WALNUT CREEK – A Walnut Creek backyard bar billed as a “hidden gem” with a speakeasy atmosphere and trendy music is for sale after the owner ran into trouble with city officials last year.

Bidding to take over the Spoontonic Lounge starts at $250,000. The lounge is advertised online as a “highly profitable, low-rent bar/nightclub” and features a 2,200-square-foot lot where beer, wine and spirits can be sold for take-out without the need to offer food service.

But potential buyers who have their eye on this tiny home at 2580 N Main Street, hidden beneath an Indian restaurant, should beware of one small problem.

Owner Ajit Ahluwalia said his decision to sell the bar was due to an order last fall that required Spoontonic to close at midnight seven days a week. Walnut Creek officials hoped the change would help reduce police calls, violent crime and general public nuisances around the property.

Ahluwalia, who bought Spoontonic 10 years ago, said business has not recovered since the last drink service began two hours earlier than usual. The change has discouraged many customers from coming to the establishment, he claims.

While the bar took in up to $3,000 on Fridays and Saturdays, he said, it was no more than $500 a night on weekends. Ahluwalia said Spoontonic staff sometimes closed as early as 10:30 p.m. because the bar was “dead.”

“Now I can barely cover my expenses,” Ahluwalia said in an interview, adding that his family has started moving away from California to find better financial opportunities. “(The city says) it wants to promote and encourage small business owners, but on the other hand it is pushing certain people to give up their business.”

Last August, the city’s Planning Commission ordered the shortened hours to prevent an increase in problems, which bar staff blamed on newer, younger patrons who “don’t know how to behave” since the pandemic.

The Walnut Creek City Council unanimously overruled the bar owners’ appeal in October, declining to amend the establishment’s conditional use permit again after the city’s law department and local authorities argued that the previous change was necessary to curb drunken, violent behavior on the property — which is mostly surrounded by car dealerships and other businesses but is near a residential area — as well as persistent calls to police. They cited cases of public drunkenness, gun possession, assault and drug dealing — behavior that elected officials say violates the citywide standards required to stay open late.

Ahluwalia said no one from the city has reached out to inquire about progress in reducing bad behavior and complaints.

Walnut Creek police have not responded to requests for data on police incidents and other harassment related to Spoontonic since last fall.

But City Manager Dan Buckshi said Spoontonic was “a really bad actor” who must be held accountable for the chaos, reiterating that the bar was given several warnings and opportunities to contain the trouble but ultimately failed to do so.

“If they sell or abandon the company, I think they themselves are responsible,” Buckshi said in an interview on Wednesday.

Ahluwalia has considered asking Walnut Creek authorities again to reconsider the midnight closing. He said he might change his mind about selling the business if the 2 a.m. closing is reinstated. But for now, the Spoontonic owner said he feels the city’s lack of supportive engagement is “pushing him out with no other options.”

“We’re selling because I just don’t want to run this anymore,” Ahluwalia said. “It’s just a question of opening hours. Otherwise, everything is fine with the bar.”