Xiao Ye, lover of Four Loko, and cheeto-crusted fried chicken has shut down, and the controversial caffeinated alcoholic drink played no small part in the restaurant’s demise. Xiao Ye was only open for about 4 months, when suddenly doors were shuttered. In early November, the infant eatery’s chef Eddie Huang announced he would throw an “all you can drink” Four Loko party. Huang bragged about it to the press, in response to the Four Loko crack down, and lo and behold the SLA took notice. It warned Huang that such a festivity was actually illegal. Huang changed the event to a “3 dollar Four Loko Party”.
News 4 went undercover to find out just how out of control the event was going to get. We never observed the bartender or servers asking for ID when people ordered drinks and the party did get eventually get a little out of hand – though to be fair it was not very different from any weekend night on the Lower East Side. (We could have done without one man pulling down his pants and flashing a “Buffalo Bill” – you can look it up if you dare) The night was ultimately shut down around 11:30 as according to Huang’ blog, the SLA barged in and made them dispose all of the Four Loko on-site.
Since the boozed up energy crazed gala, Xiao Ye says the authorities have hounded it. Huang told Eater.com that since the party they’ve been raided three times and now the glare of the spotlight has become too strong for the tiny Lower East Side Eatery. Xiao Ye has closed its doors and is currently vacating the premises.
Four Loko takes another victim.
