The popularity of a sandwich shop in San Francisco's Castro district may have ultimately caused its downfall.

Ike's Place - the home of hearty, calorie-crammed sandwiches featured on national television - was given an eviction notice Wednesday by San Francisco Superior Court Judge Peter Busch.

The county sheriff is scheduled to conduct the eviction Aug. 26, said Julian Lastowski, an attorney who represents residents living above the shop.

The issue is that owner Ike Shehadeh was originally granted a permit to run a retail coffee store, not the full-fledged takeout sandwich shop he runs now, Kate Conner, city code enforcement planner, said in an e-mail.

As the popularity of Shehadeh's shop grew, neighbors became increasingly frustrated with the blocklong lines, noisy customers and persistent smell of fried bacon.

Landlord complains

The landlord, Denman Drobisch, who didn't return calls seeking comment, began eviction proceedings in March and complained to the city's Planning Department that Ike's Place was operating without the proper permits.

After an investigation, the Planning Department agreed and July 28 began fining Shehadeh $250 a day until he applied to change the terms of his permit, complied with the original permit or moved, Conner said.

Moving may be Shehadeh's only remaining option after Wednesday's court decision. However, court records show that Shehadeh didn't file an opposition document before the judge's ruling, meaning the decision could be reconsidered if there was a procedural error, Lastowski said. Shehadeh e-mailed The Chronicle and said, "Ike's Place has been evicted, officially ... I have been in Washington for the past week and was never served for this court appearance." After the original e-mail, Shehadeh did not return calls or an e-mail seeking comment.

Lastowski said he didn't think the issue was close to being resolved.

"It would surprise me that something would actually happen," he said, referring to the scheduled eviction. "I can't imagine that Ike is going to walk away."

$800,000 asked

Lastowski said he is frustrated because Shehadeh had avoided numerous opportunities to negotiate with neighbors. At one point, the tenants sent Shehadeh a letter offering to move if Shehadeh paid them $800,000. They also said they would consider an offer of $300,000 and a restriction in the restaurant's hours of operation.

However, Shehadeh previously told The Chronicle that he's made extra efforts to please the neighbors by having his employees wait until 8:30 a.m. to start work, increased trash pickup and ask people waiting in line to be quiet.

Steve Adams, president of the Merchants of Upper Market and Castro, said he was a huge fan of Ike's Place and thought Shehadeh was being unfairly targeted by cranky neighbors looking to extort money.

"We're totally supporting him," he said. "I am doing what I can to keep him in this neighborhood. He's a destination."

Looking elsewhere

Adams said he was helping Shehadeh find other locations for his business in the area.

Caught in the middle of this are Ike devotees, who number more than 2,500 on the popular reviewing website Yelp.

They've started buying $20 T-shirts that say "Free Ike." The proceeds go to help pay Shehadeh's legal bill, said Allan Quindo, 34, while he waited for his sandwich Thursday.

"I don't see the problem," said Marc Dyer, 31, another customer. "It is 4 in the afternoon, a bunch of people are waiting for sandwiches. It seems good for the community, it is not like they're dealing drugs or anything."