Owned by Chef Andrew Dilda (former head chef at Reata and also of Clay Pigeon and Lonesome Dove, among other places), the Near Southside’s Eazy Monkey opened over the summer to pretty much universal acclaim. Tia Downey, one of the most visible and talented faces behind a bar or in front of one in town, was the general manager, and the Magnolia Avenue location — in the building formerly occupied by Ben Merritt’s Fixture — was ideal for the casual, hip Texasian fare and vibe. In October, our reviewer found it wild, wacky, and tasty.
Raves from Texas Monthly in November and other local publications followed. Eazy Monkey shut its doors the week after another local magazine’s food critic spent a lot of column inches praising the new place. Because there’s been no public explanation, the abrupt closure shocked a lot of people. There is nothing on the restaurant’s website, and there’s been essentially no information from Dilda, which led to speculation. Perhaps the employees were among the most stunned, and allegations of nonpayment of wages popped up immediately.
On a recent post in a Facebook foodie group, a member shared a screenshot allegedly from an employee claiming that Dilda “mishandled” their tips and “failed to take responsibility for this and has not communicated when we will receive our money.”
There were more allegations, and insults, and even more accusations, including that the owner “stole tips and didn’t pay anyone for two pay periods.” Indeed, claims of tip thievery don’t go over well with anyone who works in or around the service industry, their friends and families, and their supporters.
In a phone conversation this week, Dilda said the allegations of not paying employees are “baseless.” He allows that the fledgling business was “a few days late on payroll,” but he said he “got everybody paid.” He also said that he did not set up the methodology for pooling tips and did not purposefully withhold them, adding that thanks to the magic of Toast, the restaurant’s point of service system, he’s able to research when and how any discrepancy in tips occurred. To date, he believes he’s now even with everyone. However, “to make sure things are right,” he is going back through shift reports since the place opened four months ago –– in Texas, the burden of documenting how pooled tips are divided falls to the business owner.
“Certain characters are just doing this for attention,” he said. “I’m not going to sling mud.”
Unfortunately, all of this chaos occurred right around Christmas, which is absolutely the worst time to be closing a business or losing a job. Meg Rodriguez been outspoken on social media about the treatment of both the hourly employees and the staff. Starting as a server at Eazy Monkey in late October, she was one of the dozen or so staff laid off and locked out. She said she was a fan of GM Downey, and that was a draw.
“I heard the buzz about the food,” Rodriguez said. “I was maybe there for two weeks, trained with Tia, learned a little about the menu, and worked on the floor about three or four nights” before trouble allegedly began.
Rodriguez said she’s been the service industry for 24 years, and although she acknowledges that Eazy Monkey eventually paid everyone, Dilda was “conveniently out of town during the time this blew up.”
She has since found another job.
At the point Eazy Monkey opened this summer, Dilda alleges that his business partner (whom he’s not naming) said Dilda was on his own for capital. This was after several months of renovations to the property and all of the other expenses an owner incurs before they even sell a single plate of food.
“We were underfunded from the beginning,” Dilda said. “We were doing well, but we got to the point where our operating capital was less than we needed.”
The operating capital was essentially Dilda, his reputation as a chef, and his credit cards, which he says he maxed out to keep the restaurant open — until its closure.
“It’s been the worst learning experience of my life,” Dilda said. “I want to make sure this never happens again.”
“‘Andrew was conveniently out-of-state to be with his wife and children whom he moved away from to open this restaurant while during the Christmas holiday'” Yes thats a conniving owner stealing from his tiny staff he sees everyday if I’ve ever heard of one. So suspicious.. Cant believe youd make a hit piece on Dilda. Of all people