Closings

Eddie Huang Closes Xiao Ye After More Four Loko Raids

Photo: eddiehuang/twitter

New Rule: If you’re planning to throw an all-you-can-drink Four Loko party at your restaurant, don’t blog or tweet about it. That’s what Eddie Huang did, and now, according to Eater, he has shuttered four-month-old Xiao Ye after being hit with fines stemming from three separate raids in the past weeks, some of them involving underage undercovers. When we spoke to a State Liquor Authority rep about the initial raid, he told us that the Authority wasn’t going after Huang for selling the elixir that’s been compared to “Satan’s piss” (as well as 49 other things).

Nevertheless, said the rep, “If you tell the Daily News you’re going to have an open bar, or say you’re going to cause patrons to black out, that’s something we’d look at.” And look at it they did. Huang apparently decided to sell the restaurant before he got into deeper shizzy with the S-L-izzy, and he’ll now lay low at Baohaus. It’s a strange move given that the chef just made a feel-good appearance with his mom (among other recent publicity hits), and according to the SLA’s website, the restaurant just snagged a liquor license in October that won’t expire for two years. Either way, maybe next time Huang will think twice about including an “abrasive vibe” in his business model … (Probably not!)

After SLA Crackdown, Xiao Ye Shutters For Good [Eater NY]

Eddie Huang Closes Xiao Ye After More Four Loko Raids