07/01/2024
Message from Chiefs: Although my manager said I owed nobody an explanation, I am going to put this out anyway.
I will start by saying thank you to my family and to my amazing staff because without you I couldn’t have made it this far. Secondly, to the loyal customers that have dined with us over the last 2 1/2 years, you made me want to get up and come to work each day and for that I thank you.
This message is going to serve as an explanation of some things, my side of the story, and hopefully shed some light on why I have decided to close Chiefs. A couple months ago I started having some chest pains and tightness in my chest resulting from all the stress associated with the business mainly if I’d have enough employees to open. At that time, the decision was made that we would close Chiefs the end of June. I didn’t put it out to the public, but all the staff knew and several of our regulars. I had never intended to run the cafe forever; it was purchased as an investment when it was a mazzios. I had always planned to sell it someday.
With that, I am going to walk you through the month of June and have my day in court. I don’t care if this is shared or what anyone’s opinion is after it is read. I just want to tell my side. We all knew Kristin’s husband was scheduled for open heart surgery on 10 June with an unknown return date, we knew Amanda’s daughter was having eye surgery 12-14 Jun at Cook’s, and we knew Chloe’s mom was having surgery on 14 June in Dallas. All these days were scheduled off, no surprises. I will say it again….the employees had these days scheduled off. We (the staff) discussed how we were going to handle this, and we had a plan, but it would take everyone to make this work (without hiring more people). Wednesday June 12th worked as planned, then Thursday morning at 12:30am I was woke up to being told that Chloe didn’t want to come in because her cat had died. I told her I was sorry for that, but with the others out, I needed her to come to work. We had a large group coming for breakfast Thursday morning, that came once a month and there was no way I could notify them. Had it not been for that, I would have gave her the day and just closed. I reminded her she was off the following day for her mom’s surgery but really needed her. She came in, powered through it (and I appreciate she did that under the circumstances, I know it was hard) and Thursday was done as the plan. Friday followed the plan and worked. Saturday came and I hadn’t heard a word and Chloe was an hour late. I counseled her again about the importance of communicating with me. Had she called me, I’d have probably just told her to stay home….but I had no idea. Amanda and Brooke worked Wednesday the 19th with Chloe expected to open on Thursday the 20th. Thursday morning came and one cook called in sick and the second had transportation issues. I decided to close, but I still hadn’t heard from Chloe. She was an hour and half late with no communication. At this time, I terminated her employment based on previous events and a previous suspension. The same thing any employer would’ve done. The only time I didn’t grant off was because of the cat incident, and I probably would have under different circumstances. The R&R post that was made had many inaccuracies and luckily after visit with Burkburnett PD, it was removed. I want to say though, Chloe is an amazing waitress and I wish her nothing but the best in her future. I am sorry it didn’t work out here and ended the way it did. It wasn’t personal, it was business.
So, why didn’t I hire more people? People came in looking for work all the time, but my staff asked me not to hire anyone because it cut into their pay. Here is what I paid at Chiefs, even though I was labeled as horrible.
Manager: $900 a week (even when she was out with her husband’s surgery). She got paid regardless and deserved every penny and more if I could’ve paid her more.
Cooks: $15/hr
Waitresses: $5 per hour (over 2x what I’m required). Waitresses at Chief’s averaged $500-$700 a week (wage + Tips) and they deserved it
Dishwasher: $9-$11 per hour
People think I’m crazy for shutting down a profitable restaurant, but it isn’t about the money. It was always about having good food, a great staff, and having a place friends could gather. I tried to live on my retirement and put every dime back in the business and my employees.
Some people think I treated some customers poorly. Every time I tried to explain why we were closing to anyone that came in 2 minutes to closing, they’d get belligerent and cuss me. As I explained to all of them, just go somewhere else. It’s ok. I will not tolerate someone coming and disrespecting my staff or acting like they could tell us all what to do. They don’t deserve that. Why did we turn the lights off early, so my staff had time to go sit in carpool and pick up their kiddos, not to save money….as you saw above, they did ok.
What will I miss? I will miss all the good friends we made and saw every day. I will miss the Team Dinners for the Burkburnett athletes that we provided free of charge. I will miss the Tie Club dinners that we did free of charge. I will miss all the veterans and military members from Sheppard. I will miss the many travelers that stopped and deposited money in our small town and told their stories of where they’re from. Most of all I will miss my amazing staff. We were a family, but in the end when I had to be the bad guy and hold people accountable…..that was the mistake I made…..we actually weren’t. I was the owner and they were my employees. Maybe I should’ve just kept it business.
So, Chiefs is officially closed, not because of a Facebook post, not because of financial problems, not because of any other reason than me deciding to close it. I plan to do some traveling and spend time with my family. I currently have no plans for the property. It can sit empty. I may do some BBQ from time to time out of my trailer and maybe some private things for our friends. I read Underground BBQ closed last week in WF. If you go back though his posts, you’ll see a common theme. Restaurant business is hard for sure. I would encourage anyone to try it that thinks they have what it takes. It has huge rewards, but it comes with a lot stress and other stuff.
With all that, I hope everyone has a blessed day……Chief Out!
