You travel to certain Asian and Latin American countries and it's kind of standard procedure to find waitresses in bars who solicit drinks from male tourists in exchange for both kickbacks from the bar and flirty company for the tourists John McAfee even met a couple of his girlfriends that way. But here, that's illegal. And in an undercover sting operation by the ABC (the state department of Alcoholic Beverage Control), two bars in Japantown have been shut down in the last two months for doing just that.
The latest is Dimples, the dive-y Korean-run karaoke lounge known for their encouragement of chain smoking, $8 Bud Lights, and "hostesses" who walk around trying to get unknowing men to buy them drinks, at a premium, for which they get a commission. Undercover ABC agents caught Dimples doing this and shut them down this week, suspending their liquor license for 45 days, as Bay City News reports.
In February, the same thing happened to Pagoda next door, which had its license suspended for 60 days.
And, you may recall, something similar was going on at a Mission bar, the Carlos Club, a couple years ago, which had its license suspended indefinitely after a year-long investigation.
