Domo Sushi, lauded chef's Hayes Valley standby, appears to close suddenly

San Francisco Chronicle​

a day ago

An in-person battle with a social media influencer that went viral was the downfall of three-month-old Kis Cafe in San Francisco's Hayes Valley.The restaurant announced last week that it would be closing permanently in light of accusations that the chef had been rude to the influencer.
Now, the subsequent media backlash may (or may not) spell the doom of another restaurant affiliated with James Beard-nominated Chef Luke Sung.
A Reddit thread on Saturday announced the impending closure of Domo Sushi, a cozy sushi restaurant also nestled in Hayes Valley, a block over from Kis Cafe. Sung's LinkedIn lists him as the 'operator' of Domo.
The thread began with a user posting a photo of a piece of paper hung in what appears to be Domo's storefront at 511 Laguna St. It reads: 'Domo is closing. Last service 8-2-2025. Thank you for your support for the last 17 years.'
'According to a staff member, the owners, which also owned recently closed Kis Cafe, let all staff know that yesterday today (sic) (8/2) would be their last day, closing after 17 years,' the caption below the photo, posted by a user named 'ieroec,' reads.
The Chronicle attempted to reach out to Sung but was not successful. A Domo employee who was contacted Saturday appeared to confirm that a closure was discussed Saturday morning, but also expressed uncertainty about whether that plan was still active by the evening.
'The owners this morning decided not to close yet,' the employee said, but quickly added: 'We don't know, actually.'
Domo has yet to provide an update on the status of its operations on its social media accounts, and the note posted in its storefront notably does not include a reason for the potential closure.
But Reddit users have theories.
'Seems a bit odd if a restaurant can't survive two weeks of bad social media PR of a different restaurant,' said one user in a comment on the thread.
'I wonder if it has anything to do with commercial real estate lease jumping significantly last year and they weren't able to negotiate the price,' posted another.
'Maybe it's a retirement thing?' wondered a third.
Earlier this month, Sung was ousted as chef and co-owner of Kis Cafe after news of his clash with a food 'microinfluencer,' known on Tik Tok by her handle @karlalobb162, at the establishment went viral. The content creator, whose real name is Karla, posted a video in which she alleged that Sung instigated a hostile interaction between the two, after she showed up at the restaurant for a planned promotional collaboration. Sung, she alleged, dismissed her number of followers as insufficient.
Sung has since issued a public apology, which was posted to Kis Cafe's Instagram page. 'It was important for me to first apologize to Karla privately and step away from Kis Cafe before publicly apologizing,' Sung wrote, and acknowledged being 'condescending, hurtful, and intimidating' to the influencer during her visit.
Public records show that Sung has leased Domo's space at 511 Laguna since 2007, and appears to own the building that housed Kis Cafe through a trust.