plants. very strange and suspicious.

This place is right at the end of my block, so I stopped in one morning to get my pre-​school Red Bull fix and was horrified by what I saw when I walked in. It smelled really weird and reminded me of an episode of hoarders. There was stuff EVERYWHERE! I have no idea which items they were selling and which items were just laying there. It seems like some old, crazy person who has never thrown anything away lives there. I asked if they had any Red Bull and they guy had to go searching through the entire refrigerator case to find the ONE can that they had stashed in the back.
Very, very weird and dirty and smelly and no amount of convenience will ever make me go back there. I’d rather walk an extra block up and pay 5x as much at the crazy over-​priced Searchlight Market on Hyde than go through that experience again.

This is a very sad situation. What was once a thriving neighborhood business has now become an eyesore, an object of ridicule and amusement, not to mention, quite possibly, a health hazard.
I grew up in this neighborhood and remember the original owner, a nice Greek man, hence the name Pegasus. The place was a well kept, busy corner store where we would regularly buy the late-​bake Larraburu French Bread in the afternoon, milk, penny candy and lots of other normal things. In the 60’s it was taken over by Larry, and continued it’s high quality and constant service to the neighborhood. He was such a nice man, a hard worker who kept a well stocked, busy corner market. He passed away probably about 10 years ago and his son David inherited it. Things have certainly gone WAY downhill since then.
I am not a doctor, but it is quite obvious that this poor guy has some serious mental illness going on. It’s quite entertaining to speculate about him having a gambling den and prostitution ring going on in the basement, but truly, there is no way he could be managing any such thing. He is mentally ill, plain and simple. Why his remaining family members don’t intervene and help get this great little goldmine of a store going again is perplexing. The only reason it is still in operation, if you could call it that, is that he owns the building. What a sad waste of prime commercial space. His dad worked so hard for so many years to create a thriving and viable business. He is probably rolling over in his grave. It would be so nice for the neighborhood to have a happening little corner store once again.
Poor David… I feel sorry for him. His store has achieved mythic status for all the wrong reasons. I haven’t set foot inside Pegasus in YEARS, nor do I intend to anytime soon.

This place IS SOOO NUTS, and it must be a cover or a front for some sort of human trafficking/​gambling/​drug ring. We now send in unsuspecting friends as a prank. «no really its great in there»
Now all I want from the place is some of the wine stashed away.

Good golly I absolutely love this place.
I brought my mom in there once — she’s a polite Midwesterner who keeps her house spotlessly clean. She still talks about it, shaking her head in disbelief.
I went in once and asked for Advil. The infamous Chinese owner creaked up from behind the counter, shuffled to a tattered pile of random crap, sifted thru it for a minute, then found a two-​pack of Advil buried near the bottom — the kind you might get in an airplane. Must have been 10 years old. I bought it and left, full of wonder.
I’m so happy this place is still around. It’s got to be one of my absolute favorite places in the city. Sublimely beautiful in its decrepitude.
All that said, I’d avoid purchasing any perishables. :)

I was finally able to get inside lat time I walked by. The owner was in his typical position — chair blocking the entry hallway. I asked if he had any milk whatsoever. He angrily said «no!» and got up to push me out of the store. Great experience as expected :)

I haven’t been inside in a few years, but I walk past Pegasus several times a week.
I once thought this would be a local store I could run to if I needed eggs or milk on short notice but now I’ve dubbed this place THE INCONVENIENCE STORE. Basically if it’s something you would want to buy, it’s not here — if it’s something you’d pay someone to get rid of it, this is where they will have brought it.
I used to think it was a one-​of-​a-​kind place but having been to the [now closed] store in the garage of the Transamerica Pyramid where they had an IKEA catalog for sale for months I now know otherwise.

I think this store is called Pegasus because it’s kind of like a unicorn… it’s very hard to believe that it still exists! Most of the stuff in here is literally junk and I’m pretty sure all of the food expired a couple years ago… It’s so, so strange… I wonder what year this store opened. I just realized that some of their newspapers (which also appear VERY old!) might have a bit of history in them… I guess those might be worthwhile!

This place either deserves zero stars or five stars. Depending on the experience you’re looking for. Mine went a little like this…
It was about 8pm, I had just landed in SF and hadn’t eaten since before noon. I was staying at a friend’s place on Larkin and headed out to meet a few friends. Waiting to catch the 45, I figured I could run in and grab a quick snack (i.e. a bag of chips). I walk through the door to discover a clusterfuck of… cluster. The ederly woman behind the counter pays no attention to me, but I am quickly stopped by the man (who clearly didn’t want me taking one more step).
Shady Asian Dude: «What choo want?»
Me: «Just looking to grab something to eat.»
Shady Asian Dude: «What choo want to eat?»
Me: «I don’t know… something small.»
Shady Asian Dude: «We don’t got nothing small. Now get outta here!»
I walked across the street bewildered and empty handed. Shady dude then proceeded to peer at me through the window, before walking to the door and stare at me from there.
My immediate response was to text my friend and tell him how shady/​creepy the place is. His reply: «Oh god. You went in there?»
Why 5 stars then? Well, I love SF and have visited several times. Never before have I had an experience so memorable. Also, their prices on hookers are quite reasonable… I assume.

This place is very bizarre and probably a front for some type of drug-​prostitution-​gambling ring. There is no way they make their money by «normal» means. They have odd hours and kick out any potential customers from actually buying anything. I saw an old man walk in and it was like watching a mouse go into a snake tank… I couldn’t look away. He meandered out a short time later, empty handed. All I could think to myself when I saw this was, «shocking.»
It’s definitely a must-​go for an odd experience and weird story to tell your friends, but don’t go in expecting to buy anything of use.

Give this place some love,
Chaos up on Russian Hill,
Makes me feel quite sane.

I live in the neighborhood. Years ago, I stopped in to buy milk. I was afraid, but desperate. After seeing only small pints, I asked the shopkeeper if he had any half-​gallons of milk. Yes, he sure did. He reached way back into the cooler case, then handed me a gallon of milk which was only half-​way filled.
I stayed away until about a month ago when, desperate again, I needed a Wall Street Journal (crossword). They had one crumpled up in the stand outside the door. In the corner of the paper, I could see where a subscription label was peeled off.
Hello, isn’t this stuff illegal?

How does this place have two stars? And why hasn’t it been shut down by the Department of Sanitation?
I stopped here on the way to a friend’s house to pick up an item. Upon entry I became completely disoreinted — was this place open? Were they closing down? Had they just moved in here? Was this a garage sale?
The owner obviously sensed my disorientation but was happy to find my item in the back; I certainly could not have found it myself.
Thankfully my husband was with me, or I might have been kidnapped. This place looks like a store where a dead body or two might be hanging out.
Definitely check this horrific spectacle out, but I’d advise against any purchases there.

Seriously, WTF is up with this place?! No words can accurately depict how much I really mean that.
This corner store is only open at night, and the Chinese owner sits 6 ft in from the front door, surrounded by garbage (I’m not kidding). There is a rope that stretches across the isle behind him so no one can venture into the inner-​sanctum of crap. What do they actually sell here? I can’t even imagine picking something up here, other than tuberculosis.

Best feed store for a pegasus I have ever come across. My pegasus loves this place! Also good for leprechaun outfits and bigfoot grooming products.

I was going to give this place 5 stars, because its really allsome and horrendous. Its spectacular. But I wouldn’t want anyone to actually go there for any reason other than curiosity, so I’m giving it one star.
I have a think this place is a front for an illegal Chinese gambling front. If you know the password, there is a trap door in the back that leads to an underground world of pai gow, poker tables, and cock fights. Who knew such excitement lay underneath the intersection of Union and Larkin. I really need to get that password.
Really Long Background Story:
The first time I came to Pegasus was way back in 2000. I was new resident to the city, and I thought I’d be a good guy and bring back a six pack of beer for me and my roommate to help us get a little pre-​party action going. Upon walking in, I was immediately greeted with a formaldehyde-​like stench. It was similar to your grandmother’s house, is she were incontinent and senile. Undeterred, I headed to the back cooler for my beer. The temperature of the cooler was a svelte 55 degrees. There was also rancid milk and moldy cheese.
I bought the beer out of curiosity. I wanted to see if my roommate could tell if something was wrong. If there wasn’t alcohol in the beer, I might have been worried that I would kill him. I figured it was worth the risk.
When I gave him the beer, he knew something was wrong. Maybe it was the dust and dirt on the bottle. Maybe it was the off putting temperature and odor. He took a sip and spit immediately. I laughed.