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'We'll see you in hell!': Exhausted tiki bar lashes out on Instagram

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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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'We'll see you in hell!': Exhausted tiki bar lashes out on Instagram "Leroy N. Soetoro" <democrat-insurrection@mail.house.gov> - 2024-12-19 19:34 +0000

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