USVI-On-Line

I think the basics of this whole thing are that you don't crush fellow St Johnians especially when they are good people. When you do, there is emotional backlash. This island has long resisted the cut-throat nastiness of business in the states, but it creeps in sometimes and when it hurts people you have known for years it does not matter whether a legal precedent exists or not. It is not right to steal someones hard work, even if it is not legally stealing. I would be quite surprised if the paradise cafe folks end up using the name as I am sure they realize now that they are taking intellectual property at the least. In response to earlier posts, the name of the business is often kept, but that generally relates to a sale of some sort rather then a forced situation. This came about in only days and has some dark feelings behind it, all St Johnians can likely agree that it seems dirty.

I understand now that the name was registered. If the new tenants (they are not owners because they did not buy the business) use the name they certainly will have some legal issues.

Bottom line is this: many of us here have recommended the Surly Cantina to others on this forum. People on the forum have the right to know that the new place is NOT the Surly Cantina we all have been recommending.

Do with that information what you like.

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SJ, from the readings, I get the impression that the rent they were paying was discounted during the slow season. It seems that the increase in the rent was the rent due and also the 'make up' for the past discounted rent.

As an aside. I would think that rent of $6600.00 per month is a lot for any small business. Seems to come out to about 330 tacos at 20.00 each and I don't think that's the case.

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I think that there are very few truths about this situation printed on this forum. People are reacting to what they think are facts, and they do not know the facts.

It would be good if people would be a little slower to post nastiness about people they don't know.

These "new owners" are the lease holders of the space (previously Paradise Cafe). There are reasons that that the Surly Cantina is no longer.

The person who wrote the "burn down" post should apologize to the owners and to this forum.

madelon wrote:I think that there are very few truths about this situation printed on this forum. People are reacting to what they think are facts, and they do not know the facts.

It would be good if people would be a little slower to post nastiness about people they don't know.

These "new owners" are the lease holders of the space (previously Paradise Cafe). There are reasons that that the Surly Cantina is no longer.

The person who wrote the "burn down" post should apologize to the owners and to this forum.

Not sure if you are referring to my post. I referenced that comment from a Facebook posting as an example of how nasty things had become and reason why it is probably not best to form opinions on a subject with remarks like that floating around.

No one made that comment on the Forum.

We just got back yesterday and the location closed (all signage taken down) while we were there. When we arrived the Surly Cantina signage and hours were up and we saw it open a couple of times during the day, but never at night. We noticed all the signs were down either Thursday or Friday pm.

Of course there is a lot more to this story! I work in the complex and I do know that since the day Surly Cantina closed, the lease holders have been rigorously cleaning out the place. This spot, and several others in Wharfside were shut down by the health department. It is also my understanding that the lease holders have no intention of running the spot with the Surly Cantina name. I know that people are upset that Craig and Suzanne are no longer in the spot. I can understand that....but please understand that there is more to this story and many of the things that have been said are simply not true. I hope the Surly Cantina finds a new home soon! I wish Craig and Suzanne all the best!

madelon wrote:I think that there are very few truths about this situation printed on this forum. People are reacting to what they think are facts, and they do not know the facts.

It would be good if people would be a little slower to post nastiness about people they don't know.

These "new owners" are the lease holders of the space (previously Paradise Cafe). There are reasons that that the Surly Cantina is no longer.

The person who wrote the "burn down" post should apologize to the owners and to this forum.

I feel bad for the Paradise Cafe people who are on the hook for a lot of back rent.

stjohnjulie wrote: This spot, and several others in Wharfside were shut down by the health department.

Are the restaurants that were closed down by the health department reopened? It's good to know that there are health codes that are in place but wondering how bad an infraction has to be to get shut down.

Most of the places are re-opened. I don't know how bad most of them were, but I do know Mojo was shut down because they didn't have a three basin sink (not such a bad infraction!). The Surly Cantina had a very bad overall rating, and that spot is the only one not open yet. They will open with a new name, Love City. The leaseholders gave that place a SERIOUS scrub down and will have it reinspected in the next day or so. Beach Bar, Joe's Rum Hut, Cruz Bay Pizza, and IScream were also shut down, but I don't know what the infractions were. It could have been something as simple as the bartender not wearing a shirt with sleeves.... it just depends on who does the inspection. Wharfside was having MAJOR sewage issues and the rumor is that these inspections came the same day as the owner of Wharfside was planning to dig up the old pipes and put in new ones, (which is easier to do if you don't have a pile of restaurants operating at the time).

Thanks for the information.

Hey Julie! That's sad that Mojo's was shut down because they didn't have a 3 bay sink. The Health Dept would have inspected Mojo's before and passed it knowing they did not have the sink. These inspections can be very arbitrary like many other government run things in the VI.

Well this may be beside the point but it doesn't look like the Surly Cantina was a registered name, as least not with the US PTO. (Maybe it was registered locally; don't know how to look that up.)

I do know that if you want to protect a name or other intellectual property, you have to be very careful with your trademarks, service marks, and copyright notices. And the TM process can be a pain. (Our CEO actually found a graphic and related content that I had created for our website on an Indian firm's website, with no accreditation (sp?) given to us. Our lawyer issued a cease and desist letter which worked primarily because of our posted copyright info.)

Makes you wonder if villa owners register their villa names. What would happen if, for example, the owner of an old, modest villa decided to name it something like "Kismet" or "Presidio del Mar"?

I think wonderlost hit the nail on the head with "you don't screw other St Johnians."