The Lodge Sports Grille’s owner says West Seattle opening imminent despite ‘filing of Chapter 11 tax reorganization’

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

The company that’s expected to open The Lodge Sports Grille in The Junction, first announced a year and a half ago, has filed for Chapter 11, and it’s not the first such filing for its owner.

The Lodge’s current locations remain open, and Lodge owner Shawn Roten tells WSB tonight via e-mail that the year-and-a-half-in-the-works West Seattle restaurant/bar could be just one week away from opening: “The West Seattle Lodge opening date is planned for next Friday as long as the fire alarm integration can be completed and signed so we can get our final inspections! The filing of Chapter 11 tax reorganization will not affect any other part of our business. Our vendors and suppliers are all current and the filing is only meant to allow our tax debt to be structured into payment terms.”

The Chapter 11 filing by Lodge Holdings Company lists 10 DBAs including West Seattle Lodge and locations in Downtown, Kirkland, Greenwood, the Stadium area, Mill Creek, Mukilteo, Sammamish, and Renton. It was first reported Wednesday by The Seattle Times, whose story says Renton is also an opening-soon location. Several WSB readers sent us the link, and we have been looking into it since then, including obtaining all the documents filed so far, via online US Bankruptcy Court files.

Documents show the filing is a voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy (explained here). In those documents, Lodge Holdings Company reports $1,067,495 in assets including current inventory and $5,738,900 in liabilities, including four government claims described as “disputed” – a $1,950,000 tax lien from the Internal Revenue Service, a claim for $860,900 attributed to DHS/ICE Investigations, a $750,000 claim from the state Department of Revenue, and a claim for $88,000 from the state Department of Labor and Industries.

A document filed by the state Attorney General’s Bankruptcy and Collections division says another company owned by Roten and his wife Elizabeth Wright, Wrought Corporation, filed for Chapter 11 in 2009, but that the petition was dismissed, and followed by the couple’s personal Chapter 11 filing, which “quickly converted to Chapter 7” (explained here). Bankruptcy Court files say the Chapter 7 case was closed in early 2010. Meantime, the state says claims filed in the Wrought case included “approximately $300,000 of unpaid sales tax” which a state Department of Revenue agent details as $307,629 in sales and business/occupation tax, plus $104,622 interest and $169,196 in penalties, and that Roten has paid almost $30,000 of that via $500 monthly payments since June of 2011.

Another filing in the new case from the state Attorney General’s office, arguing either a trustee must be appointed in this case or it should be dismissed, says in part, “The tax debt herein is of a magnitude rarely seen in this court … Given the prior tax history of a Roten-controlled entity and sheer magnitude of the debt herein, it is fair to conclude that Roten’s filing demonstrates a clear and concerted pattern of tax abuse.”

A hearing on whether to appoint a trustee or dismiss the case is set for December 23rd.

In the response to our e-mail inquiry tonight, Shawn Roten added, “We are very excited for our West Seattle location to open! Our family of employees are looking forward to serving the community of West Seattle. Our hope is that the negative publicity regarding the Chapter 11 filing doesn’t negatively affect the efforts and hard work The Lodge crew is doing to reorganize and make our business stronger for our guests and our employees. I have pledged to our family of employees to do a better job of managing this very special business and have brought in the proper advisors to do so. We will continue to give our guests the experience they deserve at one of the most unique custom built northwest bars in Seattle.”

The Lodge Sports Grille was first announced a year and a half ago as a tenant coming to the mixed-use Junction 47, in the easternmost of its two buildings. When we talked again with Roten 14 months after the announcement, he said the permit process had taken far more time than expected (something we have often heard from people opening new businesses in the past few years).

73 Replies to "The Lodge Sports Grille's owner says West Seattle opening imminent despite 'filing of Chapter 11 tax reorganization'"

  • Elle Nell November 26, 2016 (12:02 am)

    Soo… Doesn’t sound like a biz I’d like to support. Not like a series of unfortunate events but more of a bad case of the Trumps.. eeewwww (gagging)

    • RayWest November 26, 2016 (6:25 am)

      Elle, that is exactly what came to my mind–the Donald Trump Business Model.  Isn’t this how he’s gotten out of paying his taxes? I don’t intend to support this questionable business.

    • bolo November 26, 2016 (10:09 am)

      OTOH, they are “Job Creators,” striving to create jobs in our neighborhood.

  • BarGreMagGun November 26, 2016 (4:57 am)

    A “Greed”.

  • Dale November 26, 2016 (9:02 am)

    Wow, a 860k lien by Homeland Security for Immigration & Customs Enforcement?Wonder how that happened?

  • Kravitz November 26, 2016 (9:15 am)

    Yeah, this just doesn’t sound right. Total Trump-tactic. Ick.

  • Alki Resident November 26, 2016 (9:39 am)

    I wont be visiting this business either, and to the future employees of this establishment,

    RUN.

  • Boogala November 26, 2016 (9:42 am)

    Looking forward to trying this place and then telling the waiter that I don’t have the assets to pay and that I’d like to arrange a payment plan, and is there any chance you can reduce what I owe? Oh wait or maybe I’ll just go somewhere else.

  • Lagartija Nick November 26, 2016 (9:55 am)

    So, not only do they owe nearly 3  million in unpaid taxes, they also owe 850,000 to DHS/ICE related to investigations. Meaning they were hiring undocumented  workers. No matter  how you feel about illegal  immigration, hiring  undocumented  workers is terrible. It suppresses wages and takes jobs from legal workers. Make no mistake, the ONLY reason  to hire the undocumented is so you can pay them less than minimum wage and have them off the payroll  tax rolls.

    I was looking  forward  to them opening, but I will never step foot in an establishment that cheats their workers, their customers, and the community. I can’t believe they are still allowed  to be in business.

    • Fourth November 27, 2016 (6:34 pm)

      Actually, this likely has nothing to do with immigration.  HSI (aka ICE investigations) has the authority to investigate financial crimes, including tax issues.  Yes, it’s confusing and turf creep with the IRS, but HSI actually doesn’t do much with immigration issues, despite being under the Immigration and Customs Enforcement umbrella.  (HSI focuses more on the customs and cross-border crime issues that were under the purview of the old U.S. Customs Service, prior to the creation of DHS).  

      Not that it makes their financial problems any less concerning! They’re probably in enough trouble without being accused of something they didn’t do. 

  • KT November 26, 2016 (10:14 am)

    “…Our vendors and suppliers are all current and the filing is only meant to allow our tax debt to be structured into payment terms.”  Good luck considering those government liabilities.

    “The tax debt herein is of a magnitude rarely seen in this court … Given the prior tax history of a Roten-controlled entity and sheer magnitude of the debt herein, it is fair to conclude that Roten’s filing demonstrates a clear and concerted pattern of tax abuse.”  Sadly, someone else working the system.  

    “…a claim for $860,900 attributed to DHS/ICE Investigations…”  Hmmm.  

    “…the state says claims filed in the Wrought case included “approximately $300,000 of unpaid sales tax” which a state Department of Revenue agent details as $307,629 in sales and business/occupation tax, plus $104,622 interest and $169,196 in penalties, and that Roten has paid almost $30,000 of that via $500 monthly payments since June of 2011.”  Wow, nice payment terms on that huge bill.


  • Alki Resident November 26, 2016 (10:39 am)

    Lodge Sports Grille, we don’t want your kind here. Please, do us a favor,and Go Now. 

    • Attack Dogs Should Stop November 26, 2016 (11:24 am)

      I want Lodge here. We don’t have a diverse beer bar with food near the Junction and the other Lodge locations do a fine job. My family hopes to be regular customers. 

      • Sunuva November 26, 2016 (11:51 am)

        There are multiple bars in the Junction that have a variety of beer selections and food. I’m not sure what Junction you’ve been going to.

        • Attack Dogs Should Stop November 26, 2016 (12:30 pm)

          Not diverse like Lodge. Beer Junction has the beer but not the food. 

      • Alki Resident November 26, 2016 (12:26 pm)

        The junction doesn’t have any beer bars with food?  Are you kidding? Im sorry your family supports venues like this. The smart ones here don’t and won’t. And by the way, I’ve never seen our community not welcome in new stores or restaurants. But there’s always a first.

      • Boogala November 26, 2016 (8:47 pm)

        Attack dogs–“the other lodge locations do a fine job”…

        I did a quick Yelp search and two of their locations showed up. One had 2.5 stars out of 5, and the other had 3 out of 5, with almost 300 total reviews. I wouldn’t call that a fine job.

  • Attack Dogs Should Stop November 26, 2016 (11:06 am)

    Neighbors, I expect more of you. Collectively and individually, you know nothing about this company or its owners besides what you read in this very brief article. There are many possibilities that may be plaguing the overall business but have zero bearing on the West Seattle location’s owners, management, or employees. 

    I expect more from my community. It seems the same pack of wolves are sitting waiting for any opportunity to chase away neighbors and businesses at any perceived slight. The same 7 or 8 negative nannies jump on each post condemning our city, its businesses, and our vulnerable neighbors. Shame on each of you, each one of you. I’m grateful for our blog but these vindictive commenters need to give it a rest. 

    • flimflam November 26, 2016 (1:32 pm)

      ” The same 7 or 8 negative nannies jump on each post condemning our city, its businesses, and our vulnerable neighbors”

       not really sure what this means…vulnerable neighbors? who is condemning their neighbors? 

      • Attack Dogs Should Stop November 26, 2016 (5:53 pm)

        Vulnerable neighbors, those among the homeless, drug addicted, mentally ill, etc who are condemned for some fictitious legal process when any news of a crime or really any inconvenience is shared. It’s one thing to think things aren’t going well, but voicing one’s snap judgments on nearly every topic is very unneighborly. I’d love to see folks identify as their grouch commenter handles while they pack food at the food bank, donate to local causes, or pay forward a meal for a poor family at a local restaurant. I’d love to see it because these cranks think their civic duty is served by commenting on how we should lock up half the city because minor inconveniences made their commute 3 minutes longer or their property taxes go up 0.2%.

        • marie olson November 27, 2016 (7:37 am)

          Listen up. I agree that there are plenty of negative people on WSB, but the minute you start making assumptions about them (and their right to share their opinions, the same right you have) you stoop to their level. 

    • Anthony December 2, 2016 (3:07 pm)

      Right on!  Couldn’t agree more.  Can’t believe all the know-it-all negative posts here, and they haven’t even opened up!  And one more thing, there is NO place like this already in the junction with regular American food – steaks, burgers, sandwiches etc. – and with cocktails.  Can’t wait to show up!

    • Westy4Life December 7, 2016 (2:05 pm)

      Thank you for your positivity! I am excited to try this place as well. Should be a nice addition to the Junction. 

  • Sunuva November 26, 2016 (11:11 am)

    I had been looking forward to this place opening. However, after reading about these bankruptcy filings, I will not be supporting this business. They seem to have a long history of trying to cheat the system and playing as if the rules don’t apply to them. This is the same attitude that Trump displayed when he claimed that his ability to escape paying taxes makes him “smart”. I don’t particularly enjoy it, but I do pay my taxes because I believe it is my duty as a citizen of this country. It makes me so very angry when others can flout the laws, not pay into the system, and then reap the benefits of the services that the rest of us are paying for. I’m glad to know about this so that I can choose to not support this business with my hard-earned (and taxed) dollars.

    • Attack Dogs Should Stop November 26, 2016 (12:28 pm)

      How do you know what you’re saying is true? They may have had one terrible accountant or one rogue manager across their locations. I think the “just like Trump” accusers should look in the mirror at their own ugly behavior.

      The behavior of the commenters on these articles counteracts the excellent effort of the hard working people who run this blog. Instead of being proud to be mentioned in a story on the blog, our neighbors and local businesses need to dodge ugly comments amid good press. It used to be a great opportunity to be introduced to the neighborhood. Now it’s a risk, anyone mentioned on the blog is instantly on trial by carelessly hateful commenters.

      There’s no evidence to the “just like Trump” claims. Readers should ignore the nasty comments and give local businesses a try. I’m in no way affiliated with Lodge, I just like fairness and I want to counteract the behavior that makes this awesome blog a tough read.

      You know what? Stay home if you think a financial slight is cause for carpet-bombing condemnation. That way I won’t have to navigate grouches at the Junction. Any visit would just yield an ugly Yelp review anyway. Please stay home, and just shout at your TV Instead of lobbing unfounded accusations.

      • Dale November 26, 2016 (1:32 pm)

        One Terrible Manager or One Terrible Accountant? Give it a rest, please. Would that be the terrible Accountant or the terrible Manager they hired? Save that excuse for the Trustee. Given the history they should sell the assets to competent ownership. 

      • Jon Wright November 26, 2016 (1:34 pm)

        A terrible accountant or rogue manager racked up $860,900 in DHS/ICE investigations? That seems pretty unlikely to me. The thing is, people get to vote with their dollars what sort of business they support. If these folks are in arrears to the government for nearly $3M, they are basically stealing from US. Who suffers if they don’t pay? We all do, in the form of higher taxes and reduced services. It’s a beautiful space and that’s all fine and good that they have beer and food, but with that much of a tax liability, you don’t think it sounds like they are financing it by not paying their taxes?

        • Attack Dogs Should Stop November 26, 2016 (6:15 pm)

          To quote myself: “How do you know what you’re saying is true?”. Your quote “That seems pretty unlikely to me” sounds a lot like fake-news to me. Seems false, must be, so burn them alive! Again, this online firing squad is turning our precious blog into a weird right-wing echo chamber.


          If you can’t be fair, post the words you won’t associate with your legal name to some other forum. I come here for news, information, and positive press on local businesses. West Seattle doesn’t need it’s own preach-to-choir opinion loop. When things pan out, you’ll realize you’re hurting your own families and neighbors.

          • ktrapp November 26, 2016 (8:50 pm)

            Alright, well I’ll take a crack at this.

            For starters A) You complain about people rushing to judgment about this company, yet you yourself make several assumptions about the people posting here, including just how much charitable work they do.  Unless you know who these people are, you’re being hypocritical.  B) Speaking of knowing who people are, you complain about people posting anonymously, yet you yourself are clearly using a screen name seemingly designed just for this comment section.  C) Most importantly, you’ve complained substantially about people criticizing without knowing the full story.  Well thanks to the WSB and Seattle Times, we actually DO know quite a bit about the situation:

            These are people who have a distinct history of not paying taxes.  And not only do they not pay taxes, by their own statement, they decided to expand their operations, including this new West Seattle location, rather than pay their taxes.  Personally, that seems a bit repugnant.  There are plenty of businesses and individuals who can’t make ends meet enough to pay their taxes.  But if you’re spending that money that should be going to taxes on discretionary items, you don’t deserve any sympathy.  

            What’s worse, again in their own words, their entire plan is to pay off all these debts using the profits from the two new locations.  Minor flaw in plan there.  If you’re already losing a LOT of money with your existing locations, the odds are that you’re just going to lose more money by expanding.  This isn’t Amazon.  They’re not going to make it up on volume.  

            Instead, what’s likely to happen is that they’re going to go deeper in debt, pay even fewer taxes, and be forced to close all of their locations.  So not only will the community be left with an empty storefront.  But we’ll have yet more taxes not paid, that will need to be covered by the rest of us.

            Not a very neighborly thing to be doing.

      • Boogala November 26, 2016 (8:27 pm)

        Attack guy–do you really think any business would be proud to be mentioned in an article like this? Any shame was created by what the restaurant owners did, not in what commenters are writing.

  • Ron Swanson November 26, 2016 (12:36 pm)

    ITT: people who don’t understand how bankruptcy works.  When they have a whole chapter of the code for it, it isn’t ‘flouting the system,’ it IS the system.

    • RayWest November 27, 2016 (7:46 am)

      Ron Swanson: The Chapter 11 is to allow a failing business an opportunity to reorganize and continue operating in an effort to avoid total bankruptcy. It is naive to assume that unscrupulous business owners have never exploited every loophole within this “system” to avoid paying their fair share of  taxes.

  • KD November 26, 2016 (1:09 pm)

    I wonder if he went to Trump University to learn how to run ‘business.’

  • Rusty November 26, 2016 (1:44 pm)

    Attack Dog –

    The owner is responsible for every aspect of the business – that’s what being an owner entails. This owner is in trouble with the IRS, ICE, DOR, and L& I – in addition to having another company in trouble with the IRS, and also personally filing a chapter 7. I think that it’s safe to assume that they are either incompetent or fraudulent in their business dealings. There is no blame being laid at the feet of the workers / managers of their businesses, just with them, and that is reason enough for a lot of people to not welcome such a businessperson to the community. If you want to gleefully go and patronize the establishment, by all means do so – but attacking the motives / kindness of those of us who see all the warning signs and choose not to support a business owner who seems to either be incredibly incompetent or downright dirty comes across as rather silly after reading the story. 

    • Alki Resident November 26, 2016 (2:16 pm)

      Very well said Rusty. 

    • Attack Dogs Should Stop November 26, 2016 (6:03 pm)

      It’s your choice to patronize or not patronize any business you see fit, but what is the excuse for indicting the business based on a blog blurb? It’s the blog’s job to report and our reflex to react, but why condemn these people publicly?

      Walk the block. Among Safeway, Starbucks, Puerto Vallarta, Menashe, Radio Shack, Bartell Drugs, UPS, GNC, etc, what do you think their legal tax variance or court costs amount to? Sit the businesses side by side, then make your indictment. The behavior of this online firing squad is distasteful, to put it mildly. I care to use a different term, but my parents raised me better than to call the lot of you by those terms. We are supposed to be neighbors.

      Welcome, Lodge. Can’t wait to have a beer with you on your opening night.

      • marie olson November 27, 2016 (7:45 am)

        So Attack Dogs are you excited to open The Lodge or does all this negativity make you nervous (on top of all the money you owe)?

        Or maybe you’re not the owner, but a good friend. Or hired PR company. You seem to be hitting the same talking points in each post.

        • Attack Dogs Should Stop November 27, 2016 (7:25 pm)

          None of the above. I’m actually disappointed that it’s been so late into the NFL season that they’re opening, especially given the conditions mentioned in the articles cited. Please understand two things:

          1. I like Lodge. My old job was near their downtown location and they’ve always done a good job for me. The stadium location isn’t as nice and the staff are incompetent, but I’m willing to give them a try here. Haven’t tried their other locations, but I’m not a baby/bathwater person so I’m willing to judge them AFTER THEY HAVE OPENED.
          2. The tone in many comments to stories on this awesome blog, overall – both related to and unrelated to this particular story, do indeed have a baby/bathwater mismatch. One slight, one which other commenters have explained as misinterpreted, puts the overwhelming tone of the comments into boycott mode. To that I ask, “why bother commenting?” Is it that important to be first to snark, at the expense of the livelihoods of the restaurant’s employees, and that of the overall West Seattle community?

          I work for a non-local technology company, and I have nothing to do with Lodge aside from having dined there many times with a single bad experience. My friends and I are invested in another local business which, as I said in another post, I’m concerned about falling to the scornful echo chamber of the handful of people who seem to appear as trolls to most of the posts that go to the torches and pitchforks.

          The bottom line for me: none of the permanently-accessible content in the blog’s contents is helpful, and most of it is harmful to the West Seattle community. As such, why not just keep it to yourself?

          • RayWest November 29, 2016 (5:16 am)

            Sorry Attack Dog, but I find it hard to believe that you or anyone would be this passionate to defend a business with such a shady  history simply because they are a “satisfied customer.”  There must be some other reason. This is not a “new” business starting up here that people bashing for the heck of it. The Lodge’s reputation precedes them, and why would we assume the leopard has changed its spots.  Time will tell whether or not they succeed here, but I will not patronize them so they can continue to avoid paying their taxes so they can open up at yet another location.  $500/month to pay off a multi-million dollar debt is beyond obscene.  As someone pointed out, this is nothing but a Pyramid Scheme.

  • Diane November 26, 2016 (2:38 pm)

    THANK YOU wsblog; this is the wildest restaurant story I’ve ever read; usually this amount of detail about tax abuse (if ever revealed) would be at a restaurant’s shutting down, not just prior to opening; crazy stuff; if this were not our highly trusted wsblog who never reports until sourcing truth & evidence, I might think this was “fake news”; wow!!!

    • raywest November 29, 2016 (3:01 pm)

      You may be right Diane, and I didn’t think any story could be wilder than Meander’s. West Seattle just a hive of  culinary intrigue!

  • AT November 26, 2016 (3:15 pm)

    From the Seattle Times article linked in the story:


    “They’re well received, well operated, and other than the fact that he
    had to use tax money to get the last two lodges open, we wouldn’t be
    here” in bankruptcy court, Feinstein said.

    No, they didn’t HAVE TO expand to two more locations instead of paying taxes.  Pay your taxes first, then re-invest whatever profits you have in your business. 

  • Jeanie November 26, 2016 (3:27 pm)

    I love to support local businesses, but this local chain of beer and bros won’t be on my list. In addition to everything else cited here, the Yelp reviews for the various locations are less than stellar. I’m not about to spend $12 to $15 for a mediocre burger (even if it’s “hand-formed”).

  • Lagartija Nick November 26, 2016 (5:19 pm)

    Attack Dog, nobody WANTS this restaurant to fail. 

    We are concerned  about  the malfeasance/ineptitude that got them into the debt they’re in.

    We are concerned that through mismanagement/callousness they were hiring  undocumented  workers.

    As West  Seattle neighbors we have every right  to  be concerned  about those issues in an imminently opening establishment. 

    I am also concerned about what that means  for this location. We were all very excited that a local  business was to open  in  this location. Judging from the comments here and the amount of debt incurred, the likelihood that they remain open  for long is now in doubt. Will we get another local  business to open in that space?

    I hope they can work this out. I hope they’ve cleaned up their business practices. I hope they treat their employees  and customers well. I hope they start paying their taxes. Right now, I don’t see any of that.

    Best case  scenario  is that they sell to someone local  and that person does right by our community. 

    Unfortunately for them, I, and it seems many others, will not be able to support them until they’ve proven themselves. It looks  like they’ve got a lot of work to do.

    • Attack Dogs Should Stop November 26, 2016 (6:25 pm)

      They are local, they’re exclusively local. Who would you rather see there? Another yogurt franchise? Another international coffee retailer? Another fast food burrito restaurant? Another vape shop?

      Who suffers if the restaurant sucks? No one does. So why rally your neighbors to boycott the place before they serve a single meal? Again again, this online firing squad is distasteful and anti-productive.

      As an investor in another emerging local business, I don’t know whether I want any press from WSB. To be honest, it’s more of a curse than a blessing given the salivating predators waiting for the opportunity to be first to make an unresearched indictment and incite the bloodlust of the rest of this (thankfully small, but unfortunately prolific) group of anonymous protectionists. It seems people prefer snark to almost any other spirit, which is depressing when the WSB staff works literally around the clock to improve our community.

      • Alki Resident November 26, 2016 (9:03 pm)

        This story is so clearly way over your head or you’re just completely in denial what’s really going on. But I can reassure you, there will be plenty of seating for you and your family at The Lodge Sports Grille.

      • lookingforlogic November 27, 2016 (3:52 pm)

        So, what business are you invested in?

        • Attack Dogs Should Stop November 27, 2016 (7:27 pm)

          I’m honestly frightened to mention it, or even give a hint toward where it’s located.

          • marie olson December 11, 2016 (9:03 pm)

            I’ll mention it: it’s The Lodge. 

  • Josh November 26, 2016 (7:12 pm)

    I won’t be going because I’m skeptical now about their food/health/safety… will they cut corners with what they’re serving? Or have unhappy staff that take it out on the customer? I think the owners could (or should) help clear this up.

    • erm November 29, 2016 (1:52 pm)

      Exactly so, Josh!  Sounds like quality may not be job one there.  And always the fish stinks from the head down.

  • Chris Cowman November 26, 2016 (7:42 pm)

    I have been to two of their locations.   Kirkland and Mukilteo…Both times the food was subpar…I will not go back.

  • Gman206 November 26, 2016 (9:36 pm)

    As a local merchant and resident, I welcome you with open arms… as per those of you who have never faced the challenges of opening and running a business, it is not easy. Bureaucracy, permits, and hoops takes a toll can devastate a dream, especially over a year of paper pushing. If you haven’t been there do not judge all business take lots of cash and a dream. Let’s welcome them to our neighborhood as West Seattlites they may surprise you! Holidays are time of joy and happiness, so let’s all be merry!!!

    • roche November 26, 2016 (10:26 pm)

      Yes, thanks for your comment. Positive vibes by someone with a realistic perspective, finally!

    • Jon Wright November 26, 2016 (11:59 pm)

      Gman206, what are your thoughts on whether or not businesses should pay their taxes?

  • marie olson November 27, 2016 (7:31 am)

    $500 payments on over $300,000 owed (not even including interest)???!!! I pay $650 per month for STUDENT LOANS that total a small fraction of Roten’s (read: rotten) total owed. 

  • DH November 27, 2016 (8:15 am)

    My food and drink dollars won’t go to pay their taxes and I don’t feel sorry about it. I choose what business behaviours I support with my dollars and these are not it. I give them a year before they close. 

  • lookingforlogic November 27, 2016 (3:50 pm)

    The new business model is to finance and open more locations or historically a pyramid scheme.  At some point they can’t get financing and the whole thing implodes.  

  • 2 Much Whine November 27, 2016 (4:52 pm)

    The outrage reflected here on the blog probably won’t matter.  It wasn’t too long ago that the owner of a local Mexican restaurant was caught with a garage full of stolen booze and frozen shrimp that had been purchased from drug-addicted shoplifters.  Think how yummy frozen shrimp stuffed into the pants of a meth head must be, Mmmmmm.  That place is still in business. . . . .so maybe all the indignation we’re seeing here won’t make a bit of difference.  I have been very excited for the lodge to open.  So excited that I made a special trip to one of their other locations to check it out.  Beer selection was great.  I loved the vibe of the place.  Service was spotty at best and the food was not good.  Overall I was very disappointed because I really love the concept – just not the execution.  Let’s hope this location does a lot better in that regard.   I wish them success so they can start paying back their tax debt.  Welcome to West Seattle. . . .

  • MsD November 27, 2016 (8:11 pm)

    I think they’ll fit in just perfect with the Urban Village and our new hipster overlords. Several other neighborhoods in other cities I’ve lived in were taken over by places like this after the developers wiped out the cool local places that made the area unique.  Not interested in the soaring faux stone fireplace and attitude, even without the shady business practices.

  • Jeannie November 27, 2016 (9:19 pm)

    MSD, too true! And 2 Much Whine, I remember the Mexican restaurant incident. That guy at least took his punishment. But the gloppy stuff at this restaurant didn’t appeal to me, regardless. People rave about “huge portions,” but how much greasy goop can one fit into one’s belly?

  • Canton November 27, 2016 (9:37 pm)

    Most failing businesses decrease their footprint. Consolidate, and refocus. Guessing they are building out, with luxury a must, then settling for pennies on the dollar. Possibly selling the concept, with prime locations?

  • gatewood neighbor November 27, 2016 (11:23 pm)

    As a small business owner I would love to not remit the sales tax I collect to the state so I can start a second location.  Every month I send 7-9k per month in tax to the state, dodge the 22k I pay the IRS and stop paying L&I employer taxes and boom, second location.  Why haven’t I done this before? Oh yeah, I’m not a bad business person gaming the system.  

    This person has balls opening two more locations.  Get your books right in one location and then repeat.  It’s already not a West Seattle ownership group but now you gave me another reason not to go!

  • Adam November 28, 2016 (9:22 am)

    So much negativity here.  I’m very excited to welcome this new restaurant/bar on their opening day.  I’ve enjoyed their other locations and can’t wait to have one in walking distance.  WELCOME to the neighborhood!

    • wssz November 28, 2016 (10:23 pm)

      It’s not negativity. I along with so many others make it a point to welcome new businesses to West Seattle.

      I live near the Junction and always support local businesses. But there are the rare exceptions, and  for me, the Lodge Sports Grille is going to be one of them.  We vote with our pocketbooks/wallets every time we buy something. I personally am not willing to support someone who so clearly is gaming the system. They are motivated by greed and self interest, not something I’m willing to support. 

      Anybody thinking of working there should run from this place.   

  • JanS November 29, 2016 (12:24 am)

    as I read the pros and cons on here about this business, my thoughts go to our president-elect. If not paying taxes is good enough for him, I guess it should be good enough for our new Lodge, don’tcha think? ;-)

  • Question Mark November 29, 2016 (12:52 pm)

    For the company to claim that it has been faithfully paying its employees, but lists a $1,950,000 tax lien in its bankruptcy filing is disingenuous. Federal taxes on employee wages ought to be held in escrow at the time the employee is paid, but some employers don’t follow that basic accounting rule.

    It may be that some of the tax owed is for income to the corporation, but that would imply over $5 million in income, which is not in line with the current bankruptcy claim …

  • SAllen December 7, 2016 (5:12 pm)

    I saw people in there tonight. Is it open?

    • WSB December 7, 2016 (5:17 pm)

      Have not heard. Have been following the docs in the bankruptcy case but there was no indication of the plans changing. Will take a look when in The Junction tonight for the rezoning etc. open house.

    • Sue December 10, 2016 (5:17 pm)

      I drove by earlier today and they had a “now open” sign up.

      • WSB December 10, 2016 (5:19 pm)

        Yup, about to publish something on that since someone kindly sent an interior photo.

  • Eric Tirnauer December 10, 2016 (9:57 pm)

    Here now   

    Place sucks 

    Served us (literally ) half full pints- and messed up several orders.  served wrong beers.

    Took forever and still forgot one person’s drink .

    Tried it.  Won’t go back.

  • marie olson December 11, 2016 (9:07 pm)

    It’s open now. I won’t go. 

Sorry, comment time is over.