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https://sfstandard.com/2024/12/13/oakland-bar-kon-tiki-instagram-rant/

When news broke Wednesday that the Kon-Tiki, a downtown Oakland cocktail
spot, will close Dec. 22 after seven years of mai tais and shrimp tacos,
it seemed like only the latest struggling operation to throw in the bar
towel.

But the closure drew added attention Friday morning, when the bar’s
Instagram account roared to life with a blistering message aimed at the
Oakland Police Department, mean and incompetent city officials, “bonehead” employees, and “Karen M on Yelp” who “wishes you’d close because a server forgot her mayo.” The rant noted that business has been slow, but the combination of break-ins and burdensome regulatory requirements, like
training mandates, is what ultimately did in the bar.

thekontikioakland
Rumors are true folx. Twice in a gotdamn 18 month span. Yes, it’s
personally devastating so comments are OFF because you can keep your idiot opinions to yourself.
Why close? Because we have just been Super Fucking Slow. And we can’t pay anything because we’re broke as a joke. We tried to hold on but just can’t
in this, the winter of civilization. We had a good run. Had some great
people work here; and some real boneheads too. But will I miss this?
Absolutely 100% not. It has been an awful, unforgiving job running this
place in this town. The shit piles on without respite or relief. Every day running a small business in Oakland (or probably in any depressed major metropolitan downtown) is a living nightmare. Break ins, police
indifference, bureaucratic ineptitude greed inaction and just plum
meanness, the leeches this industry has produced pulling every cent they
can out of us for “services” and fees, stupid sign and training mandates
which don’t protect the public or the workers but line pockets in well
lobbied industries, the list goes on and on and on. There are more reasons
not to do this than to keep doing it. Guys, don’t do this unless you are already rich. Because it really really sucks. You work your ass off just
so Karen M on Yelp can tell you she wishes you’d close because a server
forgot her mayo. Fuck This. You have two weeks to enjoy what should have
been an institution. Don’t ask our staff about it, they don’t owe you a
goddamn thing. Don’t ask to buy our decorations and shit, it’s rude. We
will announce an official carcass picking if it’s going to happen. Come in
and be nice because if you aren’t, you’ll get kicked out because we don’t
care anymore what you think. We are losing our jobs. So if service isn’t
on point and things take too long or you have to wait for a table, that’s
just too fucking bad. It’s been a mostly rotten 7 years with some good
shit. Thanks everyone, WE’LL SEE YOU IN HELL!
Edited · 5d

Comments on the post were turned off. The Standard reached out to the Kon-
Tiki for details, and owner Christ (“crist”) Aivaliotis confirmed that he
wrote the message. His heartbreaking tirade resembles an October rant from Michelin-starred chef Peter Hemsley of the recently closed South of Market restaurant Aphotic. Hemsley’s post decried the lack of business at the
Moscone Center and Aphotic’s location near the “ugly butt end of a
desolate convention center suck hole.”

Named for Thor Heyerdahl’s boat used in his 1947 adventure across the
Pacific, the Kon-Tiki is known for rum- and pisco-forward tropical drinks
with names like Virgin’s Sacrifice and Crater of Excalbia. Tiki culture,
with its casual blending of Caribbean and South Pacific influences, has
faced a backlash in recent years for alleged cultural appropriation.

Problematic associations aside, the Kon-Tiki owner anticipated questions
about the fate of the bar’s lively interior and glassware, announcing a “carcass-picking” at an unspecified date. “Don’t ask to buy our
decorations and shit,” the post read. “It’s rude.”

Reached for comment, Aivaliotis reaffirmed the thrust of the post, the
tone of which he described as “spicy.” He also distinguished his love for Oakland from his frustration with the bureaucracy of city government. As
he and team were constantly trying play triage with everything that went
wrong, the Kon-Tiki simply ran out of operating capital. “It’s not
Oakland’s fault,” he said. “It’s a heap of other things.”

Aivaliotis was a co-owner of Palmetto, another downtown Oakland bar that
closed in October 2023. He also owns Little Hill Lounge in El Cerrito,
which he described as “thriving.”

In spite of his love for the city and its residents, Aivaliotis’ message strongly suggested the near-impossibility of succeeding as a small
business in Oakland. “It has been an awful, unforgiving job running this
place in this town. The shit piles on without respite or relief,” the post said. “Don’t do this unless you’re already rich.”

This post has been updated with additional comment from owner Christ Aivaliotis.


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