The End is Nigh: What fate for Super Bar Street Restaurants?

It’s a full day after the scheduled termination of Super Bar Street (Xingba Lu), and no sign of the bulldozers yet. The terminally fated strip always managed a convincing impression of downtown Baghdad, and now more than ever. Bruisers in army get-ups swagger about; bars and restaurants are packing up into lorries; old fridges, fryers and assorted detritus lie strewn across the road. But what about the businesses doomed to closure?

The first thing to notice is that places are still open. With customers inside. Biteapitta manager Jacky Han is resolute. “Until they seal the street off completely, or cut the electricity, we’re open,” he vows. Dini’s Kosher Restaurant also appears to be trading. Both places inform me they’re looking for new premises in the same area, and hope to be up and running within a month.

Most of the rest are packing up and moving out. Bandar Lounge is off to Sanlitun, as is Awana, who hasa new site secured at 3.3 in the Village. Tim’s Texas Roadhouse is choosing between new sites near Sanlitun Bar Street or Chaoyang Park. Pilipili have alternative premises ready to go in Lido, and Liuwenqian, the Japanese teppanyaki place, are off to Sanyuanqiao. All hope to be open with 4 to 8 weeks.

Others are not so lucky. Wirsthaus Am See and Afro Arena will sink without trace. The same goes for Qiu’s Oyster House, but at least they have another branch to fall back on. The future ofJapanese restaurant Wei jia yi zhu also looks bleak.It gets worse for Abella Italian Restaurant. The manager tells of how the letting company in charge of the property has withheld the compensation money paid out by the government. Unable to pay off steep renovation debts, they’re ruined.

Back up the street, a soon-to-be-demolished door pops open and a sparsely dressed woman smiles provocatively, beckoning over passers-by with a supine index finger. This scene could only be more tragic if she had a hardhat on (no pun intended), yet it seems a fitting swansong to this woefully mismanaged strip. Goodbye, Super Bar Street. It was an experience.