South Beach owner "was forced to close" restaurant, says sister-in-law

Am I really reading this correctly? "bartenders and waitresses- is that a career?" how dare they. I am not an employee of theirs and am glad I am not! Career? maybe not but it is a way to make an income and some people don't have a choice but to work a job such as being a waitress to be able to go to school or college to better themselves to get a career and leave employers like this!

Seems a little harsh to me to degrade someone's job as a waitress or bartender. For many that is how they survive, whether it be a full time job or part time job. Without the people tending bar or waiting on tables there would be no restaurants. They should be thanked for there service. Maybe they can get another job, but they rely on that job for income. I find it odd that the place was cleaned up on Sunday and the owner's already flew back to Florida. Guess they knew it was coming for a long time. Seems like there is more to the story somewhere?

BAD COMMENT ON PEOPLE'S CAREER THAT MAY HAVE NOT HAD A CHOICE ON HOW TO FEED THEIR FAMILY. i THINK THAT COMMENT IS A BAD AS THE ACT OF HOW THEY CONDUCT THEIR BUSINESS.tHE RICH GET RICHER AND THE POOR GET POORER.

This outta keep the gossip mill churning and burning till spring!

There's still a long list of locally owned restaurants in Batavia, and based on the crowds I often see in many of them, they seem to be doing just fine.

This story does not reflect how the owners or management feel about the serving and bartending "career". I myself am a server and bartender and love the business.

Long time Batavia Restaurant Owners comes to aid:

Local family owned Sunnys Restaurant in the Batavia City Centre is stepping in to honor Gift Certificates.
Anyone who has purchased or recieved a Southbeach Gift Cert.- Sunnys owners Michael and Tina Rose will honor at their Restaurant. In these tough economic times no one wants or can afford to lose money. Simply give us a call at 343-4578 or stop in.

*some restrictions may apply*

Just a few 'ponderables' that came to mind:

The employees would have stolen from them had they been told in advance? That is the oddest excuse I have ever heard or would have expected from the family. Certainly they would have expected an employee to give more than a moment's notice if the tables had been turned.

I think that people are more likely to wish your business harm if they are treated poorly. Perhaps the former employee meant that if she had known how lousy she was about to be treated, she would have imagined how much she would have liked to not ring up meals. Sounds like a frustrated person to me, not someone headed for prison as Mr. Guliani would have us believe.

A little resentment? Perhaps they would and should have a right to feel a lot of resentment - at the very least immediately upon finding out they would have no paycheck for the next week and probably the one after that as well.

The ignorant and unkind comment about bar tending and waiting on tables not being a career doesn't even warrant a response.

I smell something fishy and it certainly isn't fish fry coming from the exhaust vent at South Beach.

United Rentals in Batavia closed at the end of December and their employees knew for weeks. I wonder how the management could afford to risk it.

Oddly enough, the restaurant on Park Road that Alex and his former brother-in-law Ron Viele started, which is still named Alex's is STILL GOING STRONG - and owned now [since June of 2007] by partners Matt Gray and Matt Boyd, "local boys" who are HONEST and GREAT people. They formerly owned Matty's Pizzeria [Matt Boyd still does], then went to Raliegh to open not one, but TWO successful restaurants. They sold one, and Matt Gray came back to Batavia and the partners bought Alex's Place - and is doing a GREAT JOB running it. They've updated the kitchen, reupholstered the couches, made it so there's affordable HEALTH INSURANCE FOR THE EMPLOYEES, started to give credit for time worked toward PAID VACATION TIME - and KEPT the atmosphere of a friendly, cozy restaurant - all while keeping prices down as much as they can. The restaurant is open every day except Christmas Day - they're on the web at www.alexsribs.com. It's better now that it ever HAS been!!!!

Tina, great offer ... I was thinking earlier ... If I owned a local restaurant, I'd offer something to gift certificate holders.

Okay, I just read this article and didn't even read the comments that people had by this. I must say I am infuriated. The comment about waitresses and bartenders was the most ignorant comment I have heard in a long time. You just set yourself up for that one maam. I hope you get all of the flack that you deserve for that stupid comment. As a former waitress I will tell you that it is one tuff job. It's hard to know if you are going to have enough tip money to make rent and car payments and pay day care when you don't know how much money you are really going to make in a shift. As far as the employees go, it,s not easy to wake up one day and find out that your job is gone. So take a reality check,the ones that are suffering here are the employees, not the owner.

I would say they are both suffering my dear.

Hard to compare Alex and Barb's suffering in their home in Florida to any of the employees that were given no notice and are now without jobs. Get real.

An employee out of work for a couple weeks, like myself, but can get unemployment. Im not downplaying that in any way. Its terrible, but Beth, they lost thier life savings, and maybe even thier home. They have NOTHING! So please, this whole thing is getting ridiculous. Everybody loses in this situation. Please if you don't know the whole deal, save your negative comments. Life isn't easy. I'm out of a job too.

But it is okay for you and Gail to insinuate that the employees are thieves?

It seems like your grasping at straws now to be mad at us for something. All I said is what I heard today directly from an employee. I don't think in general that all restaurant employees are thieves. BUT, it is very common. I guess there can be a few bad eggs in any business. We just want to get on with our lives. I've got crying children and I really can't debate any longer over this. Howard, thanks for your kind words, this is an excellent site.

Also:

Mike and Tina Rose, thank you for your generosity. Batavia is lucky to have you.

I'd cut Jason some slack. He is not at fault, like he said, he's out of a job also. Maybe you don't like the comment about stealing, I understand that. But, this has not been his best day either. He lost his job, he had to face the other employees and gets beat up here. He didn't have to come on this site, he just tried to pass along some information.

He stated they have nuthing, REALLY. Which part are you confused about? Alex and Barabara are going "home" to be with family right now. Being a server/bartnder is Jason's trade which many people know if they've ever been to Southbeach, he may have taking very good care of you. He also handled managerial reponsibilites for his grandfather. Jason is currently UNEMPLOYED katy. In perfect world things could've been done differntly, but in a perfect world they never would've had to do it in the first place.

If Batavia is so full of theives and miscreants why did Alex even think of opening a restaurant here? Maybe he should ride his high horse all the way back to Florida as he is no longer welcome among the good folks of our great town.
As to the comment about the Waitresses and Bartenders,the reason a business is good or bad depends on them not the owner,especially one who sneaks out in the middle of the night.
If Alex cares about the customers(yeah,Right) then he should stand up and honor the Gift certificates instead of running out and leaving the GOOD people of Batavia to clean up his mess.

My name is Colleen Odessa and I am the Sales Manager for Alex's Place. First thing this morning I heard the rumors already circulating. When I spoke with Matt Gray, the owner of Alex's the first thing we spoke about were the people that would be concerned about the redemption of Gift Certificates. He had already made the decision that we were honoring them. We are discussing the application of restrictions that may apply. He has already contacted local media to advertise the information. I just wanted to let people know that although the closing of one of our local busniesses is always tragic and can even be confusing that they will have options because of generous owners, like those of Alex's and Sunny's. In this economic state it is always refreshing to see people in communities come together. Let's focus on resolving some of the issues.

All I got to say is it is a know fact that Alex Giuliani was not that great of a man to work for. He didn't care about noone else but himself. So all that i got to say is if Alex G. is really hitting rock bottom, he wouldn't care if it happened to anyone else so why should we care now

Ok

First of all arent alex and barbara on there cruise?????????????????????

Gail I can not believe your comment on the fact we are nothing but waitresses and bartenders, when you know it is one of the hardest jobs out there, and we work hard never knowing what your income will be. Also everyone knows alex came back and hired alot of his former employees, who GLADLY left there jobs and went to work for him. They ALL would have stood by him to the end if they knew the truth! To have the door slammed in there faces is a disgrace!

One more thing , WHY if alex is sending back money for gift cert.. why does sunny have to honor them????????????

Jason , it is wonderful for you to stick up for your grandfather, and totally understandable, but what he did is dead wrong.

there were quite a few employees that Alex himself personally asked to come work for him. Most were employees that he had At Alexs place. They left other employment to come work for him this time. Some he has known for about 15 years or so maybe even longer. He is not a caring person if he can burn people that he has known that long.

They are not going on the cruise, they would NEVER do that.

We at the Center Street Smokehouse believe it was unfortunate for the way the employees at South Beach were treated. These people work hard for their money and for some people this is a career that they love.

Anyone interested in stopping at the Smokehouse for possible employment please stop by anytime. It's at these times that REAL restaraunt people stick together. We will also join, in redeeming South Beach gift cards. Any questions please call us at 343-7470.

Thanks

I am so impressed with all these other restaurants stepping up and honoring these gift certificates.
I'm even more proud to say I am a Batavian, knowing that there are so many good people that will help the community out in a bad situation.
I just hope those that lost their jobs will be able to find new ones.

PLEASE keep in mind - any restaurant that honors the South Beach gift certificates will be LOSING MONEY - they will NOT be reimbursed ONE DIME. The money that was PAID for those gifts is GONE. When Jason tells you that you can use them elsewhere now that South Beach is closed, it is ONLY because the owners of the OTHER restaurants CARE - not because any provision has been made by South Beach, or Alex, or Jason. It is ENTIRELY OUT OF THE KINDNESS OF THE OWNERS OF Sunny's, the Smokehouse, and Alex's[former]Place and any other restaurant that follows suit that these customers will get ANYthing back at ALL on the money that was spent. These people CARE.

Sad to see another local business close up.Just goes to show what these times are doing to people.It's like a domino effect.business close-people lose jobs-crime goes up-kids and family suffer.

Everyone seems to put their attention towards how Alex went about shutting down-how are we gonna get our gift certificates redeemed and what the effect will be on the employees.I do care and hope it just works out for the better of everyone involved.

My first thought as I read the article earlier was why.
I didn't see anyone try to take a guess at what the circumstances of the shut down and leave town was

The first thing that comes to my mind is simply the cost of doing business in NYS. The cost of running a profitable business.Yes I believe Alex was here to make
money and not just have a good time serving food and drinks.The way NYS has operations set up, It's no wonder to me when I see businesses pack up and leave.you are just kidding yourself when thinking NYS doesn't have their hands in the peoples pockets.

Anyone else with any insane theories like mine or do you think I'm on to something

I'd like to see the day when we the people just stand up and say "we can't and won't take it anymore" But no,the goverment of this country has got the american people so far in debt, that most americans are working so hard to make ends meet with food on the table-place to live that we as a group are not looking at what is really happening.

Anyone wants to read what I read about these trouble times let me know and I'll send you a link

GOD BLESS AMERICA

Doug,
I agree with you NYS makes it hard to open, run and stay in business. But don’t forget an equal factor, competition.

This is a tough city for restaurants. We have seen others come and go. Just because you open up, doesn’t mean you will be around a year later. When a new restraint opens, the others try even harder to get better. There are only so many people around here who have the extra money to go out to eat often enough for them to survive. Every new business divides that base up a bit more. What do you think the other restaurants did when South Beach opened up? They did everything they could to get people to stay with them or to come back. There are 4 other great places to eat within two blocks of South Beach, that’s tough.

I have no idea why they closed. I have no doubt NYS didn’t help things. But it could also be that just plain old competition beat them out.

It sounds like everyone was paid for work done. The tone of the comments makes me believe the owners had no choice but to close the way they did. Anyone that starts a business takes a huge risk - much more than any employee.

I'm pretty sure they aren't basking in the sun in Florida. Closing a business after investing months of time and huge amounts of money is devastating.

Maybe all the time spent whining would be better spent trying to start your own restaurant or other small business. Your perspective on this situation would change very fast.

this is just a sad time for all of us

For those of you who have never waited tables or served drinks at a bar, don't be so quick to judge. Having worked many local restaurants over the years I can tell you it IS in fact the hardest job, bar none. There are many great owners here in Batavia. Most are honest, and genuinely care about the product and service that they put out. For his sister in law to make such a snide comment is appalling. Maybe she has paid her dues as a server...I dont know, BUT It's obvious that she hasn't suffered as a result of the recent economic downturn. We all can't have a job when our brother in law feels so inclined. I am sure that whatever his losses, he will come out of it just fine like he always seems to. If he lost his life savings, that is his own fault. It's not like he is new to the business. Everyone reading this has been affected by the economy, so it doesn't make him an exception. I am curious why he didnt stick around here in NY to answer questions. Leaving a note on the bar is a cowardly act. A good old fashioned "Dear John" letter. If he is such a stand up guy....where the hell is he? He is in Florida. Anyone who cares for their employees would at least stick around and face the music. These people have worked hard for him, and the best he can give them is a note on the bar? Very pathetic. If he had treated everyone fairly over the years, maybe there wouldn't be so many upset people.

The comments made in the article say it all. Running out is the cowards way out. They couldn't even face the employees!! Boo-Hoo they have nothing -- what goes around comes around. Quit treating employees like brainless idiots.

Iwould like to give credit to the local restaurants like Sunny's, Alex's Place and Center St. for helping out with the gift certificates. However a question needs to be answered - Only the recently purchased Gift Cert were taken with names and addresses (which should not have been sold to begin with) but Jason what were his intentions for all of the others out there that still need to be redeemed. He never made arrangements with local restaurants. They did this on their own. Where is all of the money taken in for those Gift Cert and what did he want these people to do? This closing has been in the making for awhile. People knew because of the rumors and almost purchases. But why keep taking in the money from innocent people knowing there was a chance you might have to close. Where is all of this money. The sales alone for Christmas gifts has to be huge.

Hi as a former employee of Southbeach that just lost my job when Alex closed the doors of the restaurant, I just want to say thank you to all the owners of the restaurants excepting our gift certificates. Also a special thanks to center street for offering us a application, if you do hire any of Southbeach crew they will be a great asset to you.I couldn't ask for better people to work with. I am so proud to here that there are really honest and great people out there. All I have to say is Gail it might only be a waitressing or bartending job to you but to me it is a great experiance to work with the public. i really enjoy the resturant business, it is a vary hard job for people to do but i love what i do. It is upsetting to me that whole time you being nice to us at the restaurant you were really just looking down at us. I hope all goes well with the employees of southbeach. It was a amazing time with all of you. And I will walk out of there with great memories!

First off, it is sad that everyone lost their jobs, and others lost their life savings. Things could have been done differently, but everyone has to remember New York is an employ at will state. Anyone can lose their job at any time, with a reason or no reason at all. With or with out notice. That is a risk everyone takes when they get a job. Same right applies to the employee, you can quit with out notice at anytime. It is nice when you give notice, but not against the law if you don't. Times are tough across the board. There is alot of small businesses going out of business because the income is just not coming in. Its great if you happen to have a business that is thriving and doing great despite the economy. Everything that has came out lately say's that the shopping and dinning indrustries are down. Come on give these people a break. They lost too. As far as the gift certicicates, they are a gamble when you buy them. Most have the clause that you run the risk of the place shutting down. I just ordered several off of a local channels website. It made it quite clear that they do not guarntee that the business will be there when you want to use it. Its nice that local businesses will honor them, but what about the people that are getting rembursed??? Do they get there money and get to use the certificates too? Its sad, but businesses close everyday. Move on, Alex and Barb left, I don't see how carring on about oh woe is me is helping everything, and It isn't fair to the family members that are taking flack for it and have to read stuff like this when it wasn't their desison. Jason now too, has to find a job and has two boys close to one and under that he has to figure out how he is going to support them, but know one has a problem giving him crap about all this. Personally I think he has enough to be worried about and don't need to be reading his family name getting trashed and worring about trying to fix it. The situation sucks, could have been done many otherways, but atleast everyone got paid for the time they put in and can also collect unemployment. They could have all been fired one by one for stupid reasons, if they really wanted to screw them over. Or worse, could have not paid them at all till they sued them. I do wish the employees best of luck finding another job. Maybe you will work in a place that gets more business and better tips.

THANK YOU PATRICIA. I RAISED 3 BOYS ON WAITRESSING BARTENDER WAGES. GAIL YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF. I DONT FEEL SORRY FOR ANYBODY ESPECIALLY ALEX G. HE KNEW WHAT HE WAS DOING JUST LIKE HE ROBBED PEOPLE BEFORE. NOTHING NEW THERE. IF HE WANTED TO FEEL BAD HE SHOULD HAVE STAYED AND FACED THE MUSIC HIMSELF INSTEAD OF LEAVING HIS GRANDSON TO DO IT. ONCE A SNAKE ALWAYS A SNAKE

P.S. Don't think they are "looking down" at waitresses or bartenders" Wasn't Alex the Host on the weekends and his grandson and granddaughter were both part of the wait staff??????

I just spoke with Gail. Her family has been in restaurants thier whole life, so it surprised me to read that. She's very upset and didn't mean it to sound as Phillip waned it to sound. Anything to get people going, right Phillip?? And Ms. Watts, I'm surprised to see your post, Alex went out of his way to give you a job after you stole from him at Alex's. Employees like you are exectly what I meant by my post. Everyone say what you will, Im done. I see everybody nice to our faces, but then they hide behind the computer and want to be Batavia's big shot. One guy even said Alex wasn't welcome in Batavia anymore! What??? Alex lived in Batavia most of his life. Who is he to say that! Just another wanna be big shot hiding behind the comp. Alex has a heart of gold, anyone who was close to him would say it. The man would take a bullet for me, and I owe him more than words can say. He's always told me to do the right thing and while he may not be perfect, he definatly doesnt deserve the crap he's getting on here. So go ahead people, all get your 15 seconds of glory by trashing my family, if the shoe was on the other foot I'm sure you would change your tune.

to all the past employees of south beach restaurant

it is a shame all you good,honest people had to loose your jobs the way you did

i do believe the whole stealing line is a bunch of crap

if you owned a resturant would you hire someone you thought was going to steal from you?

whoever made the rude,inconsiderable comment that it was not a career, just a job

you should be very ashamed of your self

you can put as much money into a business you want but if you don't offer good service then you have nothing

THATS WHAT THE EMPLOYEES DID IS ALWAYS OFFER GREAT SERVICE

JASON..understandable your sticking up for your gramps.. but bro he really did a lot of people wrong and you have to draw the line between right and wrong

one of the reasons that i love Batavia is because when you have someone that does something as shady as these people did you have GOOD people that step in to do the rite thing"even if it isn't to there profit"

THESE OTHER RESTAURANTS SHOULD BE RECOGNIZED ON THE FRONT PAGE OF THE DAILY NEWS FOR BEING THE GREAT PEOPLE THEY ARE

ITS PEOPLE LIKE THEM THAT MAKE BATAVIA WHAT IT IS

THANK YOU........

umm... Dan how many resturants have you worked for??? Hate to break it to you, but their is a great many employees that steal. Every time you give a friend a discount on their meal, forget to charge for something, or make yourself food and not pay for it. But ur right, everyone is honest and no one would do something like that, alex is just the biggest snake in the world for going deeper into debt to try and hold on to the business until he would sell it, until it got to the point that, he couldn't possibly keep the doors open one more day.

I just think its funny that all of a sudden people are coming out of the woodwork to put us down. People are posting who know absolutely nothing about what happened just to jump on the bandwagon. Im trying to handle this as best I can, and the smart thing to do is not to look at this anymore, I know that. But I just can't let the man I've looked up to my whole life just go down in flames like this. I'll go down with him. Granted this is terrible what happened, but Alex has treated his employees well and I'm surprised that I'm seeing all these negative comments. Dan, the stealing thing is being blown out of proportion, i know. But it happens. More than you'd think. The restaurant business is not like other businesses, like United Rentals for example. 2 different operations.I knew we were closing a week ago. Guess what, Im still unemployed! It didn't make a difference. I could see if it was a month or so, but we only knew for a week! I've been apart of several restaurant closimgs now, in different parts of the state. They were all handled the same way! The business has to protect itself. One place didn't even pay me for my last week's work. I dont even want to go anywhere! I usually go to the YMCA but cant! You people have upset me and my wife, We'd give you the shirt off our backs if we could!!

NO I HAVE NOT WORKED IN A RESTAURANT SETTING BEFORE

i guess i was wrong by saying that..i didn't think about it that way

jUST WANT TO GET IT OUT THERE THAT THE EMPLOYEES DID NOT GIVE AWAY ANYTHING FOR FREE. IT WAS AN HONEST MISTAKE ON THE SERVERS BEHALF AND THEY DID GET CHARGED BY THE OWNERS FOR THE MISTAKES ON THE CHECKS WHETHER IT CAME DOWN TO A BLUE CHEESE OR A FULL COARSE MEAL THEY GOT CHARGED. AND THAT MONEY CAME OUT OF THERE HARD EARN CASH!

watch what you say jason I never stole from alexs or him he called me and asked me to come back. defend him all you want but he took the cowards way out and left you to hold the bag Dont bad mouth me just because I told the truth

Sally how can you speak for everyone? How do you know what other employees did?? Im not saying they did, just that it happens in restaurants. I never accused anyone of stealing and some of these comments are becoming pathetic. All I said was that it happens, and when somebody is losing thier job in a week, it becomes more of an issue because hey, im losing my job anyway, how much trouble can i really get in for not charging for that martini.

IF THAT MARTINI CAME OUT OF THAT BAR THE SERVERS PAID FOR IT FIRST SO HOW CAN YOU SAY IT MIGHT NOT GET PAYED FOR. AND IF THEY DIDNT CHARGE THE CUSTOMERS FOR IT ,ITS ALREADY OUT OF THERE POCKET .

Well Anne how come you're so smiley and nice to our faces but now you have all these resentments?? Why even get involved Anne? Maybe he didn't have to leave, but not telling the employees is how a restaurant closes down. Thats all Ive ever seen, Barbara even waitressed in Fla. before and came to work one day and the place was empty. THATS THE BUSINESS!! We are deeply sorry, and I saw Alex before he left, hes a broken man. Im sure that makes you all very happy to hear. But believe me, he got no pleasure in doing this. It killed him. Shame on you people for kicking him while hes down! He only loved this city.

Sally youre being ridiculous. Can you read? I didnt say it happened at South Beach. Did I?? Stop whining, nobody even knows who you are. Are you gaining some sort of points for this? I dont understand. What are you trying to prove??

JUST PROVING THAT THEY ALL HAD TO PAY FOR THERE MISTAKES.

nothing against you jason but as you can see your grandfather didnot stick around to face the music Unfortunately he left you That doesn't sound to nice to me

what music, he made payroll

Same old Batavia. How many businesses has he started?How many people has he provided jobs for over the years? How many people got every single paycheck? How many people has he even given a second chance to? Has anyone bashin him on here even come close? Business is business, doesn't owe anyone a thing.

As nasty as all you people seem to be, I see why he did'nt give any notice. Start your own restaurants.
Or if your looking for a job I hope your future employer see's these posts so he knows what he's getting into. Remember you where paid for work done (contract over)

To John sheller im sorry to say as a employee from Southbeach all the nasty comments that are on here are not from employees that just lost there jobs. Some of these comments are from ex employees or customers. So I wish you would restate that thank you>

I'm getting close to shutting down this threatd. It's just going round and round with no new information and lots of restated acrimony.

Also, we have a few people registering without using their real names. They have been asked to update their profiles.

Jason, I've no doubt Philip quoted Gail accurately and with no ill intent. Words often come out different in print than people intended them to sound -- I've done the same thing myself -- but the best thing to do is own up to your own words rather than blame the reporter.

Dan, yes it's great that these other restaurants have stepped forward to honor the certificates, but it's already been given front page treatment -- front page of The Batavian.

JASON HOLD YOUR HEAD HIGH AS YOU ARE TAKING ALOT OF HEAT WHERE IT NEED NOT BE DIRECTED. WATCH THE ACCUSATIONS THAT YOU THROW BACK AS FAR AS THE STEALING THING GOES. EVERYONE ATTACKING JASON DOES NEED TO STEP BACK AND KNOW THAT WE ALL DEFEND OUR FAMILY RIGHT WRONG OR INDIFFERENT IT IS HUMAN NATURE. WETHER WE AGREE OR NOT TO ALEXS CHOICE IT IS DONE AND UNFORTUNEATELY HE DID TAKE THAT RIGHT AWAY FROM HIS EMPLOYEES FOR ANSWERS THEY WELL DESERVED.IT SOUNDS LIKE THEY ARE SPEAKING OUT IN ANGER AS WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND THEY ARE HURT. NO MATTER WHAT THE BUSINESS WE SPEND OUR WORK DAYS SIDE BY SIDE WITH PEOPLE THAT YOU FORM MORE THAN JUST THAT CO-WORKER BOND WITH AND TO HAVE IT TAKEN AWAY WITH NO ANSWERS IS UNJUST. WHO I AM VERY ANXIOUS TO ADDRESS IS MRS. GAIL G. I WAS JUST A WAITRESS AND BARTENDER THE MAJORITY OF MY LIFE. I AM NOW A NURSE THAT MAY SOMEDAY BE HOLDING THE HAND OF YOUR GRANDBABY KISSING THIER FOREHEAD WHILE THEY GET STICHES. THAT DOCTOR THAT MAY SAVE YOUR LOVED ONES LIFE POSSIBLY GOT THRU MED SCHOOL BY BEING JUST A WAITRESS OR BARTENDER. YOUR LAWYER, POLICE, OR JUST THAT SINGLE MOM WHO STOPS IN THE MIDDLE OF A SNOW STORM AND LETS YOU SIT IN THIER CAR AND KEEP WARM CAUSE YOU SLID OFF THE ROAD MAY JUST BE A WAITRESS. WATCH YOUR TONGUE GAIL AS I HAD THE PLEASURE OF STANDING NEXT TO YOUR HUSBAND AS A MANAGER OF ALEXS PLACE AND IN THAT YEAR HE NEVER METIONED HAVING A DEGREE FROM YALE. SO I ASK YOU GAIL, IS YOUR HUSBAND JUST A MAN WHO LUCKED OUT THAT HIS BROTHER OWNED A BUSINESS AND GAVE HIM A JOB?

Hey Jason,
Don't let all of these people rile you. There are many people who are just mean and hateful. Don't listen to the crap.
You are a nice guy with a beautiful family. I will miss you Grandparents! I wish them luck.
Jeff Yolevich

Hey, can we stop with the ALL CAPS. On the Internet, it's called shouting. You wouldn't walk into somebody's living room and start yelling at the top of your lungs, would you?

TK,

Thanks, Im sorry if I never answered you. When we made the decision to close, which was barley a week ago, we started taking names and addresses of customers who bought gift certs. To not sell the gift certs would have raised red flags that we were closing, and as you stated, all hell would have broken loose. We enclosed a check, along with a letter, to those people from that week. Alex would not keep the money after he had made the decision to close. As far as the gift certs that were bought throughout the last 2 years, theres not much I can do about those. I can talk to Alex and take names, but unfortunatly, we're in debt and wouldn't be able to cover all of them. The generosity of the other Batavia restaurants all coming together to honer them is amazing. But, as Irene made sure everyone knew, it is thier generosity doing it, not any deal made from us. So hats off to them, we owe you a debt of gratitude. TK I hope this answers your question.

Howard this sure brought alot of new members to the Batavian. I just went out for coffee and the streets of Batavia were empty!! Everyone's on thier computer:)

TK's latest comment deleted because he/she already warned to update profile with real name.

Thank's Jason.

if the restaurant was sold, the gift certs would have just carried over. That was the plan. when it fell thru, he started taking names.

hats off to you Danielle. You are right. While I don't think Jason should take the heat he shouldn't make remarks about people stealing especially since they are not true. It is Gail's remarks that are way out of line. She should know better.

Jason,
I've always know you to be a good guy and I'm impressed that you are stepping up to defend Alex.
I think that people are going to continue to rip him, on here or in public until he shares his side of the story. Is there any way you could get him to provide details on why you had to close. That might make some people back off if they know exactly what happened.
I also wish you luck in finding a new job.

After speaking to Gail, she told me that what she said was that waitressing and bartending is a career and that we'd be able to find jobs. She doesn't have a computer at home, thats why I'm the messenger.

Actually Brian, Alex probably won't. He's got nothing left. I'm trying to fill in the pieces. Not many details, other than we are in a recession, our weekends were busy, but during the week is what hurt us. Alot of expense getting open, just not as many people out on the town as there used to be.

first off jason i wish u luck having 3 kids and being out and what did u do wrong? nothing so why all the flack youve come along way so dont let this get you down. anybody that knows you knows how hard youve worked for your family so dont even pay attention. im sure everything will work itself out. so strive forward. as far as everything else i worked at south beach and for jason and alex. and not once did i hear anything bad about the employees as far as theives or anything like that thats 1 persons opinion. jason would never think that. i worked with great hard working people who all cared about each other. so all of you former workers i wish you all the best of luck you guys can go anywhere your awesome.

I think that instead of attacking Jason or even accusations back and forth - we should all be more upset about another business leaving Batavia. This back and forth between everyone will not bring Alex or South Beach back. It will not get all those servers and bartenders and cooks their jobs back. We should focus our energy towards the future and try to think what we can do to prevent any more businesses from leaving our city.

Heads up - I know of a few restaurants that will be closing at the end of the month, but rest assured, it is just for remodeling. Although I know those 2 particular restaurants are also feeling the impact of our current economic situation.

Good point, Nancy. We need to be concerned about another vacant storefront downtown.

I don't think its right to say Alex is a coward or that he doesn't belong in Batavia. Everyone falls on hard times. I think everyone should pick up the pieces and move on like he is trying to obviously do. You lost your job, wow that happens to everyone. I understand you wanted a notice but there’s NO such thing as job security anymore. so get over it. Do you think he wanted this to happen? No, I'm sure he’s just as upset as all of you. And as for Jason, you need to leave him alone. He's only sticking up for his family. Like ANYONE would. None of this is his fault he's just stating facts that he knows at this time. This is a shame. Alex has been good to this community for so many years I don’t think its fair to turn on him for one mistake that he must have felt he had no choice but to make. So why don't YOU get off your high horses and come walk around down here with the rest of us in the real world where things do go bad sometimes, and life is almost never fair.

Gail, think before you speak!! Your husband Enzo was a bartender for over 5 years in Florida which gave you a nice home with an inground pool, before you came back to Batavia. These people work very hard and jobs are really tuff to find now a days. You go find them jobs then, miss smarty pants!!! Alex left the first time with a good name, but now not so good. Doing nails is a career? LOL Grow up

Now this is just a RUMOR - I'd be interested to find out how true it is......I hear there was a REASON to think the employees would steal - now this is what I HEARD - seems that not too long ago, an unnamed employee somehow got ahold of a LOT of money from Alex's place, and took off on a three day drug bender. Of course, when they got back, Alex, good guy that he is, welcomed the employee back with open arms - - had to cut down on OTHER employee's hours and pay to make up for it, but that's just good business. No WONDER they couldn't trust their employees. Jason was right - it's a fact. Employees steal.

Ok, this simply addresses Irene's post - an employee steals money from an employer to go on a drug bender and is welcomed back but the other employees have to sacrifice to replace the stolen funds. "Of course" that doesn't sound like "just good business". That sounds just loony to me. And very, very unlikely.

This topic is getting really old. What's done is done. There must be more news than this. All the rumors and whatever. A wise man once told me, "Believe none of what you hear, and only half of what you see." We should be talking about all the restaurants that are taking the gift certificates that won't be reimbursed. Thank you to all of them!

How about this Irene, stop posting on here. You seem ignorant to the facts. If your a waitress or something and you think people steal in the restaurant business so much why don't you go get another job. This is getting old. Get over it, move on with your life and leave the Giuliani family alone! and yeah Alex did leave the first time with a good name, if its tarnished in your mind now then keep it out of your mouth. These are all good people and I can't see how any of them would care what you have to say anyways.

When I first heard the news of the closing and when i first commented I looked at not bashing anyone's family ,but just noticing that this seems to be a pattern, pizza place in Bergen, etc.There are many fine restaurants here in Batavia that have been here for ever. The economy takes a toll on everyone. It just seems this place was the talk of the town packed full day and night. It's hard for me to believe it was the economy that led to this. It is also hard for me to believe that they did not have this under a corporations name that would lead me to believe that the owners would not be a broke as Jason claims.The winter house in Fla. confirms that .I 've worked hard my whole life and don't have a winter house, plus Alex is a smart business man and has in hands in many pots.(race horses etc.)I do think this has gotten out of hand , but weve never had this option before to converse and tell our opinons and I thank the Batavian for that. I hope everything works out for the employees. Doing the RIGHT thing is always the way to go!

Patricia, being incorporated protects your personal finances from certain liabilities (for example, if a customer falls and gets hurt on your stairs, the business can be sued, but you can't be sued). But if you take your personal fortunate and invest it in your business, being incorporated doesn't guarantee you will recover that investment. If you borrow against your personal property for your business, they bank can still seize that asset if you don't pay back the loan.

I don't know at all what happened here. I'm just saying it's not logical to state that because the business was incorporated Alex couldn't still lose everything he had. If he put all his money into the start up, for example, and then borrowed against real estate for new equipment at some point later, then being incorporated wouldn't help him. It's quite possible he put everything he had into starting the restaurant and monthly receipts were sufficient only to meet payroll and pay suppliers and rent. Once the economy dipped, he didn't have the cash flow to keep meeting payroll and pay suppliers.

I'm just speculating.

It's worth noting, one liability owners/officers can never escape is payroll. A supplier can't personally sue a company officer, but the state will take money directly from the officer to meet unpaid wages.

Thanks Howard.. your a pretty smart guy...I knew there was a reason why I liked you... I'm learning alot and this could be the postive thing that comes out of all this.Peace

Congrats, Howard.

I just deleted another inappropriate comment and blocked the anonymous user.

I'm closing this thread.