Cafe Cocomo Closed This Week
Posted August 9, 2012 by Takeshi
Cafe Cocomo, which was closed last week for renovations, continues to be closed this week. That means no Salsa By Jake and no Taste Fridays this weekend. Cafe Cocomo should hopefully be opening up again next week, but in the meantime check out our Salsa Calendar to see what other events you can go to to get your salsa fix!
UPDATE: It appears that Cafe Cocomo may be closing for good. There are now eviction notices posted on the club’s doors, and according to court documents (see comments below) the management has not paid rent in over a year. The final verdict is not in yet, but for the time being it looks like Cafe Cocomo may be no more.
SalsaCrazy Tuesdays has now moved to the Rockit Room, but the other events have not yet found a new home. We will keep you posted here with any new updates regarding Cocomo.
Wishful thinking that Cafe Cocomo will reopen. If you follow the online superior court filings and discovery documents, it is hard to see how they will reopen (stranger things have happened though). No more lease (they had a below market rate lease), and, they have tried 3 times to move to Federal courts and all 3 times fed rejected their motion. So state ruling stands.
BTW, they were served an eviction notice, not closed for “repairs”.
The link to court filings are at:
http://webaccess.sftc.org/scripts/magic94/Mgrqispi94.dll?APPNAME=IJS&PRGNAME=CaseSearch22&ARGUME
Search by “cafe cocomo” or the case id is CUD-10-634003
Interesting, I was not aware of all these court proceedings. Hopefully, they can manage to keep Cocomo open, it would be a shame to see another landmark salsa spot in the City close (following the closure of Glas Kat earlier this year).
Most clubs make their money at the bar. Most salsa dancers are not the 3 – 4 drinks Long island ice tea type of alcohol drinkers. The only way Cocomo could have survived (they are done for all intents and purposes) would be to raise the door fee to around ($20 / $25 per person ) or to go back to having the Hip Hop crowds in there but thats a whole other set of problems (leave your guns and performance testosterone at the door). Good thing is that places that are run with the Ballroom business model, like Allegro (love it or dislike it), will continue to survive until their lease runs out too.
I definitely enjoy a few drinks when I go out dancing, but I can see how that might not be the norm. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
There’s an interesting history to this eviction notice. It was filed by a small firm out of Nevada that “happens to own” the ironworks building across the street from Cocomo. This courtroom battle has been going on for almost 2 years. I’d hate to think of the legal fees involved but it looks like the “Reno firm” had the upper hand. Rumor has it that Cocomo’s owner didn’t pay rent for a year because the building owners didn’t want to do repairs. I don’t know how true that is but it appears that this eviction may actually hold.
It is sad that one of the best places for salsa music is not open. For some reason at my place the rock music nights are much more successful. Either way we still love Latino music at our restaurant and invite everyone to check it out. Every Friday from 7 to 10 pm, (Our permit only allows music till 11:00) FB pafe: http://www.facebook.com/events/467340856619694/
There is no rumor. You can read the fact on the San Fran Superior court website if you want to take the time to read all the documents
Bottom line is that the landlord was probably not the smartest business man. The defendant, the owner of Cocomo, was trying to shirk his contractual financial responsibilities. Cocomo’s defense arguments are creative.
What is sort of uncomfortable is the realization that we have been enjoying a club based on screwing over the financial interests (landlord) of someone else. Club business is largely a cash business with a lot of unreported/untaxed revenue. I was previously under the impression that the Club was not making money and unfortunately fell for that explanation as explained to me (I am dumb too) . If you see the significant real estate assets of the owner of Cocomos (as was brought to my attention a few days ago) I now have a different perspective.
The judge on Sept 5 deems Defendant’s Wanigatunga five removals of this action to the Federal Court as repeated abuses, each time in case being remanding, in no uncertain terms, due to lack of jurisdiction. And notes that Plaintiff may seek relief in State Court.
Sure do hope that something like Cocomos with a reputable ownership (if such a thing exists in the salsa night club business) does come into being to fill this void
Well, it “appears” they that Cocomo’s owner got the building back. Now it’s all wait and see what happens. Their website hasn’t been updated in 2 weeks and there’s no indication of when they’ll re-open. I’m assuming (hoping) for Thurs, Sept 13. Lots of “positive rumors” flying around about the re-opening but nothing to substantiate it.