One of Kodiak’s long-established restaurants is threatened with having its license revoked by the state of Alaska. The two local city councils disagreed on how to handle the license renewal application of the Peking Restaurant in downtown Kodiak.

The Sizzler Burger and Peking Restaurant has been a Kodiak staple in one form or another for about 40 years. The local eatery also holds one of only four restaurant or eating establishment licenses (REPLs) in the city that allow it to serve beer and wine.

But the restaurant has been closed for at least a year, although it is not known when it officially ceased operations at its current downtown Kodiak building at 116 W. Rezanof Drive. According to business licenses recorded in a state database, Sizzler Burger and Peking Restaurant’s business license expires at the end of 2023.

“We are no longer in this building. We were tenants in this place for over 40 years and had four different owners,” Stephanie Kim-Kurosawa told the Kodiak Island Borough Assembly.

Kim-Kurosawa is the daughter of the restaurant owner and was called to the Kodiak Island Town Council meeting on August 1. Sung Kim is the business owner, but the application to extend the REPL for Peking Restaurant was submitted by Sook C. Yun.

Kim-Kurosawa said they were actively looking for another building to operate out of. She said she had spoken to the state and felt the restaurant should be allowed to keep its license without having a physical building. Gabriel Gonzales, the local government expert at AMCO, told KMXT that a business like Peking could keep its REPL without being in operation through something called an “operating waiver.”

“There are options for us. And if we don’t do that, if we can’t find a restaurant and we don’t have enough money … I mean, we’re looking at every option, including the possibility of building something on our property,” Kim-Kurosawa said.

The two-story building in the city center that once housed the Peking Restaurant, across from the KANA Marketplace, does not comply with regulations anyway.

During the August 1 meeting, County Clerk Nova Javier informed the assembly that various departments had documented zoning and potential safety issues related to the Peking Building.

“The Community Development Authority had some concerns about compliance required by the building codes. So there are building codes, issues we’ve encountered, and then the fire official. There has to be a fire and life safety inspection before he can recommend a permit. The building official also noted that the business location was gutted by the building owner without a permit. It is believed that the business has not been in operation for two years,” Javier explained.

Despite these issues, County Assemblyman Ryan Sharratt urged the Assembly to leave the license renewal decision to the state and not to take any steps at the local level that could hinder economic growth in the community.

“It is up to AMCO, not us, whether we renew this 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 said.

The assembly ultimately voted not to protest the renewal of the Peking Restaurant’s license.

However, the City of Kodiak wanted to appeal the license renewal. City staff say the restaurant failed to pay sales tax to the city for 2022 and 2023, when the business was still listed as in operation. The City Council was therefore scheduled to protest the renewal of Peking (& Sizzler Burger’s) Restaurant’s license during its regular meeting on August 8. But instead, the Council granted the restaurant a 60-day extension so it can resolve the outstanding issues before making a final recommendation to the state.

Although the Alcohol and Marijuana Control Office (AMCO), more specifically the Alaska Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, will make the final decision, it is unclear whether it will renew the Kodiak restaurant’s license without building space.
The next meeting of the Council of State is scheduled for September 10 and 11 in Fairbanks. This meeting was originally scheduled to take place in Kodiak, but has now been postponed to November.