THE SEATTLE RESTAURANT WAGE AND TIP THEFT HALL OF FAME
by Alex R. Mayer
Since Seattle’s wage theft ordinance went into effect in 2015 many prominent restaurants and just about every app-based food delivery platform have been ordered to reimburse employees for stolen pay. The law provides protections against wage theft by “requiring payment for all compensation owed for work performed within the Seattle city limits, payment on a regular basis, and certain written notice to employees about their pay information and rights.”
If you’re a small mom and pop business with one small restaurant and are engaging in wage theft, most law firms will not take you to court because it’s not worth the relatively small potential financial gain from a settlement. Some local restaurant groups, like Zeeks Pizza, Pagliacci, Red Robin, and Tom Douglas are well-capitalized enough to be worth going after and have been sued successfully.
I’ve worked in a bunch of Seattle restaurants over the years and have seen it all. Daytime drug and alcohol use, staged robberies for insurance fraud, watered down liquor, insect plagues, thousands of dollars stolen from a benefit for a cancer patient, an owner who employed the son of their house cleaner to work under the table for under minimum wage. And lots of wage and tip theft.
In order to survive in our cutthroat system restaurants must follow the basic premise of capitalism: The owners make decent money and or get rich and the workers make peanuts and often get ripped off. Food service employees - many of them immigrants and most of whom are not represented by a union - have little recourse when the boss shortchanges them. They are selling themselves for what are usually part time, no benefit jobs and to add insult to injury they are often getting their wages stolen.
The Seattle Restaurant Wage and Tip Theft Hall of Fame showcases establishments that have engaged in shady dealings to the point that they were punished by the City of Seattle for breaking the law.
Here are a few of the worst offenders.
Skillet
Upscale diner chain (oh no!) Skillet closed two of its locations in late 2025, resulting in over 45 layoffs. Vanishing Seattle wrote that “Skillet ownership pointed to a decline in customers and rising food and labor costs for the closure.” Skillet’s official statement claimed that “we have been unable to survive the balance of what we can charge for a meal with the increasing costs of what it takes to produce a meal.”
The business started as a food truck back in 2007 when that was the trendy thing to do. Original chef Josh Henderson left in 2013 and an investor group took over, with predictable results: a decline in the quality of food and higher prices. And rampant wage and tip theft.
The food truck and catering side of the business shut down in 2020. In 2021 Seven of Skillet’s corporate entities received over $750,000 in since forgiven SBA PPP (Paycheck Protection) loans. They claimed that these loans saved 69 jobs.
According to Capitol Hill Seattle Blog “The Seattle Office of Labor Standards says it investigated Skillet restaurant group for allegedly violating wage theft and paid sick leave law and found that Skillet misleadingly distributed service charges and retaliated against an employee for opposing the policy. Skillet settled the case by paying $318,782.48 to 181 employees and $4,958.25 to the city.”
A post announcing Skillet’s closures on Vanishing Seattle, a group run by historian Cynthia Brothers, gathered much vitriol. When Brothers asked people to share their Skillet memories the replies were vicious. “Insanely overpriced ... I love how everyone is on the same page about how bad they were and how poorly they treated their employees ... food poisoning, good riddance ... another Sysco defroster down ... restaurant groups like Skillet and Ethan Stowell are stains on this city ... companies like these are literally designed to exploit restaurant workers so the executives at the top who don’t do any service work get all the money ... gross, greasy and extremely overpriced ... I stopped going when I found out about their wage theft investigation ... so you’re saying bacon jam isn’t the key to the future?”
It’s really hard to make a small business profitable and even harder for a restaurant, even if you expand one humble location into a “restaurant group.” For Skillet, even wage and tip theft was not enough to keep them thriving, or perhaps the bad PR from that episode was their undoing.
Tom Douglas Restaurants
In 2019, shortly before the pandemic started, The Seattle Times reported that employees and former workers at Tom Douglas restaurants got “2.4 million in a class action settlement.”
When Seattle’s Minimum Wage Ordinance passed in 2015 some restaurants responded by instituting a surcharge or service fee. They claimed this would offset the burden of paying their workers higher wages. Tom Douglas Kitchen, which owned over a dozen restaurants, implemented a service fee of 20% of a customer’s bill. The fee did not go to the employees.
Douglas accepted over $1 million in PPP loans during the pandemic.
Tom Douglas is a unique case. He’s one of the point men for the gentrification of Seattle’s Belltown neighborhood. Tom Graf of Ewing and Clark real estate - the guy that is responsible for much of the retail leasing in downtown Seattle — was instrumental in the launch of the Douglas empire and the upscaling of Belltown. Graf is a vocal supporter of We Heart Seattle, a right wing nonprofit.
In the early 90s the first Tom Douglas restaurant was located next to what we called “the crack 7-11,” back when Belltown was considered dangerous and had few eateries of any kind. Douglas was a celebrated, respected chef back then.
And then one restaurant became two, and then four and so on. A humble and excellent chef became a corporate executive, with predictable results.
What convinces a chef to think that they can expand beyond their original schtick and do pizza, Greek food and everything else? Probably the members of a corporate board of directors looking for the almighty constant increase in profits for their investors.
The gentrification of Belltown is not an entirely bad thing. The crack 7-11 and the dive bars are gone, but it sure is easier to find a great meal there these days for those that can afford to do so.
Pagliacci Pizza
Pagliacci was created by Dorene Centioli-McTiguea, who came from a restaurant family that owned some local Kentucky Fried Chicken franchises. She sold Pagliacci to an investor group in 2000.
Similar to many American universities that basically operate as private equity firms and teach students as a side hustle, one could say that Pagliacci is a financial instrument that runs a labor exploitation scheme that sells pizza as a side hustle.
In 2021 Pagliacci paid out almost $4 million to Delivery Drivers after losing a class action lawsuit. The lead plaintiff in the case against Pagliacci, a former delivery driver, alleged that the Seattle pizzeria chain “didn’t distribute all earned tips, failed to provide adequate breaks, and made illegal deductions from paychecks.” In 2024 Pagliacci paid out another $830,000 to drivers in yet another lawsuit.
DISCLOSURE: Our family loves Pagliacci and I’m not gonna turn down a slice if offered. It’s not the best in town (like Zeeks, their dough is made in a central commissary and then delivered to their restaurants - a bad sign) but it isn’t as abominable as Domino’s or Papa John’s.
If we had to avoid all food associated with ethically challenged labor exploitation practices we’d all starve to death.
Zeeks Pizza
Zeeks was created by Tom Vial and Doug McClure, two snowboard enthusiast bros. Their motto: “fuel your stoke.”
The Terrell Marshall Law Group, the firm that got Pagliacci to settle a wage theft lawsuit with delivery drivers, successfully sued Zeeks in 2022 on behalf of 224 employees, for $409,000. Like Pagliacci, Zeeks Pizza has been successfully sued TWICE for wage theft - they settled their first suit in 2019 for $285,000. A delivery charge that ended up not going to drivers was one of the violations.
“We settled as a more expedient way to resolve things,” one of the company’s statements read. Yeah, that’s why they paid out a fortune to make the matter go away. The owners claimed that the violations, which occurred over a number of years, were “temporary and immaterial.”
If they have already been caught twice one imagines they still might allegedly be doing this.
Zeeks Pizza, Inc. got a 1-2 million PPP loan. Did all of that government cheese trickle down to employees?
MOD Pizza
MOD Pizza was birthed by a couple from Bellevue who had previously created a chain of coffee shops in England that they sold to Starbucks. I had the misfortune of meeting them at a party once and they were all you would expect of people who are not satisfied with being very rich if they can call themselves “serial entrepreneurs” and get even richer.
At MOD you pick the toppings in a cafeteria line and get your food within minutes, just like at Subway. MOD Pizza certainly resembles that beleaguered sandwich chain: low quality ingredients being served to you by unhappy low wage employees.
MOD Pizza has a program for hiring ex-cons and that is a virtue-signaling marketing thing for them. “We’re proud to provide jobs to people in our communities who face extraordinary challenges when it comes to finding employment. For example, more than 60% of formerly incarcerated individuals are unemployed one year after being released.” People caught up in America’s gulag of mass incarceration have few other options for employment. Or, as MOD Pizza puts it “Join The MOD Squad. Everyone has a seat at our table - and that’s what makes MOD such a special place to work!”
MOD Pizza was cited twice by the Office of Labor Standards in 2020 for allegations for violations of the Secure Scheduling Ordinance.
In 2024 MOD Pizza “agreed to pay $83,000 in civil penalties to 83 employees and $622.85 in fines to the City of Seattle” for, again, violating the secure scheduling ordinance.
In 2024 MOD Pizza was acquired by Elite Restaurant Group in a ploy to avoid bankruptcy. The chain is shrinking. Plans for an IPO never materialized. The founders are still very rich and very full of self-regard.
Lowell’s
Lowell’s (“almost classy since 1957”) in the Pike Place Market is a charming breakfast joint that’s on three levels. People are drinking cocktails there at 10 in the morning which is charming but their pricey food is not great.
The Dungeness Crab Omelette (39.95) was written up in the New York Times and reviewed favorably by disgraced chef Mario Batali. Some eggs and a dollar’s worth of crab meat for 39.95 plus tax and of course the tip. Which may or may not go to your server or the back of the house, based on their track record.
Do people realize how hard our restaurant comrades work? At Lowell’s they make the servers run up and down the stairs.
In 2020 Lowell’s paid out $483,000 to settle a wage and tip theft case.
The Willows Inn
Imagine being stuck on a remote island working for a chef that is the worst asshole. Isn’t there a Netflix movie about this?
That restaurant would be The Willows Inn. In 2022 The Daily Mail wrote that the restaurant agreed to a “$1.37 million wage theft payout to 137 staff.” This place forced workers to buy kitchen ingredients with their own money, as well as to forage for free ingredients in the local forests.
The richest people in the world came and spent their money at The Willows Inn. Dinner for two was $500 - $740 with wine.
You’d think that Blaine Wetzel — award-winning chef of a highly profitable upscale place — would not have felt the need to egregiously exploit his workers in this crass fashion.
These days The Willows Inn is under new ownership and the well-regarded Hugo Veras is their chef.
On their menu: “Please note for all food and beverage items we apply a 20% service charge. These funds are 100% retained by the Willows Inn.”
Canlis
Canlis was sued for wage theft by two former servers. In 2024 they settled the lawsuit for $1.45 million.
“Canlis told customers that a service fee added to checks was given to employees, when in fact, Canlis was keeping the money,” according to the Seattle Times. Their menus said that “all of these funds are distributed to our team.” Their new disclaimer says that “all tips are retained by Canlis.”
The lawsuit also alleged that Canlis failed to pay wages for first day trial training work and required or allowed employees to perform or work off the clock.
It’s offensive that a profitable restaurant serving very expensive food to the well-heeled would have be so avariciously disrespectful to their laborers. Like most high-end restaurants, the people that work there can’t afford to eat there.
Until recently the kitchen was run by Isha Ibrahim, who took over as executive chef in 2021. They really trumpeted this “it’s our first female chef” bit. Ibrahim also brought along her partner as a Canlis marketing employee. I’m the hottest chef in the world. You want me, you gotta hire my wife.
Anybody remember that whole PPP COVID loan thing? The largest upward transfer of taxpayer money to the wealthy in world history? Well, the Internet does and the databases show that $1.2 million went to Canlis. A gift to wealthy business owners from the government with no oversight and no payback plan. To “save jobs.” Very American.
Recently Brian Canlis sold his interest in the establishment to his brother Mark and chef Ibrahim announced her departure.
Even more recently Bethany Jean Clement of The Seattle Times wrote a blisteringly devastating review of the place. It must have pained her to do it, being that Canlis has been part of and has been serving the Seattle establishment since grandpa Peter Canlis opened the place in 1950.
Mecca Cafe, The 5 Point Cafe
Mecca and 5 Point owner (and former associate - all of us hipsters knew each other in the 90s) David Meinert has repeatedly claimed that labor-friendly laws hurt small businesses like his. He settled a class-action wage-theft lawsuit in 2024.
The Doomed Planet podcast frequently covers the Seattle crime, music and restaurant scenes so naturally we have an episode devoted to Dave - Doomed Planet podcast episode #080: Two Seattle Dive Bar Dicks (December 8, 2022). “The Mecca Cafe was once owned by curmudgeon Dick Smith and is now run by entrepreneur and accused serial-rapist David Meinert.”
Seattle Office of Labor Standards Resolved Investigations From the Labor Standards Case Files
Starbucks and other Corporate Evil
Recently Seattle-based coffee chain Starbucks was found in violation of worker protection laws in New York City (500,000 times since 2021!) and must reimburse workers over $39 million dollars. Here in Seattle, Uber Eats, DoorDash, Instacart, GrubHub and other app-based Silicon Valley labor exploitation schemes disguised as food delivery services have been successfully sued. Corporate garbage chains like Chipotle, Jimmy John’s and Pizza Hut have also been fined. Working for an app or a fast food or fast casual chain is soul-crushingly worse than working for a smaller outfit, if that is even possible.
As of January Seattle will have one of the highest minimum wages in the country: $21.30 an hour. Imagine working for one of these horrible entities if you live in, say, Mississippi, where the minimum wage is $7.25 an hour (same as the Federal minimum) and you are not protected by Seattle’s somewhat progressive labor laws.
The Restaurant that Shan’t be Named: Tip Share or Tip Snare?
Part of the business plan for a restaurant I worked for fairly recently was to have high employee turnover, higher than the average place which is already engaged in constant employee churn. Why do restaurants do that? Because no one is going to stick around long enough to get a raise or, God forbid, start a union.
The help-wanted ads this place constantly runs claim full benefits after 60 days for those working an average of 30 hours or more a week. Guess who gets 30 hours or more a week at this restaurant or at most any restaurant? Nobody. Minimum wage plus tip share is the norm. If you see a restaurant constantly advertising on job sites that might be a clue that it’s not a great place to work.
“All tips for the day are collected and divided based on hours worked for that day. The company withholds 2% of all credit card tips to help pay for a portion of the cost to process credit card payments and 8% of the tip pool is shared with the commissary team.” How does the tip share work? It’s opaque. Trust us.
This is legal but it’s an insult. They are forcing the workers to help pay fees and distributing tips unevenly. I mean, what’s next? You’re going to take another 2% out of tips to cover food costs?
This restaurant group got two PPP loans totaling over a million dollars.
Here’s where the owners of this company could get dinged. They do catering orders - big orders for Microsoft, Amazon and the like. And they charge a 20% service fee.
So if you’ve got an $8,000 order, that 20% service fee could add up to quite a lot. But how do we know that any of that money is going to the tip pool? It doesn’t say explicitly in the vague information they give the customer that this catering service charge is split up between the workers.
A friend runs a company that orders lots of catering and (2 years ago) I asked them to order a staff lunch from this restaurant. And sure enough, they did a catering order and in the contract and on all the paperwork nowhere was it mentioned where the service charge goes. A red flag.
I’m not mentioning the name of the place here because I sort of admire the grit and entrepreneurial spirit of the owners and because my legal team said not to. I’m assuming that these days they are lawfully disclosing where the tips go.
Swine Dining
Restaurant work is honorable work but the pay is shite and in many cases you get treated horribly by psycho self-important chefs that think they’re really hot stuff because they have this fancy style of cooking with the foam and the foofy tasting menu and the attitude.
There’s something to be said for going to restaurants for a special occasion, maybe a graduation or a memorial service. Otherwise, it’s so damn expensive to eat out these days. Dining out is now just another bespoke product for the rich.
There’s nothing better than a good family-owned cheap Mexican joint or taco truck or pho spot. Save your money and tell the restaurant groups, corporate chains and farm to table fakers to shove their broken concepts where the sun don’t shine. Give your money to the taco truck, or buy some vegetables and cook at home!
The concept of restaurants being a place where every man is a king and deserves to be waited upon and treated like royalty should really come to an end. In the old days, the king and queen would have their own personal chef and be served by waiters. No one else did that. Now every Joe Punchclock and Sally Housecoat in America thinks they can plop down at the Cheesecake Factory and be doted upon as if they were royalty too.
Fight Back
If you are a restaurant worker that thinks they might be the victim of sketchy practices perhaps your employer is violating the law and can be sued. Go online and find a lawyer - they’ll be happy to hear your story and tell you if you have a reasonable actionable claim. Better yet - contact the City of Seattle. In this case the government does in fact have your back.
This article was inspired by Doomed Planet podcast episode #100: The Seattle Restaurant Wage and Tip Theft Hall of Fame (August 2, 2023).
Originally published in Doomed Planet - 2026 EDITION, a 12 page newspaper.
Contact us: doomedplanetpod@gmail.com. Find the podcast at doomedplanet.com or wherever podcasts are available.