Eatery voted 'Houston's Best New Restaurant of 2022 closes its doors; Employees say they haven't been paid in months
Personally, not believing the owner's spiel.
Personally, not believing the owner's spiel.
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Employees of The Drunken Corner, located on Houston's northside, made several claims on Instagram, saying they were recently left in the dark and unpaid by their bosses.
According to staff members, the restaurant, which was voted Best New Restaurant of 2022 by Black Book Houston, has allegedly written dozens of bad checks to employees.
As a result, the business was forced to sever ties with multiple food and beverage vendors and allegedly owe their staff thousands of dollars in back pay, the staffers said.
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Vendors such as U.S. Foods, Sysco Foods, Spec's Liquor and Wine were said to have halted all business with the company after also receiving bad checks. Former managers alleged the outstanding balance to pay vendors is well over $30,000 in total. Those claims have not been substantiated by KPRC 2.
Managers also said the lack of vendors led to kitchen staffers having to reportedly trek to supermarkets, such as Kroger and H-E-B, to purchase food items each day which would have otherwise been delivered in bulk.
https://instagr.am/p/Cn2FJ3VuW_dQuote:
On LinkedIn, it states that Bonner is the creative mind behind the lounge. KPRC 2 spoke with him about the allegations.
Bonner admitted that some of those claims while hurtful are somewhat true.
"I can say the sum of the allegations are true regarding financial issues, but we've had those since the moment we've opened. Me & my wife a regular people that had regular jobs and I was able to get enough people to believe in a vision I had. As far as employee pay, yes we've had a few pay issues here and there but 98% of the time our employees are paid, and our biggest bill and obstacle thus far has been payroll because we pay well above with the market dictates. As a former restaurant employee, I never wanted my staff to feel overworked & underpaid. I can promise you just about every manager we've had we are the highest paying job they've had in the industry."
Bonner stated he and his family are deeply saddened that they could not afford to pay their employees and that they simply fell on hard times as new business owners. He added that he and his wife have reportedly helped many of the employees personally outside of the parameters of business because, at their core, they "are really good people."
"The toll it takes on a family is really hard, seeing the tears of my wife, my parents, siblings etc has been very very difficult because we are not these people we're being portrayed to be. My head chef & longest-tenured employee will vouch for the kinda people we are. Routinely going over and beyond for our team to make sure they have what they need. I've been told by multiple other business owners that we are too generous & you can't adequately run a business that way when you're not rich."
Additionally, he says that the restaurant plans to reopen soon and promises those who are expecting previous checks will get paid before then. They say for the next opening, they expect to see the majority of their former employees return.
