Ike's Place is a popular sandwich shop in San Francisco's Castro neighborhood. It's known for giant, flavorful fare with names like "Lizzie's Lips" "Back Stabber" and "Name of Girl I'm Dating." Ike's was scheduled to close down Wednesday after the owner, Ike Shehadeh lost his eviction case in San Francisco Superior case Tuesday morning. He was expected to turn over the keys Wednesday, but a legal misstep has put everything on hold for now.
"They evicted me, they evicted my mother but they didn't evict Ike's Place. How does that work? Well it's a corporation," Shehadeh said.
Ike's Place opened in November of 2008 and is now so popular that people are willing to wait in line for an hour or more. The problem, neighbors who live above Ike's Place hate the crowds, the noise, and the smell. The landlord also wants Ike's out.
"This is like a really iconic place, especially in this neighborhood and I think it's unfortunate the neighbors really don't see it that way," customer Calvin Lin said.
The neighbors and landlord have been able to take advantage of city law to try to evict Shehadeh. He has a permit to operate a coffee shop, but his place is handling food, meaning a different permit is required. He applied for one, but the landlord objected and began eviction proceedings. Superior Court Judge Peter Busch agreed, and chastised Shehadeh's lawyers for failing to submit the proper paperwork to fight the eviction.
Now it turns out there's a technical error in Shehadeh's favor. He says the other side named him and his mother as those to be evicted, but failed to name Ike's Place itself. That paperwork error will now buy him time. The sheriff's office says the eviction is on hold. Ike's opponents now have 48 hours to file new court papers and then a new court date will be set. In the meantime, the sandwiches continue to be sold, and the line continues to grow.
