The DOH temporarily closes both East Village locations of Kavasutra Kava bar

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In the past week, at least a dozen readers have reached out about the temporary closures of the two East Village outposts of Kavasutra Kava bar. 

The above photo shows the storefront on First Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue, where there are eight posted notices from the Department of Health...

According to public records, in a notice dated July 13, the following violations were logged against the Florida-based chain that serves drinks made with kava, a root that contains sedative and anesthetic properties:

1) Duties of an officer of the Department interfered with or obstructed. 

2) Food containing a prohibited substance held, kept, offered, prepared, processed, packaged, or served.

Kavasutra's first NYC outpost on 10th Street between Avenue A and First Avenue is also temporarily closed.

The DOH notice, dated July 12, lists the following:

1) Failure to comply with an order of the Board of Health, Commissioner or Department.

The DOH also cited this "failure to comply" in a visit on Jan. 4. 

We reached out to the DOH for more details about the closures. 

On 10th Street, there are also eight DOH notices on the front window ... along with various signs with messages ranging from "Enjoy Life Sober" to "Fight for Fiji" to "Defund the D.O.H." to some hand-drawn penises and breasts ...

There are also signs promising "Back soon" and "We will be back."

The 10th Street Kavasutra location opened in July 2015; the First Street outpost in December 2019.

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• Report: Kavasutra ownership blasts educators who teach remotely, 'pussy leftists' for wearing masks (March 14, 2021)

Report: Kavasutra ownership blasts educators who teach remotely, 'pussy leftists' for wearing masks

As the New York Post reports, Kavasutra Kava Bar, the Florida-based chain, "is taking heat" for posts this past week from its main Instagram account that called out educators who still teach remotely and "pussy leftists" who wear masks. 

According to their Instagram posts, those educators who aren't teaching in-person are banned from all Kavasutra locations, including the two in the East Village (10th Street and First Street). 

After a barrage of criticism and one-star reviews on Yelp for the post on March 9, Kavasutra followed up with another on Instagram:

"It has come to our attention that we may have upset some people with our last post. We've been reading your comments and we understand how we may have effected [sic] some of you, so we want to be very clear: masks are for leftist losers. Teachers unions are trash. Women are born with ovaries. And we are doing slams at midnight tonight."

As The Miami Herald noted in its headline Friday: "This South Florida bar just managed to insult almost everyone in two Instagram posts." On Friday, the editorial board at The Denver Post suggested to its readers that they "steer clear" of the two Kavasutra outposts in that city.

Various news outlets have reported that this isn't the chain's first go-around with inflammatory social media posts. In sexist and anti-transgender posts in 2018, they stated that participants in ladies night must be women from birth. In a follow-up, they tried to clarify their position: "The point of ladies night is to get ladies in the door so the men can bang them. If there's no vagina then they don't qualify because they don't benefit the business and the plan."

Initially, management reportedly blamed an employee who they said was fired. However, as the Sun-Sentinel later reported, owner Dylan Harrison admitted to police that he wrote the posts. The admission came after a confrontation at a South Florida location led to several arrests.

The 10th Street Kavasutra location opened in July 2015; the First Street outpost in December 2019.