There have been long-simmering tensions between the owners of Jack Gage American Tavern and Gregory McGee Company LLC, the owner of the building at 5031 Main, including lawsuits. So it was probably only a matter of time before the restaurant would be closed. The question was ... when?
Last Friday, the shoe dropped, and a "closed" sign was taped to the door. The sign directed patrons to the restaurant's website that, as of today, has no information on it about the closing. The phone has not been disconnected, but no one answers. Business owners across the street watched movers haul out the contents of the restaurant on Friday and Saturday.
"They took out everything that wasn't nailed to the ground," says Nancy Pell, the owner of Perfect Scents at 5010 Main. "Tables, chairs, pots and pans, everything. The place is completely empty."
Pell says she was also told that employees hadn't been paid for weeks. Several angry employees showed up at the restaurant on Saturday, according to Chelle Navarro, who saw two Jack Gage employees "yelling at [owner] Russ Hurst as he sat in his truck," she says. Navarro, who works across the street at Accurso's Italian Restaurant, is the mother of Sean Wright, a Jack Gage kitchen staffer.
"He got his last check paid, but there was no money in the payroll account, so he knows several employees who had checks that bounced. Sean is still owed money for his last week. That's why he finally called the chef, Richard McPeake, and said he wouldn't come back to the restaurant."
Fat City reported in February that
Jack Gage owner Blair Hurst and his father, Russ -- who closed the Baja
600 cantina on the Country Club Plaza in August 2010 after falling
behind on rent payments -- owed a
considerable sum in back rent to the owners of 5031 Main. Shortly
after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, Blair Hurst insisted
that the restaurant would remain open: "We have events and parties
booked through the end of the year."
That was clearly wishful thinking.
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I am very sad, as I wanted to contact the place as regards the interior - I am boxing historian and have an interest in Jack Gage and wanted to view/photograph the interior
if anyone has any information on this please email me :
peerlesspress@gmail.com
They also ripped off a charity, the Children's Center for the Visually Impaired had a proceeds day there for the Trolley Run on April 17th and they still haven't received a check for all the people that ate there thinking they where giving to the charity! Very disappointing....definitely won't support any future restaurants that they open or are involved with!
I really wanted to like this place. The interior was nice, but every time I went there the wait staff proved to be more and more awful as did the food. Hopefully the space will get a new concept in what has proven to be a great area for food (main st. south plaza).
The place had potential and some of the menu was pretty tasty, but it badly needed a visit from Gordon Ramsay to crack the whip on the lazy service staff. Service was haphazard, ranging from pretty good to downright awful, and at the prices they were charging, people had a right to expect better than downright awful. Happened often enough that it obviously wasn't just a fluke or a bad night.
place was over priced and the service was terrible. The fat owner probably ate all the profits.
Charles is right on the money. I've had small paychecks bounce from a few restaurants that are still in business. It is a tough situation because you know if you leave you definitely aren't getting paid and unless you have a great resume you can't get a new job the next day. The worst part is that employees generally become unsecured creditors and have to go to the back of the line to get paid.
It happens more often than you might think in the restaurant business. Restaurant owners put a sign on the door, lock it up and essentially give their employees the finger. People are still talking about the owners of The Souper restaurant in Westport doing this and it was over 25 years ago.
Not paying employees for work they have already performed seems like the worst thing you could possibly do as a business owner. Totally reprehensible.
i hear theyve thrown the hursts out of there and will soon reopen with a varied theme..
I wondered. We walked by Sunday afternoon on our way back from Eggtc (free plug, love that place) and noticed an empty parking lot save for a moving truck.
We went once right when it opened, and had a good experience. We went back a couple months later, and weren't as impressed. I honestly felt it was a bit overpriced for what it was, and we never had much urge to return.
We must not have been the only ones.
It's a shame, this really was a popular place when it first opened and it seemed destined for success. Unfortunately, while they were known for their "Come Back" dressing, fewer and fewer people seemed to be doing that as the service and their reputation as rent-paying tenants declined.
And based on their terrible management and complete disregard for employees, I don't think I can ever support another Hurst restaurant, even if they pave the trail with portobello fries.
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