One of Kodiak’s longtime restaurants is in jeopardy of having its license revoked by the State of Alaska. The two local municipal governments were split on how to handle a license renewal application from Peking Restaurant, in downtown Kodiak.
The Sizzler Burger and Peking Restaurant has been a staple in Kodiak, in some form or another, for roughly 40 years. The local eatery also holds one of only four Restaurant or Eating Place Licenses (REPLs) within the city, which allows it to serve beer and wine.
But for the past year or more the restaurant has been closed although when it officially stopped operating in its current building in downtown Kodiak on 116 W. Rezanof Drive is unknown. According to the business license tracked in a state database, Sizzler Burger and Peking Restaurant’s business license expired at the end of 2023.
“We are no longer in that building. We were tenants in that same location for over 40 years, going through four different owners,” Stephanie Kim-Kurosawa told the Kodiak Island Borough Assembly.
Kim-Kurosawa is the daughter of the owner of the restaurant and called into the Kodiak Island Borough Assembly meeting on Aug. 1. Sung Kim is the business owner but the REPL renewal application for Peking Restaurant was submitted by Sook C. Yun.
Kim-Kurosawa said they are actively looking for another building to operate out of. She said she spoke with the state and believes the restaurant should be allowed to maintain its license without having a physical building. Gabriel Gonzales, the local government specialist with AMCO, told KMXT that a business like Peking could maintain its REPL without being in operation through something called a “waiver of operations.”
“There are options for us to do. And if we don’t, if we can’t, if we cannot find a restaurant, and we don’t have deep enough pockets…I mean we are exercising every option, including possibly building something on our lot," Kim-Kurosawa said.
The two-story building downtown where Peking Restaurant was once located, across from the KANA Marketplace, is not up to code anyways.
During the Aug. 1 meeting, Nova Javier, the Borough clerk, told the assembly that various departments documented zoning and potential safety issues with the Peking building.
"Community Development had some concern with conformity with regulation required by code zoning compliance. So there’s zoning regulations, issues that we ran up with, and then the fire marshal. There is a need to conduct a fire and life safety inspection before he can recommend approval. The building official also commented that the business location has been gutted by the building owner without any permits. It is believed that the business has not been in operation for two years," Javier explained.
Despite these issues, Borough Assembly member Ryan Sharratt urged the assembly to let the state decide on the license renewal and not take steps locally that could inhibit economic growth in the community.
“It’s up to AMCO, not up to us whether to renew that license. But I firmly believe that as a governing body of the Kodiak Island Borough, we should support businesses. We should support free enterprise and economic development," Sharratt stated.
The Assembly ultimately voted to not protest the license renewal for Peking Restaurant.
But the City of Kodiak wanted to object to the license renewal. City staff say the restaurant has not remitted sales tax to the city for 2022 or 2023 when the business was still listed as being in operation. So the city council was slated to protest the renewal of Peking (& Sizzler Burger’s) Restaurant’s license during its regular meeting on Aug. 8. Instead though the council granted a 60-day extension to the restaurant so it can address the outstanding issues before final recommendation is made to the state.
Although the Alcohol and Marijuana Control Office (AMCO), specifically the Alaska Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, will make the final decision, it is unclear if it will renew the Kodiak restaurant’s license without a building space.
The state board’s next meeting is scheduled for September 10-11 in Fairbanks. That meeting was originally going to be held in Kodiak but now that is pushed back to November.
