A 24-year-old chef lowered $25 steak dinners from his Brooklyn apartment window by pulley, then one person reportedly kept filing 311 complaints

Some Guy’s House, a Brooklyn steak pop-up that lowered dinners from an apartment window, has shut down after only about two weeks, following a string of complaints to the city. Chef Chianli Hang, 24, ran the pop-up, and its website now says it is “no longer operating” and that all current and upcoming orders are being refunded, as reported by Dexerto.

Hang’s landlord reportedly told him that one person had filed multiple complaints with New York City’s 311 system. Six complaints were reportedly filed about the pop-up, and two of them led to written warnings from the city’s Department of Health being sent to the landlord.

“We were really excited for the send-off. But then we got shut down,” Hang said. The group had planned to operate for one more week, fill around 100 pre-orders, and possibly throw a DJ-backed send-off party. However, the landlord reportedly worried the apartment might be functioning as a full-scale commercial kitchen.

The pulley idea only lasted about two weeks

Hang and five friends launched Some Guy’s House as a limited food experiment and social media project. Instead of a storefront, they used a homemade pulley system to lower steak dinners from their second-floor apartment window, which quickly drew buzz in a city where even a sandwich review on the sidewalk can go viral.

Customers paid $25 for a full steak dinner with steak, potatoes, and spinach. The pop-up was open on Thursday and Friday evenings from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM, and customers had to book a spot online before picking up their food from the street. The concept brought customers and influencers right to the apartment window.

New York City’s health rules state that no food service establishment can be located in a private home or apartment, and food generally cannot be prepared in a private home for sale except under narrow state exemptions, according to city regulations. Most restaurants in the city need a Food Service Establishment permit from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, which costs $280 and requires a pre-permit inspection, per NYC Business. Under the same rules, the Health Department may order an establishment operating without a valid permit to close.

The team said in a follow-up video shared by Brooklyn Magazine that the business shut down after about two weeks of service and called the closure “inevitable.” The complaints are still under investigation, so it is not clear whether the operators themselves received any violations.