Ketch Harbor Pub is shutting down: Announcement follows dispute over unpaid rent to San Mateo County Harbor District

The district said during a meeting Feb. 24 that Pelagic owed $129,580 in unpaid rent as of February, however, management from the restaurant group said they haven’t paid the rent in protest of the district’s alleged mismanagement and disregard of Pelagic CEO David Westendorf’s cancer diagnosis. 

A March 16 Instagram post from Ketch said that the Harbor District Board of Commissioners ignored Westendorf’s ADA status and that “the rent reduction we’ve requested has turned into an eviction, giving us three days to get out.” 

The Harbor District is not actively evicting Pelagic, Harbor District General Manager James Pruett said, although they did issue a notice to pay back rent or “quit,” he said. 

“We’re not kicking them out, we haven’t kicked them out,” Pruett said. “That’s all their choice right now.” 

The social media post said Ketch would be shutting down this week, and Westendorf said the restaurant was not open on March 20, however, its closure status is on a “day-by-day basis.” He had no further comment. The hospitality group is hoping that Pelagic Cantina and the fish market will hold normal hours this week, the post said. 

During the district’s prior February meeting, commissioners decided to discuss the matter further in closed session and to not enforce eviction while that conversation is ongoing. They also voiced various disputes about the amount of rent reduction suggested as well as the allegations levied against the district. 

The hospitality group said previously that it’s requesting a rent reduction to $14,500 with the promise of increasing the percentage rent paid to 5% across the board. That means Pelagic would pay either its base rent or 5% of its gross income, whatever’s higher. 

Its current rent stands at $20,500 a month. A Harbor District staff report shows Pelagic paying its full rent amount up until September 2025, at which point rent payments were halved and then declined to no payments from November 2025 until February 2026. 

Pelagic’s complaints against the Harbor District include allegations that they ignored complaints around unfair parking enforcement and food trucks. The group requested some modicum of rent relief, as well as relief from being open for a full breakfast and lunch service, in July 2025, Westendorf said at the February meeting, citing a systemic decline of fishing-related business tied to shorter and less profitable salmon and crab seasons. 

The social media post highlighted allegations that the district had not provided Americans with Disabilities Act accommodations to Westendorf following a diagnosis of stage four cancer. 

“After ten months of chemo, radiation, countless needles in an attempt to fight stage four terminal cancer, the San Mateo County Harbor Commission has disregarded David’s ADA status and opted instead for greed,” the post read. 

The Harbor District has its own grievances with Pelagic aside from the unpaid rent, with Pruett saying during the February meeting that the Pelagic has also not been keeping its facilities’ hours open for as long as the lease agreement states and did not pay the missing money back by the date stated on the default letter, giving the Harbor District just cause to evict them.