Crescent Moon Staff Rebels
Decatur Metro | September 7, 2008A recent post by “Looney Moony” explains why Crescent Moon wasn’t open today.
Sounds like the wheels are falling off…
We were closed today because we just can’t take it any more. The staff wasn’t given the food to do the job, not even the sub par food they were usually giving us. We haven’t had farmers market chicken sausage, free range chicken or organic field mix, homemade dessert or fresh OJ since they took us over. The cooks and management were always way past pay day. Enough is enough!
Though the message is a bit cryptic, it kinda sounds like the staff has gone on strike. Will they be open tomorrow or is this it?
Stay tuned…
UPDATE: Make sure to read the comments from staff in the continuation…
Latest from Decaturish
Yes we are on strike! Anybody who is working there now, isn’t original staff that has gone through the heck they have put us through. They are trying to pull staff together staff to grab the last of the cash before the landlord closes the door. Last Thursday in court the judge ruled in favor of the landlord for past rent due. This is it.
Stand up for your local community and don’t patronize this establishment.
I’ve been a server at The Crescent Moon for over three years. I didn’t go in to open the Restaurant Sunday morning. Neither did the other servers, the cooks or the manager. As LooneyMooney stated above; enough is enough.
There are many restaurants in Decatur that serve a good omelet or pancakes or a tuna melt. A number of them are right up or down the street from The Moon. But every Sunday The Moon has a crowd outside waiting a long time for a table in our place. Why would someone wait 45 minutes for a table at The Crescent Moon when there are similar restaurants close by with no wait????? Nobody waits 45 minutes for just an omelet, I don’t care how good it is, so what is it?
Those of you who patronize our little place on Ponce (and I recognize a lot of you in the previous blog comments) know the answer to this question.
It’s because of the experience. Going to The Moon is like going to a friend’s house for breakfast. Or at least, that’s how it used to be. In many restaurants, you get service with a smile, but it’s a forced smile. At The Moon, you got a real smile and some conversation with a server who knows you. It was not uncommon to see a server sit down and talk with the customers for a minute or two. And if you looked you can tell that the “real” staff at The Moon was tight. The servers are joking around with eachother and singing along with the 80s music playing, and obviously having a good time.
We are tight and we were having a good time and we were making our money and you were coming back because the food was great and the staff was great. It was working really well for all concerned.
Since the Greeks took it over, we have all watched it slowly fall apart. All the high standards that Rob Atherholt put in place and we upheld, these new guys couldn’t care less about. They didn’t pay the vendors…(we actually had our coffee grinder and machines and coffee repossessed during business hours!!! And Sysco won’t deliver food to us anymore. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg, folks.)
Instead of paying the vendors or fixing the plumbing or paying their staff, they’re hanging out in strip joints giving OUR HARD EARNED BACK PAY to some lap dancer. Meanwhile, their kitchen manager is having his power cut off becuse these jerks owe him three weeks back pay.
It has been heartbreaking for those of us who work there to watch our restaurant, our jobs, go down.
Well, there is some bright news.
Last Thursday, the landlord won his case to evict the Greeks. As soon as the papers get filed, the landlord wil be locking the doors.
Rob Atherholt, the previous owner of The Crescent Moon, and the guy who made it happen every day for I don’t know how many years, goes to court this coming Thursday. Our support is with him.
Oh yeah, I want to put this out there too…spread this around. Last I heard, the Greeks are getting ready to open another place in Decatur called The Red Shoe. BEWARE!!! Do not support them, do not work for them…run their butts out of Decatur.
we will be back!!!
Noted at 11:30 this morning – sign on the door noting hours would be 8:30 to 3 – “Excuse the Inconvenience”. Perhaps 2 groups of people inside.
Wow…thanks for giving us a little more of the story Favorite! Please keep us updated on what happens this Thursday.
Isn’t The Red Shoe out Ponce near the Farmer’s Market?
My fingers are crossed for the comeback of the old Moon!
You’re right, Virginia. That was brought out on the other related blog topic about the bankruptcy. YourFavoriteWaitress posted both places.
YourFavoriteWaitress (12:07:26) :
Yes, I think that must be the same place. If anyone knows the owners of The Red Shoe they should be a friend and tell them that the people buying their business are the same people who have run The Crescent Moon into the ground. They did the same with City Diner….it’s what they do.
NOTE: This is talk on the street that I heard, and I have no direct knowledge, but the source of this rumor is a reliable one. So if you have the connections look into it more thoroughly and update this blog.
It would be great to 1) Stop [editor's note: no name calling] from ruining another business and 2) give the current owners a heads up.
just wanted to put this on both CM blogs
[...] purporting to be employees of Crescent Moon in Decatur are using the blog Decatur Metro to vent anger at the restaurant’s [...]
Crescent Moon Update:
We are staging an official boycot in front of the Decatur Crescent Moon this Wednesday at 8am. That’s September 10th at 8am. I’ve put calls in to channel 11 and channel 2. I’m still waiting to hear back from the TV stations, but we’re going to be there regardless. There aren’t many of us and some employees are afraid to do it, so those of us who are going to be there would love it if supporters of The Moon would come and join us. Power in numbers. Make signs, bring friends. Help us close the doors. Boycott The Crescent Moon.
It could be days but it could just as easily be weeks before the papers are filed that allow the Landloord to evict Global and lock the doors. In the meantime, our goal is to make it as difficult as possible for these crooks to make (read: steal) any more money than they already have. Ideally we would like it if they couldn’t even open the doors. We almost accomplished that this past Sunday, but they are still managing to open for a few hours a day…though they have managers cooking…not real cooks, and you might not be able to get cream with your coffee, and the eggs you’re eating??? who knows where they came from or how long they’ve been in the back of someone’s truck. I’m telling you, folks…until Rob Atherholt gets it back and we straighten everything out, I wouldn’t eat there.
PLEASE HELP OUR EFFORTS BY BEING A BODY AT THE Crescent Moon Boycott!!!
Wednesday Sept 10th at 8am.
Our family lives walking distance from the Moon … used to go once a week .. No more since the quality of the food started to wain. It’s heartbreaking to see this sort of thing happen. It was such a staple of great food. Consistent. Tastey. Reliable.
Absolutely sad.
I’m not a CM regular, so I don’t know who these owners are…but I’m wondering if these could be the same ones that ran into the ground a restaurant I used to work for in Decatur a few years ago (City Cafe on Scott). Very similar-sounding situation…and disturbing!
the only thing I am not following is whether or not Rob plans on taking over?
And the plot thickens – looks like The Moon was not paying taxes either.(http://airbornecombatengineer.typepad.com/in_decatur/2008/09/crescent-moon-h.html)
Hopefully this can all be resolved soon and The Moon will return to the good ole days.
EJ, a blogger responding to a related topic says that City Diner is/was a part of the same owners.
[...] Crescent Moon saga continues. Apparently the employees staged a walkout. Decatur Metro has it before anyone, as [...]
Slandering people as an avatar online is easy to do. If you wish to be taken seriously you should use your real names. I fail to understand how anyone who is in such a dire situation would be opening another place……….. It is reasonable to express displeasure with your employer stating “The Greeks” this and ” The Greeks” that is a sure fired way to lose the respect of anyone reading your rant.
The fact that you state that you are going “On Strike” is also a point of contention considering the fact that you do not belong to a union, you are after all an “at will” employee as defined by the labor laws of Georgia (whether good or bad), it is the law.
What I failed to mention is that I do feel for you in your situation, I have personally closed a Restaurant, yet I also made certain my employees came first before myself as far as financial suffering. My advice to you is move on and find greener pastures.
P:
Normal Guy
Since you’re intent upon arguing semantics, let me point this out to you:
In your post you said, “I have personally closed a Restaurant, yet I also made certain my employees came first before myself as far as financial suffering.” Now while I understand what you meant to say, what you actually said is that you made sure when it came to financial suffering, your employees went first. It’s not so much a matter of semantics in your case. It’s more of a Freudian slip.
This is not a bunch of pissed off waitresses slandering their bosses. It’s a case of thirty people losing their long time good jobs as the direct result of the “allegedly” criminal behavior of their employers, which includes but is not limited to, witholding pay for extended periods of time, and not filing or even registering to file payroll tax, although it was being withdrawn from the employees pay.
Hop over to the deal watch blog, if you haven’t already. The “official press” is posted there.
I don’t even know where you’re coming from with the “use your real name” stuff….NORMAL GUY.
Im not the one bitching about my boss, why should I tell you who I am?
You seem to be taking out your anger on everyone around you. Good luck.
I would just like to take a minute to let you all know some of the dirty details of what has been giong on at the crescent moon fot the past several months. There has been so many blogs from the community, former, and current employees. It is all sounding so confusing, expecially to those of you who really dont know the whole story.
Plain and simple Rob sold the restraunt to a man named #####. ##### has done nothing but destroy everything good about the restraunt. He refused to pay bills to every vender that we used, witch has caused the quality of the food to go downhill very steady. Refused to pay employees in a timely manner witch has caused all of the wonderfrul longterm cooks to leave and no one else wants to come work there now with this reputation. Most importantly they absolutly do not care about the customers needs and will not do what they need to do to run a ” neighborhood restraunt”. This is the outside stuff, the stuff the customer sees.
Now for the inside stuff. The stuff that all the employees are talking about. I have just recently left after working for the crescent moon for several years. I loved working there during time that Rob owned it. We were all like a big disfunctional family. I loved my coworkers, and I loved my job. I have gotten pretty close to several of the long term customers and enjoyed serving the neighborhood. I was proud of the quality of what we served and proud of where I worked. I guess that is why I stayed so long after it all fell apart. I guess I was just holding on to the promises that ” it will all go back to the way it was”.
There is a evilness about the place now. The owners will screw over the nicest, least deserving people and not think twice about it. They will write a bad check and never intend to pay it. They will hold out on paying an employee until they are going to be evicted and not care what happens to them, because they are “replaceable”. When they first got the restraunt they would convince the venders to leave the food and supplies with out paying them with promises of a check in the mail or cash the next day. Well, going on the good reputation of the restraunt and knowing the financial stability they would leave the food, only to run up a thirty thousand + bill. A BILL that the sales rep is now having deducted out of HER paycheck because she unfortunatly trusted them to pay. She is now responcilble for it and they don’t care.
Okay, now for the good news. THEY HAVE BEEN EVICTED. THEY HAVE LOST THE BUILDING. Dont worry decatur. I have a feeling that what is comming next is going to be better than ever. I
Thanks for the update “long time”.
So they’re closed for good? Did you all go through with the boycott?
The landlord is just waiting on the proper paperwork to to lock the doors. I have heard that the current owner has a court order against him preventing him from being on the property but they are going to be open until they come to work and cannot open the door. I just feel sorry for the poor people who are still having to work for them just to try to make a few extra tips before they close.
A tenant has a court order preventing the property owner from having access to his property? How’s that happen?
If you would all spend as much time looking for a new job as you are bitching, you would already have your problems partially solved.
Watch the swearing lol/Normal Guy (same person).
Normal Guy’s last comment was deleted and he’s now earned the honor of having all future comments moderated before posting to the site.
Apparently obnoxious is the new normal!
I think the outrage about “the Moon” is the same outrage people felt about enron! I know, it seems like a stretch, but the reaction to the dishonesty is a natural response to the destruction of our perception of a safe world. Our neighborhood place, sheesh!
Is this like a version of home flipping? Only these people are gutting the place, slapping a new coat of paint on the outside And then, the so called new owner uses the good reputation of the previous founder/owner to rip off the vendors and pocket the money for as long as they can? To in fact, withhold taxes from the employees paychecks, thereby stealing from not only the IRS but also, the employee? Yeah, I think that’s outrageous. I think they should go to jail, for theft of all sorts. Or am I not getting it?
Village idiot~
You nailed it, well said.
Yeah, I’m not sure how that sort of “business plan” is actually profitable regardless of how ethical it is…but I guess those guys are just better at playing the system than me!
Normal guy said:
“The fact that you state that you are going “On Strike” is also a point of contention considering the fact that you do not belong to a union, you are after all an “at will” employee as defined by the labor laws of Georgia (whether good or bad), it is the law.”
Tomato TomAHto. I prefer to call it mutiny. It appears that this is all moot now, but a mutiny such as this can be just as effective as a union strike, if not moreso. Employees walking off the job and protesting in front a their place of employment can put a serious dent in business (if not kill it) and also make it incredibly difficult for the boss to find new employees.
I’ve never been to the Decatur Crescent Moon. I have been to the Northlake location several times both before and after the change in ownership. There was/is a noticable difference in the quality of food and the morale of the staff after the new owners took over.
Good riddance to these jokers and their goofy two foot tall cakes.
Is that why every weekend we saw the staff buying “food” from CVS?? We couldn’t believe how many trips the wait staff (or maybe cooks) made back and forth from Crescent Moon. Someone said they even saw folks buying their meat from Kroger???
Killing ones own place of employment seems a bit counterproductive to me.
As I said befor move on. As far as obnoxious, I guess you only want to hear what you want to hear in this forum. Any differing views are net with insults.
……
Scuse my spelling, to much coffee.
Do the “new” owners of the Decatur location also own the Northlake mall location?
Fence Sitter: Global Restaurant owns all three locations.
And Toby, perhaps on a scarier note: Ted’s managers have been seen buying seafood at the baby Kroger. Mmmmm…..
lol,
I don’t think you understand. It’s not about getting another job. “The Moon” was an iconic place. My wife and I had your rehearsal dinner there for our wedding. These people are fighting for the chance of getting “The Moon’s” reputation back and I think it’s a noble cause that both the staff and the Decatur community can get behind.
I guess the staff felt a certain ownership in the place, and the actual (new) owners didnt respect that. Not trying to be difficult, and im sorry if I upset any of you.
I hope things work out for the best.
Nice comment. Brainy, thoughtful but with a touch of zest. I see a literary award in your future.
Sadly, it’s become a troll feeding frenzy here. I’m guessing the Loaf link brought out a bunch of fools that want to interfere in a locals-driven conversation about our community. Thanks for that.
wow
Did I miss something? Did I unknowingly jump to a different blog?
Why is this (longwinded) diatribe about racism here on this Crescent Moon blog?
Why is all that “other stuff” here?
Dear, fuck you…how old are you….ten?
hi Ashleigh…mwah!
This is what I don’t get about the whole thing. Please someone enlighten me.
OK. These guys, currently named Global Restaurants LLC, have done pretty much the same thing to more than one restaurant…Buy it, bleed it dry for as long as possible, declare bankruptcy, move down the street or across town, change the name of your corporation, and repeat. I understand the “laws” that protect them, I think the laws are BS, but I get it. What I don’t see are the “laws” that protect the upstanding citizens who had the misfortune of entering into a business agreement with these conmen? The previous owner is screwed, all the employees are screwed, the landlord is screwed, every vendor is screwed and the patrons are screwed. BUT, the ones who put the screws to all these people, are already opening another place right up the street. They’re picking out which Greek-style bathroom tiles they’re going to use to deface the walls of the new place. I swear, this tile and smokey mirror thing is like a dog pissing on a tree. It’s their territory marking ritual, but I digress..
Where and what are the laws that protect us? Where are the laws to stop them repeating this crime. I mean, Alternative Dining (Rob Atherholt) just went to court yesterday…and Global owes Alternative a huge amount of money…how is it that they are allowed, not only by the law, but by us as well, to be opening another place in our town. I don’t care if it is under a new name…it’s the same people and everyone knows it.
In a simpler time, we would at least be running their asses out of town on a rail. Law or no law.
THAT is what really pisses me off in all of this. What does it tell us?
As Hunter S Thompson said, ” In a society where everyone is a thief, the only sin is stupidity.”
If we allow these people to continue their unethical and morally wrong actions, if we don’t take action to close them down, we deserve whatever we get.
Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.
Maggie
Though I feel the pain for the staff at Cresent Moon, we should be careful about slinging cultural terms that generalize all Greek people. I am not Greek but my best friend is. And guess what? He owns two very successful restaurants. At one of them, some of the staff have been there for 50 years and seem to be quite happy with “Greek Style” management. Just be careful in your wording. If the owners were African American would you use the “N” word to describe their business practices? Just curious.
Hey Everyone…”sigh”…sorry about all the spam in the discussion board. I’ve been away from the PC for 24 hours and just jumped back on. Usually wordpress picks up that sort of crap. It’s cleaned up now. Additionally, now I’ve set it up where all the worst curse words will automatically be held and need to be moderated before posting. As the blog becomes more popular…I have to keep learning/adapting. Hopefully everyone will understand that.
Normal Guy…every point of view is respected here. But if you don’t respect others, (ex. swearing at the blog’s creator because I asked you to temper your swearing), you’re going to get moderated.
Also, I agree with JohnD and would be more comfortable if things steered away from cultural stereotypes. Just stick to the facts…and no personal insults or name calling. If you want to do that, there’s plenty of other online venues.
Sorry, JohnD, I’m unsure of the politically correct word to use when discribing ceramic tile of a Grecian motif. If I have offended any ceramic tiles out there please forgive my unintentional slur.
DM: Understood. I will refrain from foul language.
YourFavoritewaitress, Go back and read what you wrote. You offended more than tile. It’s time for you to move on. It’s not like you just got kicked out of Harvard Medical School. Find some healing and a new job down the street.
No way to be sure, but some of these public relations efforts may actually succeed in reducing community support. I didn’t think that was possible. The focus should be a positive one — supporting Rob and the restoration of the Moon’s rep. Hurling insults — however well deserved — doesn’t win a whole lot of friends. It’s exhausting.
My best friend Matt is Greek. He is one of the kindest, caring people you could ever hope to meet. Its lousy that the owners of that Crescent Moon did what they did but it won’t be the last service industry place that this happens to (unfortunately). Hopefully the community will take note of the who the owners are and where they move and not patronize future business. I won’t. Favourite Waitress….You were most likely a good and caring server. Rather than be angry and bitter (which just eats a person up inside and turns them into old prunes), put your excellent service skills to good use in one of Atlanta’s other fine restaurant establishments. I’m sure you will do very well and a reputable establishment would be glad to have you. Good luck.
JohnD et al…I did go back and read all my entries..just to be sure…and the only thing I called the Global Restaurant guys was Greek. They ARE Greek. They are from Greece. Rick called his best friend Greek. Is THAT a racial slur? Although I have read some real racial insults in other posts here on this blog, ie greek mafia….and something about worshipping satan….in my posts the closest I came is calling them The Greeks.
Get over it.
For reasons seen and not seen, this post is being closed to comments. Its really devolved past its usefulness. If you have any news of further developments in this story please feel free to email them to me.