Tony C's in Cary... we ate there so you don't have to! (Tryon: sushi, to eat)

[betteroff13]

I was excited when I received the phone calls asking me to come in for an interview at Tony C’s in April 2009. I was hired after the interview and told that there was still some cleaning/kinks they needed to work out before they opened. After a week of waiting I was told to come in for a soft opening…aka clean the restaurant for free. I didn’t mind cleaning for free because I really wanted the job, I thought it would be awesome. BOY WAS I WRONG!!! This place was as messy behind the scenes as it was for all the customers who came in. The servers/bartenders tried to make it work…it was impossible. It all started with one bounced check after another after another. I’d walk in some days and not know what wasn't going to be available…one day it would be the power and the next the gas. This happened month after month, we were told to lie and make it sound good. The same applied when we were out of half the menu because the owner was too lazy to put money in the account or sign a check to pay for the food/beer. Although he seems to want to blame it on everyone else. The looks on the customers faces as I told them “we don’t have what you want, but we do have _____”. (So trust me fellow bloggers I know what you are talking about, the servers/bartenders were as frustrated as the customers). Companies would call or stop by to talk about the bounced checks. No one who could give them answers was ever around. I wonder if the owner even really cares about the store because if it were mine I would make sure everything was running smoothly. The managers would call him to resolve the issues for hours non-stop and he wouldn’t answer any of the calls. And don’t let the owner fool you, he knew everything that was going on and did nothing about it. He would rather be lazy and blame it on the managers/staff he hires…that’s bologna!!! I was there from the beginning and I saw everything – its all him. One day I was asked by a food company to tell the owner that if he did not pay they could not provide food for him anymore. His wife came in later that day and I told her what the man had said. Her reply was so what, we don’t need them, there’s other companies out there. I was amazed because she said nothing about paying the company. Sometimes the products would get dropped off and picked back up in the same day.TO TOP IT ALL OFF…no one in the building gets paid on time and some never get paid. The cooks get paid but only after they beg and cry for their money. There is no payroll there. The servers in the building come in and make 10-30 dollars on average for about 7 hours of work (you do the math…its not minimum wage). The owners don’t care! I myself haven’t seen a dime from that place since July 12th and its now October 16th. The customers wonder why the food is always changing – because the cooks are always changing. You would leave to if your paychecks were weeks late and you had no way to pay your bills…I feel bad for the guys. And the owner has the mentality that if a person quits he doesn’t have to pay them what he owes them. He has even been as bold as to say that to other employees, I guess it's that whole out of sight out of mind mentality. Some people who left still call trying to get there last paycheck -- good luck with that they aren't even paying the people in the building. I have contacted the labor department and a few others but I seem to be getting nowhere. Please if you have any suggestions on other places for me to go comment back. They owe me over $2000. They don’t have any employees on the books which I was told they were taking care of, and now 7 months later it still hasn’t been and it affected my school loans for next year. So don’t be fooled…you are all right about this place and now you know the reasons they are always out of everything and the employees seem so unmotivated. Wouldn’t you be. I mean, its not like the place wasn’t making money, it was…he was just too busy pumping the money into opening another restaurant instead of taking care of this one and the employees. If the owners are reading this: HOW ABOUT PAYING SOMEONE ON TIME…HOW ABOUT CARING ABOUT SOMEONE OTHER THEN YOURSELF FOR ONCE…HOW ABOUT DOING THINGS THE LEGAL WAY…HOW ABOUT NOT RUINING THE LIVES OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE DONE NOTHING BUT WORK HARD FOR YOU (THE PEOPLE THAT TOOK CARE OF YOUR RESTAURANT BECAUSE YOU WERE NEVER AROUND). These people messed up my life, my school, and my credit. I guess I was the dumb one to stay there as long as I did. I wouldn’t give them any business and neither should you.

[eloyfan]

Well, not that we were ever going to try Tony C's, but you really put that last nail in the coffin!

We are leaving tonight at 6 or so to try Carini's in the Cary Park Town Center on Green Level to Durham Rd. Will give a snappy, quick review later. Thanks for the inside scoop on Tony C's........yikes.

[betteroff13]

Tony c's officially closed for good as of today -- thank god!

[flamtap]

Wow, really? I noticed a couple of weekends ago that there was a sign on the door saying "closed temporarily for kitchen renovations" but it was open again a couple days later.


Chip-ot-le!
Chip-ot-le!
Chip-ot-le!

[MAtoNC!]

Originally Posted by betteroff13

Tony c's officially closed for good as of today -- thank god!

Sounds like it was a matter of time! I'm surprised it lasted as long as it did

[Petunia16]

Wow... just... Wow.

[joe530]

Darn, what a shame. Does that mean this thread will close now, too?

[ragdolls4me]

A long thread, indeed! This surprises me, though...I rode by just a few days ago and was surprised at how many customers were inside.

[DPPWUS]

I just drove by what I guess is now the "Old Tony C's" and there is a lot of activity. Trucks parked outside, furniture being stacked up and removed, doors wide open, people in and out, etc. There is a sign on the door that reads, "As of November 6th, the landlord has taken possession. Please call attorney for access"

This is an excellent location as others have mentioned and I imagine someone can make this a successful restaurant. I hope it becomes a place with a nice bar, good food and a semi-upscale tavern type restaurant.

[cncsmomndad]

I just passed by and noticed the signs on the doors. Furniture still stacked up outside and the inside looks pretty cleared out. Fingers crossed for a GOOD restaurant in that location. BBQ would be nice or place that also serves breakfast, but please no chains!


ETA: I love this part of the owner's statement in his post: "We won't fail, trust me." Did he tell the landlord that too..."the check's in the mail. Trust me."