Downtown San Jose bar owners are grappling with frequent and senseless vandalism, forcing business operators to constantly shell out hundreds or thousands of dollars for repairs — ranging from exterior tagging to carved mirrors in restrooms.
“It’s going to be over a thousand dollars to replace this mirror,” said George Lahlouh, who owns five bars and restaurants in downtown San Jose, including Alter Ego, Still OG and Miniboss.
On Sunday, someone used a razor blade or knife to carve letters into a restroom mirror at Alter Ego. Lahlouh says vandals repeatedly target his businesses by tagging restrooms, destroying furniture with knives and painting graffiti on storefronts.
He is not alone. At Cash Only, owner Cache Bouren says this bar and two others he owns downtown have also been targeted with people carving up sinks and restrooms.
“Always tagging in the mirrors, carving into the walls and sinks,” Bouren said. “I’ve replaced the sinks three times in the last two years. They’re carving so deep in the sinks I can’t fix it.”
The cleanup costs are adding up quickly for local business owners. Bouren estimates spending a minimum of $10,000 to $15,000 a year just to keep tags from becoming the main feature in the bathrooms.
Bouren has chosen not to report the vandalism to police, noting, “We know the San Jose Police Department is understaffed and cannot invest resources in tracking these guys down.”
To cope with the damage, Bouren has made adjustments by putting up protective shields and removing all mirrors from the restrooms. However, that measure did not stop vandals from etching into a hallway mirror instead.
Lahlouh noted that the ongoing damage has sadly become a new cost of doing business.
“Our colleagues are already challenged managing costs that are at an all-time high, and now we have to use funds on something avoidable,” Lahlouh said. “It’s super frustrating.”