There was no shortage of fans for the Asian-street-food-inspired menu that Tyger Tyger served during its original incarnation in the fall of 2018. The crowds were steady, and one alleged curry hater even told me that she wanted to pour their khao soi all over her body.
But then the Funk Zone restaurant’s opening chef left less than a year later, and the pandemic came swinging with successive shutdowns. By the fall of 2021, there just wasn’t enough staff around to keep the colorful, casual eatery operating at the level expected by owner Sherry Villanueva.
Instead, her Acme Hospitality group focused on keeping the lights on at The Lark, Loquita, La Paloma, and the other establishments in their portfolio, which now includes hotels in the Sierra Foothills and Palm Springs. The building didn’t shutter completely, surviving to this day as the headquarters of Dart Coffee Co., whose patrons typically take their drinks across East Yanonali Street to sit in the grassy, tree-shaded garden.