Reopenings

Ike’s Reopens, Starts Filming a Reality Series, NIMBYs Already Losing Their Minds

Photo: Bay Citizen

Today, we thought, would mark the last day Grub Street would be posting about embattled but popular sandwich shop Ike’s Place for a good long while, putting to rest a year-long press frenzy as the place reopens in new digs on 16th Street, across from the old digs they got evicted from last summer due to some NIMBY wrangling and an improper permit. But today, the Bay Citizen brings word that owner Ike Shehadeh has been keeping new publicity avenue up his sleeve: a reality show on the Discovery Channel, which just started filming today. How fascinating could a show about a sandwich shop be, you ask? We don’t know, but real-life drama already erupted on opening morning as an irate neighbor lady came storming in blaming Ike for the car that was blocking her driveway. Yep, sounds about right. In any event, barring major bloodshed, we’ll try hard to avoid posting further about Ike’s until the show actually airs, or Ike runs for Congress, whichever comes first. [Bay Citizen] Update: City Insider seems to think the show they’re shooting is called NIMBY Wars, but Ike tweets, “I hate to break it to the media — there isn’t going to be any ‘NIMBY Wars’. Ike’s Place won’t participate in that. I was a part of Assembly Member Fiona Ma’s Small Business Advisory Commission. The show’s focus: to spearhead Small Biz reform, to get City’s Departments streamlined so it could be easier for [small businesses] to get started.” Wow… that sounds way more boring than NIMBY Wars! [City Insider/Chron]

Ike’s Reopens, Starts Filming a Reality Series, NIMBYs Already Losing