Although the popular Mountain View Bierhaus has departed Castro Street, drama surrounds the beer garden as the landlords await approval for a new alcohol beverage license filed under the name Drafthaus.
According to a Statement of Information available through the California Secretary of State’s office filed in June, Khoe Tran, Nghiem Truong and their daughter Dana Tran make up 383 Castro Street LLC, the corporation named in a public notice of the Oct. 4 Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control application taped in the window of the newly vacant property.
Marked is the option, “Premises are already licensed to sell alcoholic beverages.” So why is a new license for what’s dubbed an “on-sale beer and wine eating place” being requested? Bierhaus owner Mike Finley took the license with him when he left, despite the fact it was issued to the property and not his business, alleges Hopkins & Carley attorney Maria S. Bellafronto.
Bellafronto represents the Tran family, as Khoe Tran told the Town Crier the attorney said the family speaking to the media themselves “could cause more problems.”
The Trans’ intentions have yet to be finalized, according to Bellafronto. An application to redevelop the space has yet to be submitted.
Finley is suing the Tran family under the pretense that his Bierhaus lease was being renegotiated when he and his employees were forced out. Bellafronto warned the public not to be swayed by the tenant’s claims – she believes he has no case based on California law. His lease expired and was not renewed, she said.
“There are reasons for that,” the attorney said. “He had paid rent late many times. He was not exactly a model tenant.”
Bellafronto said there is no discovery thus far that states her clients did anything wrong by declining to renew Finley’s lease. It’s their property, she added, so they can use it in whatever way they want as long as the business is run legally.
“(Finley) is going to say he was forced out,” Bellafronto said. “I’m not sure what (the Trans) will do with the (alcoholic beverage) license, but quite honestly he took the license and it was withdrawn inappropriately.”
Finley and his crew plan to relocate Bierhaus to 360 40th St. in Oakland at the end of the year, according to the business’s website. The license would not be valid for that location.
Litigation brewing
In the California Alcoholic Beverage Control Database, the application is listed as pending. Also listed under 383 Castro St.’s history are three canceled applications for the businesses 1st & Goal Bar & Grill, 383 Cafe & Oyster Bar and Castro Point, as well as two surrendered and withdrawn applications under Steak Out, a previous tenant on the site.
According to the Superior Court of California’s public portal, Finley filed suit against the Tran family Aug. 15 for “breach of contract/warranty.” The case is active, designated as “Degerli Restaurant Inc. vs. Khoe Tran et al.” Degerli Restaurant Inc. is Finley’s license name, with business partners Mehmet Degerli and Scott Snyder.
The records, available to all, also reveal that Degerli Restaurant Inc. sued K. Tran et al in 2011 for “Other Real Property Unlimited.” That case is closed/inactive.
The portal lists a case management hearing at 3:45 p.m. Nov. 27 at the Downtown Superior Courthouse in San Jose as the next court date.
Rumors fly
Former Bierhaus cashier Lizzie Bernard posted a picture on her Facebook page, where former customers and employees alike commented on the irony of the “Drafthaus” name.
“Mike said that he would be willing to pay a higher price, but the landlords did not care,” Bernard said last week.
Although rumors circulated that the lease was ending and may not be renewed, Bernard said the staff found out about the bad blood from news reports, just like everybody else. Despite two petitions submitted to the Mountain View City Council and the lawsuit, the beer garden met its end last month.
“The community is outraged, the ex-Bierhaus employees are outraged (we lost our jobs) and naming the new business Drafthaus is a completely blatant ripoff of Bierhaus,” Bernard said. “All of the Mountain View residents and Bierhaus regulars that are informed of this are absolutely going to boycott the new business. There’s a lot of buzz about boycotting Drafthaus.”
