- Following 50
- Followers 12.1K
- Engagement 4.44%
- Avg likes 542
- Avg comments 31
About Bad Animal
Bad Animal (@badanimalbooks) is a Bookstore creator on Instagram. The account has 12,087 followers and 61 published posts. Recent posts average 542 likes and 31 comments, an engagement rate of 4.44%.
With 12.1K followers, Bad Animal is a micro creator by the common 10,000 to 100,000 definition. Set against 50 accounts followed, the audience works out to about 242 followers per account Bad Animal follows. Bad Animal is set up as an Instagram business account. Flinque files Bad Animal under a single category, Bookstore.
The Instagram bio for Bad Animal runs to 8 words across 3 lines. The latest activity Flinque has on record for Bad Animal dates from December 2025.
Story Highlights
Unlocking shows the title and cover image of every story highlight this creator keeps pinned to the profile.
61 Posts
Of the 10 most recent posts shown for Bad Animal, 7 are single images and 3 are carousels. That mix leans toward single images. 61 published posts give Bad Animal a moderate archive on Instagram. Against the audience, that is roughly 198 followers for each post published. Bad Animal also keeps 1 story highlight on the profile. All 10 carry captions, averaging 184 words each. The captions are written mainly in English. Words that recur across them include badanimal, local, santa, long and cruz. The captions tag #badanimal, #downtownsantacruz, #backtothefuture, #leftbankbistro and #onesantacruzbistroafteranother.
After hosting a long and successful culinary artist in residence program for the past few years, Bad Animal is reclaiming the kitchen in 2026. The move is less a new chapter and more a journey back to the future, as it marks a return to the place we started when we first opened our doors on Cedar Street in 2019 serving elevated bistro fare.
The concept is similar this time around: a very Santa Cruz take on the current Parisian bistro scene, which is increasingly being shaped by the diverse backgrounds of a younger generation of chefs drawing on their own ethnic culinary experiences to push the boundaries of modern French cuisine. And in truth, we’ve always considered ourselves something of a Left Bank institution, but left of the mighty San Lorenzo, not the Seine.
As before, expect the menu to mirror the seasons and showcase the very best of what our local growers and purveyors have to offer. At the helm this time around is Nick Hahn, our new chef extraordinaire, who left Michelin-starred n/naka in LA to make a name for himself here. His approach to the Parisian bistro concept will be grounded in a deep love for his native California and his own Korean heritage. Does it matter that he’s a U Chicago alum with an arts background who can nail a kick-flip with a lit dart hanging off his lip? Maybe not, but it can’t hurt...
Much more to say in the coming weeks, but for now, know that the Bad Animal Bistro will be the closest you can get to dining out in Paris without ever leaving the county. Opening Friday January 9th. Reservations live in the new year.
#badanimal #downtownsantacruz #backtothefuture #leftbankbistro #onesantacruzbistroafteranother
Awards and attention from the press were a constant for Hanloh these last three years. Features and mentions on PBS, in Food & Wine, the SF Chronicle, the SF Standard, the Mercury News, the Wall Street Journal, and the LA Times, whose James Beard award-winning food critic considered our collaboration worthy of his list of the top 100 restaurants in California. Future isn’t just bright for Hanloh, it’s blinding, and we’re honored to have played a small part in that.
We hope we’re giving you ample notice so you can stop by and enjoy Hanloh Thai during their victory lap this holiday season. Reservations and requests for the private dining room were already piling up prior to this bittersweet announcement, so if you’re looking to come in for dinner or want to book an event, act fast.
Obviously we’re still very much in awe and deeply appreciative of the talents and hard work poured into this venture by Chef Lalita and her incredible staff, but it’s not time for goodbyes just yet. And for more news concerning their next illustrious chapter, be sure to drop a follow or join their mailing list, if you haven’t already.
#badanimal #hanlohthai #downtownsantacruz
#badanimal #hanlohthaifood #santacruz
After a wild run of international orders we’ve been wondering why demand for Beat literature is at an apparent all-time high abroad and only generates tepid interest here in California, especially in light of Santa Cruz looming so large in that literary tradition. Should we consider placing export restrictions on our finest relics and trust the local market will rebound? Is it incumbent on modern booksellers to actually pitch this material? If so...
We owe much to the Beats, who wrested American poetry away from the uptight formalism of posh academics and returned it to the mad, uninhibited free verse of drug-addled delinquents, hellbent hustlers, broke booksellers, and angelic road warriors. The term was coined by Jack Kerouac and originally had nothing to do with rhythm but being beat down, beat to hell, a generation exhausted, disillusioned, spent, weary, bone-tired, totally beat. Sound familiar?
If starting from square one, listen to Allen Ginsberg read “Howl” and “Kaddish.” Then listen to Ferlinghetti recite “Autobiography” and Rexroth reading “Thou Shall Not Kill” while backed by their respective jazz bands. Enjoy a naked lunch with Naked Lunch. Then take a copy of On the Road on the road. Whatever the route, your journey should end in the poetry room of.
Ready to push out beyond the greatest hits? Watch Pull My Daisy. Check out Ginsberg’s snapshots and Robert Frank’s The Americans. Read Bob Kaufman, Di Prima, Kandel, Kyger, Huncke, Carolyn Cassady, Trocchi, Waldman, Whalen, Lew Welch, Amiri Baraka, Corso, Lamantia, Harry Smith, or John Clellon Holmes. And lest you think it’s a purely American phenomenon, remember that the finest Beat novel ever written was drafted by a Chilean living in Spain about his time in Mexico.
Local consumers of Beat material come back to us. We miss you like Burroughs missed the highball glass on his wife’s head.
#badanimal #thebeatgeneration #literaryprotectionism #drunkwilliamtell #holybarbarians
12.21: noon to 9
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12.24: closed
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1.1 to 1.10: closed
We at Bad Animal urge you to consider the lesser known, the strays, unkempt muts, lovable waifs, the oft-overlooked wild beasts of literature. Three years in, we have a strong sense of what you're already looking for. Here's a by no means comprehensive rundown of the thoroughbred authors that always find homes:
Baldwin, Murakami, Knausgaard, Rilke, Jane Austen, Bolano, Bukowski, Didion, Plath, Mary Oliver, Nabokov, Audre Lorde, Rimbaud, Kerouac, Sontag, Hunter Thompson, Hemingway, Henry Miller, Nin, Foucault, Walt Benjamin, PKD, Steinbeck, Borges, Lispector, Ray Carver, LeGuin, Watts, Patti Smith, Lorca, Jung, Vonnegut, Hesse, Cormac, bell hooks, Brautigan, Leonard Cohen, Calvino.
And here, in our not even remotely humble opinion, is a partial list of those wilder, less-acclaimed authors we always keep in stock who deserve a place of pride on your shelf:
Salter, Rexroth, Acker, Duras, Genet, Angela Carter, Sebald, Parra, Mishima, Bataille, Ishmael Reed, Mistral, Machado, Michaux, Himes, Bruno Schulz, Roussel, Maggie Nelson, Cortazar, Pessoa, Nerval, Sarrazin, Frances Yates, Frank O’Hara, Mrabet, Bachelard, Jeffers, Cioran, Jim Harrison, Panero, Daumal, Alfau, the sisters Howe, Jim Thompson, Cixous, Bernhard, Dazai, Darwish, Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Diogenes, Delany, Isaac Babel, Kristeva, Mackey, Char, Baraka, Larry Brown, Simone Weil.
If you only come to adopt the purebreds, we don't mean to imply that you're basic or morally compromised, like the people who don't get pets from their local shelter; you demonstrate your exquisite taste and moral quality by walking through the door. This is just a gentle call to expand your literary horizon by a couple degrees. And if you're among the elect for whom the second list is eye-roll obvious, where the hell have you been? We're waiting for you.
#badanimal #praisebethestrays #inexhaustivelists
Our largest concentration of international patrons to date can be found in Japan, Switzerland, England, and Canada, but do they shower us with praise in the press? Hell no. They just want to hit it like a thief in the night, raid our precious booty, and pretend not to know us the following morning. And what of the historically great bookshop nations like Argentina and Portugal? Are they hyping us to their international travelers headed for the States? Course not. We're putting the whole world on notice with this post. If you all don't radically change course and begin publicly extolling our virtues, you're dead to us.
For now, it's just Bad Animal and New Zealand in the cradle of love; an international romance for the ages. Australia, don't even think about trying to board this bandwagon. Kiwis only. And if you're a New Zealander ready to make the trek, please let us know, and we'll be sure to roll out the red carpet. We love you all.
#badanimal #newzealandherald #mostfavorednationstatus #bohemianpast #foodiefuture
#badanimal #themidway_s_c #yesreservations #downtownsantacruz
#badanimal #oldsantacruz #handbattlewithgrizzly #freakpower #notjustatechplayground
After close to three years in operation, we still get asked, on an all too regular basis, "are these books for sale," or "is this some kind of wine library?" We used to get mighty frustrated when fieldling this question, given that every book in the shop has a price sticker on the front cover.
We admit there were times when our responses took on a bitter, ironic edge. For example: "no, it's an elaborate art installation, not a bookshop, and we're all performance artists pretending to stock the shelves and sell books.The bar is a concession stand which provides light refreshments for you to enjoy as you wander throughout the exhibit." Or, "yes, it is a wine library, but membership is private and requires a background check, character references, and a non-refundable thousand dollar cash deposit. Please do not touch the books till you have completed the process."
We wondered how people became so hopelessly untethered from any used bookshop reference point. Have these folks simply never stepped foot in one before? And what libraries are they going to that also house a bar and restaurant? Could it be that all over the nation public libraries, desperate to retain and potentially expand their user base, have begun installing natural wine bars? And is the trend now so ubiquitous that confusing us for one of these hot new wine libraries really is an honest mistake?
If you're fortunate enough to have a wine library in your community, please send us pictures and testimonials. And if somehow the concept hasn't taken root where you live, it's time to organize and make demands. Tell your local public librarians to stop removing books and bookshelves to make room for more computers and start building out a natural wine bar.
Long live the wine library.
#badanimal #winelibrary #booksellingasperformanceart #downtownsantacruz
Bad Animal's engagement
Bad Animal's engagement rate on Instagram is 4.44%, between 3% and 6%, or 3 to 6 likes and comments per 100 followers. On a typical post that comes to about 1 like or comment for every 23 followers. An average post collects 542 likes and 31 comments, close to 17 likes for each comment.
Engagement rate
4.44%
- Avg likes
- 542
- Avg comments
- 31
- Interactions : followers
- 1 : 23
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Frequently asked questions
These answers about Bad Animal are generated from the Instagram profile data Flinque holds for the account.
Who is Bad Animal?
Bad Animal (@badanimalbooks) is a Bookstore creator on Instagram. Bad Animal is set up as an Instagram business account. The Instagram bio for Bad Animal runs to 8 words across 3 lines.
How many followers does Bad Animal have?
Bad Animal has 12,087 followers on Instagram (12.1K). Set against 50 accounts followed, the audience works out to about 242 followers per account Bad Animal follows. 61 published posts give Bad Animal a moderate archive on Instagram.
What is Bad Animal's engagement rate?
Bad Animal's engagement rate on Instagram is 4.44%, between 3% and 6%, or 3 to 6 likes and comments per 100 followers. On a typical post that comes to about 1 like or comment for every 23 followers. An average post collects 542 likes and 31 comments, close to 17 likes for each comment.
What does Bad Animal post about on Instagram?
Flinque files Bad Animal under a single category, Bookstore. Of the 10 most recent posts shown for Bad Animal, 7 are single images and 3 are carousels. The 10 recent Instagram captions Flinque holds for Bad Animal repeatedly use the words badanimal, local, santa, long and cruz. Bad Animal's captions carry hashtags such as #badanimal, #downtownsantacruz and #backtothefuture. Bad Animal writes those captions mainly in English. Bad Animal keeps 1 story highlight, which open with a free Flinque account.
How do I contact Bad Animal for a collaboration?
Bad Animal's contact details are not published on Flinque's public profile. The Instagram bio links to 3 external sites, and a free Flinque account opens those links. The account is registered as an Instagram business account. Brands with a free Flinque account can shortlist Bad Animal and use Flinque's outreach tools wherever a contact route is on file.
Links
Bad Animal's own Instagram profile is the one outbound link Flinque publishes for the account, and the 3 bio links open after signing up.
Public profile data sourced from Instagram. Flinque is not affiliated with Bad Animal.