Patrons upset about Eli's Mile High Club vaccination rules

(Rick Kern / Getty Images for Bud Light)

(OAKLAND, Calif.) Patrons of one of Oakland's oldest and grungiest bars took issue with the dive bar's new vaccination entry requirements this week.

Eli's Mile High Club describes itself online as a garbage bar and delivery service for losers, but the bar's ownership upset a number of patrons when it noted on Instagram that vaccinations would be required for entry.

The Instagram post, which garnered more than 400 comments, isn't entirely controversial as the garbage bar is following county and state guidelines, requiring customers to show a vaccination card before entry.

Despite this, a number of commenters and customers have decried that the once home of punk in Oakland has lost its crusty edge. Based on the comments and responses, it seems that most people take issue with the identification information the bar would make a list of that is required in case of contact tracing.

The owner, Billy Joe Agan, has said the list of personal information (phone number and name) will be destroyed every two weeks to protect customers' privacy but some people still feel that such acquiescence to county health guidelines kills the bars aesthetic.

"I really didn't think it was going to be that big of a deal," Agan told the SF Gate. "I didn't think people would get that upset."

Eli's, like the majority of Oakland bars, will be limited to 25% capacity, with the contact tracing and vaccination card requirements. Without those, the bar is limited to 10% capacity.

Agan expressed some concern about fake vaccination cards, which have become more popular throughout the Bay Area. A number of fake vaccination cards have been advertised online and a Northern Californian bar owner was arrested in early May for selling fake vaccination cards to patrons.

"The government is not mandating you to go have a beer at Eli's — there's plenty of great, awesome places right around [here] that are not doing what we're doing," Agan said to SF Gate.

Agan noted that his personal and professional worries regarding COVID-19 far outweighed any possible online pushback but he was surprised at the large and vocal response the Instagram post generated.

"My favorite thing is people say that we're not punk, which is the best thing," he said. "... Because we have to lay down a hard set of rules, someone inevitably will be like, 'this place used to be punk,' which is crazy — their version of punk is just being a dirtbag piece of s— and hurting people, [being] self-destructive. Like, man, there's so many schisms in punk, buddy"

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