Fairfax County General :
Fairfax Underground
Welcome to Fairfax Underground, a project site designed to improve communication among residents of Fairfax County, VA. Feel free to post anything Northern Virginia residents would find interesting.
Welcome to Fairfax Underground, a project site designed to improve communication among residents of Fairfax County, VA. Feel free to post anything Northern Virginia residents would find interesting.
Tortilla Factory in Herndon Closed?
Posted by:
Hungry in Herndon
()
Date: May 11, 2012 04:16AM
I hadn't eaten there in a while, then I was surprised to find out it was closed. Searching the internet I found this article...
Tortilla Factory to Close Before Weekend is Up
Owner Chuck Curcio said with food supplies dwindling he doesn't expect the restaurant to stay open past Saturday.
http://herndon.patch.com/articles/tortilla-factory-to-close-before-weekend-is-up
Herndon's Tortilla Factory may not make it through the weekend.
On Friday afternoon owner Chuck Curcio said they would be open for dinner Friday night and if they have anything left after the night is over will try to open again on Saturday. He said he doesn’t expect them to make it past Saturday though, as food supplies are running out quickly.
Between lunch and dinner rushes Friday the restaurant was quiet, as patrons finishing their lunch got ready to leave, bought some of the remaining batches of salsa and gave well wishes to Curcio.
Outside the closed sign was up, the lights were turned out and one of the brightly painted picnic tables was strapped to the top of a truck.
“Can I buy one of the parrots?” asked a customer, pointing to an item on the wall. Curcio said he plans to sell them on Ebay, but when the customer offered $25 he got out the scissors to cut down the parrot of his choice.
Curcio said closing the restaurant was a decision based on many factors. He said the staff and equipment is aging, and more importantly the building structure is aging, and the property management wasn’t willing to do much about it.
Additionally, business at the restaurant was quite steady until about two years ago when the down economy began to have bigger impacts in the area, Curcio said.
Patrons leaving the restaurant asked about the salsa recipe and signed up for an email list to receive updates on whether the recipe will be released or if it will eventually be sold at farmers markets or local grocery stores. When one suggested Curcio open in a new location, he shrugged, smiled and offered a “maybe.”
Recently Patch has reported on issues between Tortilla Factory and the Town of Herndon, as well as asking customer to post their memories, stories and favorite foods from the restaurant on another article.
But not everyone is offering happy or nostalgic responses to the restaurants closing. Some former employees said the restaurant had been mismanaged in recent months and complained that in some cases they were not paid. Several employees posted messages on a Herndon Patch Facebook conversation about the restaurant's closing.
Doug Tetreault said there are more issues than may be known about the restaurant that many know and love. He said he began working at Tortilla Factory in 2005 when crowds were large and lines were still long, leaving in the summer of 2011 after business became slow.
Tetreault said he wasn’t getting paychecks on time, it became more difficult to get paid and he eventually left. He said he is still owed $360 for about a month of work he did, and other employees may still be owed money as well. He said it also became difficult to get a hold of Curcio to receive his payment.
Catherine Aviles, another former employee, said she has had trouble receiving her pay on time since 2009. She said paychecks would come intermittently and weren't consistent. She said it was back in '09 that they stopped receiving paychecks that had pay stubs with them, and they haven't received W-2s to be able to do their taxes.*
Curcio said as far as he knows all his employees have been paid. He said he tried to contact Tetreault to get his payment to him, even asking his friends to relay messages to him. He said though he has seen Tetreault’s postings online, he hasn’t heard from him directly.
A brightly painted Tortilla Factory picnic table is strapped to the top of a truck in the rain on Friday afternoon as the restaurant prepares to close its doors. Credit: Leslie Perales
Attachments:
Tortilla Factory to Close Before Weekend is Up
Owner Chuck Curcio said with food supplies dwindling he doesn't expect the restaurant to stay open past Saturday.
http://herndon.patch.com/articles/tortilla-factory-to-close-before-weekend-is-up
Herndon's Tortilla Factory may not make it through the weekend.
On Friday afternoon owner Chuck Curcio said they would be open for dinner Friday night and if they have anything left after the night is over will try to open again on Saturday. He said he doesn’t expect them to make it past Saturday though, as food supplies are running out quickly.
Between lunch and dinner rushes Friday the restaurant was quiet, as patrons finishing their lunch got ready to leave, bought some of the remaining batches of salsa and gave well wishes to Curcio.
Outside the closed sign was up, the lights were turned out and one of the brightly painted picnic tables was strapped to the top of a truck.
“Can I buy one of the parrots?” asked a customer, pointing to an item on the wall. Curcio said he plans to sell them on Ebay, but when the customer offered $25 he got out the scissors to cut down the parrot of his choice.
Curcio said closing the restaurant was a decision based on many factors. He said the staff and equipment is aging, and more importantly the building structure is aging, and the property management wasn’t willing to do much about it.
Additionally, business at the restaurant was quite steady until about two years ago when the down economy began to have bigger impacts in the area, Curcio said.
Patrons leaving the restaurant asked about the salsa recipe and signed up for an email list to receive updates on whether the recipe will be released or if it will eventually be sold at farmers markets or local grocery stores. When one suggested Curcio open in a new location, he shrugged, smiled and offered a “maybe.”
Recently Patch has reported on issues between Tortilla Factory and the Town of Herndon, as well as asking customer to post their memories, stories and favorite foods from the restaurant on another article.
But not everyone is offering happy or nostalgic responses to the restaurants closing. Some former employees said the restaurant had been mismanaged in recent months and complained that in some cases they were not paid. Several employees posted messages on a Herndon Patch Facebook conversation about the restaurant's closing.
Doug Tetreault said there are more issues than may be known about the restaurant that many know and love. He said he began working at Tortilla Factory in 2005 when crowds were large and lines were still long, leaving in the summer of 2011 after business became slow.
Tetreault said he wasn’t getting paychecks on time, it became more difficult to get paid and he eventually left. He said he is still owed $360 for about a month of work he did, and other employees may still be owed money as well. He said it also became difficult to get a hold of Curcio to receive his payment.
Catherine Aviles, another former employee, said she has had trouble receiving her pay on time since 2009. She said paychecks would come intermittently and weren't consistent. She said it was back in '09 that they stopped receiving paychecks that had pay stubs with them, and they haven't received W-2s to be able to do their taxes.*
Curcio said as far as he knows all his employees have been paid. He said he tried to contact Tetreault to get his payment to him, even asking his friends to relay messages to him. He said though he has seen Tetreault’s postings online, he hasn’t heard from him directly.
A brightly painted Tortilla Factory picnic table is strapped to the top of a truck in the rain on Friday afternoon as the restaurant prepares to close its doors. Credit: Leslie Perales
Attachments:
Re: Tortilla Factory in Herndon Closed?
Posted by:
Hungry in Herndon
()
Date: May 11, 2012 04:19AM
I found this in the comments section of the article. Looks like it was sold and went under new management...
Jorge
1:25 pm on Saturday, March 3, 2012
I am not a disgruntled employee or even angry, I am truly saddened by everything that has happened to this once great Herndon restaurant and people should hear the truth. I can confirm Doug and Cathy's comments as to employees not getting paid on time and still being owed money. He would push back pay days all of the time, which by the way is illegal, Chuck also stopped giving out pay checks but paid cash instead with no pay stub. http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+40.1-29. TF did not go down hill because of the economy, thats a convenient excuse. After Ronnie, who did a great job running that place, sold the restaurant to Chuck it took its turn for the worse. Things were not getting fixed, liqueur quality decreased (margs were made with less alcohol, different mix ratio, for those of you who noticed the difference over the recent years, this is why), food became less consistent, there was a major bug problem which dramatically reduced customers retention (which was handled in-house and improperly), and management would tend to close down early most nights and get angry at customers who came in late. Chuck put as little money into the restaurant as he could get away with, and it showed. As far as getting the salsa recipe, I would not hold my breath. I would be shocked if he releases it to anyone, my guess is he'll say a select few were given the recipe but in true no one receives it.
Jorge
1:25 pm on Saturday, March 3, 2012
I am not a disgruntled employee or even angry, I am truly saddened by everything that has happened to this once great Herndon restaurant and people should hear the truth. I can confirm Doug and Cathy's comments as to employees not getting paid on time and still being owed money. He would push back pay days all of the time, which by the way is illegal, Chuck also stopped giving out pay checks but paid cash instead with no pay stub. http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+40.1-29. TF did not go down hill because of the economy, thats a convenient excuse. After Ronnie, who did a great job running that place, sold the restaurant to Chuck it took its turn for the worse. Things were not getting fixed, liqueur quality decreased (margs were made with less alcohol, different mix ratio, for those of you who noticed the difference over the recent years, this is why), food became less consistent, there was a major bug problem which dramatically reduced customers retention (which was handled in-house and improperly), and management would tend to close down early most nights and get angry at customers who came in late. Chuck put as little money into the restaurant as he could get away with, and it showed. As far as getting the salsa recipe, I would not hold my breath. I would be shocked if he releases it to anyone, my guess is he'll say a select few were given the recipe but in true no one receives it.
Re: Tortilla Factory in Herndon Closed?
Posted by:
Jose Vargas
()
Date: May 11, 2012 05:30AM
"As far as getting the salsa recipe, I would not hold my breath. I would be shocked if he releases it to anyone, my guess is he'll say a select few were given the recipe but in true no one receives it."
Yeah I remember them collecting email addys and saying they would be selling the chips and salsa at farmer's markets but we our in the midst of farmer's market season and no email contact and nothing on the Tortilla Factory facebook page. Sadly,I feel it's caput.
Wonder if they filed bankruptcy and/or paid the back taxes and the employees back pay?
Yeah I remember them collecting email addys and saying they would be selling the chips and salsa at farmer's markets but we our in the midst of farmer's market season and no email contact and nothing on the Tortilla Factory facebook page. Sadly,I feel it's caput.
Wonder if they filed bankruptcy and/or paid the back taxes and the employees back pay?
Re: Tortilla Factory in Herndon Closed?
Posted by:
Priapus
()
Date: May 11, 2012 05:37AM
A friend of mine worked there. Chuck hasn't paid insurance or any taxes for years. No employee has gotten a W-2.
Re: Tortilla Factory in Herndon Closed?
Posted by:
Salsa Lover
()
Date: May 11, 2012 05:46AM
Does anyone have their salsa recipe? Supposedly they were supposed to provide it via email but never did.
Re: Tortilla Factory in Herndon Closed?
Posted by:
More Complete
()
Date: May 11, 2012 11:47AM
I thought it was the same owners the whole time.
Re: Tortilla Factory in Herndon Closed?
Posted by:
rotten taco
()
Date: May 11, 2012 11:53AM
Salsa Lover Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Does anyone have their salsa recipe? Supposedly
> they were supposed to provide it via email but
> never did.
yeah, a can of stewed tomatoes and water..the place sucked ass. glad it's gone.
-------------------------------------------------------
> Does anyone have their salsa recipe? Supposedly
> they were supposed to provide it via email but
> never did.
yeah, a can of stewed tomatoes and water..the place sucked ass. glad it's gone.
Re: Tortilla Factory in Herndon Closed?
Posted by:
Salsaman
()
Date: May 12, 2012 12:02PM
It was great stuff and no they never shared the recipe, even if you joined their mail list.