Barrie’s south-end East Side Mario’s closes, lease terminated
Hey, budda boom budda … broke?
The longtime East Side Mario’s location in Barrie’s south-end has closed — at least temporarily. Simcoe.com has obtained a letter from Recipe Unlimited (Cara Operations) addressed to restaurant staff and dated Aug. 2.
The document includes an apology from Recipe, the parent company for East Side and several other well-known chain restaurants including Swiss Chalet, Harvey’s, Montana’s and Kelseys, and concedes the franchise owner “ignored appeals from the building landlord to pay the rent, which is severely overdue.”
A notice of termination of lease from the landlord to franchisee Hiren Patel, dated Aug. 2, was recently posted to the front door of the Bryne Drive restaurant.
“We tried to work with Mr. Patel to ensure operations were maintained as required under our franchise agreement, but he was unable or unwilling to do so,” Recipe said in the letter. “We know this has been a frustrating and upsetting time … we are sorry for what you had to endure over the past few months.”
The letter said Patel has been “unresponsive” to Recipe.
Simcoe.com was told by a former employee that restaurant conditions deteriorated significantly since Patel took over more than a year ago. Some staffers weren’t compensated for several pay cycles, the kitchen was understocked and the restaurant was often understaffed.
Recipe is helping employees find jobs at other company-owned restaurants in the area.
However, the franchise owner is responsible for compensation. So Recipe is asking employees to reach out to the Ministry of Labour to seek assistance in recovering lost wages.
“The situation … is very unfortunate,” Recipe senior communications director Maureen Hart said in an email. “Helping impacted employees is our main priority. We have worked directly with all team members to support finding new employment in other restaurants. We’re happy to say that several people have already been hired.”
Recipe hopes to “refranchise” the location, she said.
“We’re working toward a resolution with this specific location and hope to resume business quickly,” Hart said.
Patel could not be reached by Simcoe.com.
Napier Bailiffs, which is managing the case on behalf of the landlord, declined to comment.