Feeling withdrawal after a few days with no news about Ike’s Place? Well, cheer up.
Yesterday we had a long and remarkably candid chat with owner Ike Shehadeh about life after 16th Street, the “blatant, straight-up lie” that angers him most, and yes, the possibility of Ike’s Place relocating to the Lower Haight.
For the cave-dwellers out there, the backstory: Ike’s Place was a popular Castro sandwich shop that was forced to shut down on Monday night (or, more accurately, Tuesday morning) after a wildly successful three-year run at its 16th and Sanchez location.
A “blatant, straight-up lie”
The closure was prompted after persistent complaints from neighbors led to the shop’s eviction – although as Shehadeh contends, it was never really about the complaints.
“The problem wasn’t that the neighbors complained — it’s that the neighbors wanted compensation,” Shehadeh says.
According to Shehadeh, when neighbors had complaints – about things like noise and trash – he worked to address their concerns. “I’m not a big, bad businessman,” he says.
“It’s a blatant, straight-up lie that we were bothering the neighbors. They just wanted the money.”
“The money” he’s referring to is $800,000 that neighbors allegedly sought from Shehadeh in return for their relocation from the building. Shehadeh told us that figure actually climbed in excess of $2 million at one point.
Shehadeh also contends the neighbors effectively made life for him and his employees hell.
“They called the health inspector 18 times in 12 months. My score is a 98! It was a total waste of taxpayers’ money… I’m a taxpayer and I’m offended. They wasted my money inspecting me. If [the health inspectors] were just here last week, why would [they] come here again?”
The neighbors’ actions constituted harrassment, according to Shehadeh – and even became physical at times.
“It took a toll on my employees definitely. They were getting yelled at and bullied and physically assaulted” by neighbors, Shehadeh says. The physical assaults happened on at least two occasions – in late 2009 and early 2010 – but Shehadeh declined to offer more details, citing ongoing legal issues.
In the end, “Ike’s Place did not get shut down because it didn’t have the proper permits,” Shehadeh says. Instead, he refused to give into neighbors’ demands for compensation – and as those neighbors had the upper hand in the eyes of the landlord and the City, Shehadeh opted instead to shut down.
The ripple effect
The loss of Ike’s 16th Street location doesn’t sadden Ike Shehadeh the businessman, as he’s having continued success at his newly-launched shop at Stanford University, as well as another location in Redwood Shores.
“I’m not losing business. We’re making more now than before the Stanford store was open, when the San Francisco store was still open.”
Instead, Ike thinks surrounding businesses on 16th Street are the real victims in this whole situation – not to mention the City itself.
“A lot of our business in the San Francisco store was coming from out of town. Now that money’s not coming into the city, and the city’s losing out on that tax revenue,” in addition to the tax revenue from Ike’s itself.
“The [nearby] sandwich shop and sushi shop are going to go out of business.” And as for the former Ike’s Place location, now covered in plywood? “That place is all boarded up — do you think anybody’s going to want to move in there again?”
“Before we moved in [to the 16th Street location], homeless people were living in the doorway, pissing on their doorstep. People don’t remember that. They just want to complain… Now that whole block is going to be empty.”
Future plans
Though Shehadeh is now busy with the new Stanford shop, as well as other soon-to-launch locations, he’s hoping Ike’s Place will return to San Francisco — in some form — very soon. From a business perspective, however, he’s in no rush.
“I do feel that it’s very, very, very expensive to do business in San Francisco already. Because it’s a privilege to do business in this city… But I think it’s ridiculous that I had to lose a 2.5 million dollar business just because two people complained.”
So, Shehadeh wants some assurances from his next landlord.
“They need to financially guarantee that they’re not going to let some residential tenant bully us.”
That means a clause that, if Ike’s Place were to face eviction again due to residential tenants, the landlord would be required to offer Ike’s Place compensation. Shehadeh knows of other restaurants — including at least one in the Lower Haight – that have such clauses in their leases. But so far, every potential landlord he has met with has either been unfamiliar with the arrangement or resistant to it.
The Lower Haight?
So, this brings us to the big question – what about the Lower Haight?
Yes, Shehadeh is aware of the Facebook campaign to bring Ike’s Place to the neighborhood, and has definitely entertained the thought. He visited several spaces, including the old Roland’s Bakery and Burger Joint locations.
“I really liked the Roland’s location. I really liked it. I loved it. LOVED it,” he says.
He even got as far as pursuing a contract with the landlord.
“The terms were exactly what I wanted” — except for the lack of the aforementioned compensation clause. And for Shehadeh, that’s a deal-breaker.
“[Neighbors] complain about lines outside Kate’s Kitchen, they complain about people outside Toronado,” he says, so Shehadeh fears a similar situation is likely to arise, and wants some assurance that his next landlord will be on his side.
In the meantime, he’s been approached by reps from the other cities, and even other countries, to open Ike’s Place locations outside of San Francisco.
But that doesn’t mean he’s giving up on the city.
Instead, Ike’s Place is likely to re-emerge not as a standalone shop, but as a temporary pop-up shop, or “store-within-a-store,” as Shehadeh puts it. A short-term lease would alleviate his concerns about eviction threats, while still allowing him to have a presence in the city.
The timing on that, again, is… soon.
As for the fans…
Finally, Shehadeh sounds genuinely grateful about his experience in San Francisco, despite the ugliness.
“I just want to thank everybody in San Francisco for supporting us. If it wasn’t for them and their passion for Ike’s Place,” the business wouldn’t have grown to the position it’s in today, he says. “Especially not in three years. It’s remarkable.”
Though this could be our last Ike’s-related post, we sure hope it isn’t. As always, we’ll keep you updated with any new developments.