What happened to Creeky Tiki? ‘For lease’ sign goes up in window of downtown SLO bar

What happened with Creeky Tiki?

It’s a question that’s been on the lips of people who noticed the downtown San Luis Obispo bar and restaurant has been somewhat mysteriously shut up for months.

At first, the messaging was that the business was preparing for renovations — in fact, the business’ website still reads “Creeky Tiki in San Luis Obispo is currently closed for remodel” as of Wednesday.

But that no longer appears to be the case. In recent days, the Higuera Street business began sporting a “for lease” sign in its large front window, indicating a more permanent end to what was once a popular downtown spot.

So what happened?

When reached for comment Wednesday, former owner Bill Hales — whose company, ASH Management, has operated a number of downtown bars and restaurants over the years — said the business closed “about a year ago.”

Hales and several partners formed Creeky Corp. to purchase the business in 2014.

“The owners of the buildings have some remodel plans, but we just feel the downtown environment, as far as restaurants are concerned, is not for us at this time,” Hales told The Tribune.

Building owners want to renovate downtown SLO property

As of Wednesday, a listing for the 2,373-square-foot Creeky Tiki space was online on the Richardson-Sotheby’s International Real Estate website, though no leasing price was listed.

“Prime retail location (in) downtown San Luis Obispo,” the listing reads. “Creekside patio negotiable.”

On Wednesday, listing agent Bill Carpenter said the restaurant space was put on the market “just in the last week.”

“It’s available, and we are happy to show it to an interested restaurant or retail business,” he told The Tribune.

According to Carpenter, the property owners have planned to renovate the five buildings along the corner of Higuera and Chorro streets for some time.

The Davis family bought those buildings — which beside Creeky Tiki also house The Network Shopping Center, Avanti and other businesses — as part of an estate sale in 2018.

Carpenter said the family “put together some beautiful plans” for the property that called for a new four-story, mixed-use development, but those faced pandemic delays and some push-back from the city, so they’ve since been set aside.

“They are still in the process of trying to figure out what they want to do,” Carpenter said.

That seems to have put Creeky Tiki is a difficult spot, as in the meantime it needed costly upgrades to its kitchen, but the business owners “didn’t want to commit money without a long-term plan,” he added.

“It kind of went round and round,” Carpenter said. “Right now our goal is to rent that to a retailer, possibly short-term. Maybe a restaurant.”

Carpenter said the leasing price was left open-ended because it would depend on how long a potential tenant wanted to commit to the space. He added that market rate in the downtown area is generally about $3 to $4 per square foot.

What happens to Creeky Tiki liquor licenses?

Hales said his company will continue to hold Creeky Tiki’s liquor licenses “for a little bit longer,” though it will probably use them for a business outside of downtown San Luis Obispo at some point.

As of Monday, the business’s three liquor licenses — two for on-sale general eating spaces and one for catering — were all still listed as active, though they are set to expire in July, according to the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control website.

No disciplinary action or history was listed for the business on the ABC website, though it did note that operating restrictions were in place on the licenses. Further details on what those restrictions are were not immediately available.

The Tribune has requested records related to the license, but under state law, the department has up to 10 days to determine if those records are available to the public.