A former staff member said their time at Eleven Bar was “unlike any hospo job I’ve ever seen”. Reports from two ex-staff describe management drinking on the job, little to no oversight of employees and a security team that did little to control any of the resulting problems.
Eleven Bar’s owners started out with, by all accounts, a competent manager. Before a dispute caused him to leave, ex-staff members told us that this manager actually had to ban one of the bar’s owners from his own bar for inviting underage patrons onto the premises in late 2021.
According to two employees that worked during the 2021 summer, Henry* and James*, this same manager had to pay Eleven’s employees cash out of pocket because, in their words, “the payroll system was so fucked” that they wouldn’t have been paid otherwise. Shortly after this, the manager left Eleven. So, down a manager, with an owner trespassed from his own venue and in a financial squeeze, bar management was taken over by the owners: Naveen Malhotra, Nikesh Singh, and Prakaash Khattri. They are currently in the hearing process to have their liquor licence renewed (which is being opposed by city officials, police, and Students for Sensible Drug Policy), and as such, chose not to respond to any of the claims made in this article. If they respond after the publication of this piece, we will modify the online version accordingly.
During prior hearing proceedings, owners promised to make big changes to the problems raised before them in the meeting. But according to staff we spoke to – none of whom are involved in the hearing process – these problems were visible over a year ago.
“There was always that joke of, like, this place is literally not gonna exist in six months,” said Henry. James agreed, describing the entire ownership body as if “they found all the worst people in Dunedin and put them in one bar.” Henry said that “Naveen or Nikesh would drink while acting as duty manager.” Specifically, he said they liked Chivas 18 whiskey, which retails for $89.99 a bottle. This was during a time where employees said they had to wash linens by hand because the washing company hadn’t been paid and was refusing service.
“They had a bottle there that they called the ‘Duty Manager's bottle’, and it was one that we wouldn't give out to customers and they would just drink it while they were at work as duty manager.” When they weren’t on the clock, Henry said they were still frequent patrons. “There was no accountability. There was no ‘do this’. It was just like, ‘Bring the alcohol every 15 minutes for me and my friends’... It kind of felt like you were kids left alone with no supervision when you were working there.”
“It was kind of in agreement within the staff that it was known that these owners were shady,” said Henry - but he never reported anything he saw. “For me as a bartender who had just started there, it was fun just making up shots and doing whatever…Like, obviously they're breaking liquor licensing rules but for me, since it was just a summer job, it didn't really matter.”
James seconded all of Henry’s claims of liquor licensing breaches. James saw something called a “double-double” shot being poured, which is exactly what it sounds like and is definitely not legal. “I never personally [was asked to make] one, but I remember [management] doing it,” he said. And while he certainly saw owners bringing in their mates, James never saw anyone underage, or even borderline, as others had claimed. “The main problem that I saw was the overstepping of just pouring drinks for themselves and doing that and that type of thing,” he said. But “it never felt like something to report because it was just like, ‘Oh, the owners are in and they're drinking’.”
But claims of underage patrons in the bar were not unheard of. Though neither Henry nor James had seen it personally, both said they’d heard about it happening while they worked there. James was adamant that it had happened, but Henry wasn’t so quick to assume. “I wouldn’t be surprised, though,” he said. Either way, Henry said he was glad to see the bar being held accountable for their actions. James agreed: “Serves them right for doing all this. But I wish that nobody would've gotten hurt in the process.”
Henry and James both left in early 2022. From this point on, most of the complaints we heard from patrons and staff revolved around security. These people don’t actually work directly for Eleven, but are contracted through a separate company. Theoretically this means they are a third-party entity who ought to control the environment, but this doesn’t seem to have been the case. At least one security guard, mentioned in stories by all three staff we spoke to, does not currently have an active Certificate of Approval for work as a security guard. According to public record, they had their CoA application declined, which means that the Private Security Personnel Licensing Authority found them unsuitable for the role.
A young woman who worked at the bar a year ago showed us Facebook messages from what appeared to be this guard asking for cuddles after work. “It definitely did not make me feel like this was a professional, safe environment,” said the staff member. “In fact, it felt crook as fuck.” This incident wasn’t reported to management, and it appears that this guard no longer works at Eleven Bar. “It was just part of this bigger culture of ‘no one at this bar gives a fuck about you’, you know? If that’s the kind of security they’re hiring, why would I even bother reporting it?”
And now we get to 2023. OUSA President Quintin Jane said that “Eleven should have had their licence removed a long time ago… I hope a more responsible licensed venue can take its place.” He went on to describe the allegations made about the bar’s atmosphere as “disgusting… actively contributing to alcohol-related harm, rather than helping to curb it as a licenced venue."
Eleven Bar is currently in the process of trying to get their liquor licence renewed. The bar remains one of the most popular in the Octagon. It advertises cheap drinks and is known amongst the younger student crowd for its loose atmosphere. Its queue is often the longest in town. When asked if their establishment was a safe space for students, management gave no answer.