Chi Chi Beignet v. Khan CA1/4

BACKGROUND

I. The Parties and the Property

Plaintiff and respondent Chi Chi Beignet, Inc., doing business as Biscuits and Blues (plaintiff or BB), operates a nightclub featuring live music and Southern cuisine. The nightclub is in the basement level of a trilevel building in San Francisco. On the ground level directly above plaintiff’s club is a Jack in the Box, Inc. (JITB) franchise restaurant operated by defendants Saeed Khan and Gul Food Management, Inc. (defendants or JITB).1 Meiyan Enterprises, Inc. is the owner and landlord (owner or landlord) of the building. JITB2 entered a lease agreement (Lease) with the owner in 1985 for commercial space. At the time, the commercial space was undeveloped. (Lease, at pp. 1–2.) JITB agreed to build out the empty space, including “plumbing fixtures,” and in doing so agreed, “[a]ll such work shall be exclusively at Tenant’s risk and expense.” (Lease, at p. 2, art. 3.) JITB further agreed to “waive[] the right to claim against Landlord for any cause directly or indirectly arising out of the condition of the Premises, appurtenances thereto, the improvements thereon and the equipment thereof; and [JITB] shall thereafter save and hold…