Financial struggles doom Caprino’s Italian restaurant

WINDERMERE –– Despite being one of the few fine dining restaurants within a five-mile radius, Caprino’s Italian Restaurant, located in Lakeside Village, closed abruptly after getting evicted the last week of April.

The Italian restaurant and sports bar opened in late 2015, but the owners struggled financially, accruing $10,000 in late fees over a 10-month timespan. The late payments, which created a breach in the lease agreement, permitted the landlord to sue and demand an extra deposit.

But the owners, Stefano Tedeschi and his wife, Mary Caprino, refused to pay the extra $60,000 deposit after repeatedly struggling to pay the nearly $15,000 monthly rent, Tedeschi said. 

Attempts at negotiation and the forming of an escrow agreement fell apart, said Tedeschi, and Orange Circuit Judge John Jordan ordered the premises be returned to the landlord. According to court documents, the landlord sued for monetary damages amounting to $56,316.

MISSING PAYCHECKS

“It was a great business for both the employees and the customers,” said Ren Schmor, who worked as the restaurant’s takeout manager. “Its closing was a hit to the employees, customers and the community. … I personally knew 15 to 20 people in my subdivision who would go to Caprino’s on a regular basis.”

Schmor said he respected the owners and enjoyed working at the restaurant, despite its issues. However, Schmor, like many others, currently are missing a few paychecks. Yaseen Aboutaleb, who worked as a server at the restaurant for three months before it shut down, estimates he’s owed about $800, which includes a paycheck that bounced and two additional paychecks.

Aboutaleb discovered the restaurant closed after he was told to go home and informed the restaurant would be closing for about two to three weeks for renovations and menu upgrades. However, his co-worker later told him he was mistaken and the restaurant was in a lot of debt and had been evicted.

“That was pretty upsetting to know, because that meant I was out of a job,” Aboutaleb said. “But I heard from before that the owners were known for not paying their employees on time. I was hearing that before I even started working there. But anyway, they still owe me the money for the bounced check and two paychecks. … So yeah, they owe a lot of money to a lot of people.”

However, Tedeschi said he promises to pay everyone what they are owed, no matter what it takes and that his family’s first priority are the employees, adding that his wife had even paid employees who had visited their home from her personal checkbook.

“We don’t have the money, so we’re doing everything we can do to get the money,” Tedeschi said. “Because when you close down abruptly, there’s no time to get that cash flow, and we had a huge Mother’s Day thing planned and a huge Cinco de Mayo party planned … but it was all derailed.” 

THE PERFECT STORM

Caprino’s, Tedeschi said, was mostly managed by his wife. It is the family’s second to close. The first was Stefano’s Grille, which was located in Dr. Phillips but merged with Dewey’s Indoor Golf, before the owner bought them out, Tedeschi said. 

“I don’t think (Tedeschi) has very much knowledge on how to actually run a business, so its kind of been a lot of trial by fire … but that’s common with a lot of businesses,” Schmor said. “It just came back to bite him … not once, but twice. So, it begs the question of why did this happen?” 

Tedeschi blames the restaurants’ inconsistent performance. Sometimes, they had good months. But on the bad months — when they failed to make enough to cover expenses — Tedeschi said they pulled money from their own pocket to pay the bills and employees. The businesses were struggling for months, but the additional deposit requested by the landlord, Tedeschi said, was the beginning of the end. 

“We would not have closed had they not imposed an additional $60,000 additional rent,” Tedeschi said. “Remember, there was $45,000 in deposit already. That would have been $105,000. The numbers just don’t make sense — to pay that $60,000. We weren’t doing that well. But we’re going to fix whatever we have to fix. We’re not that way. … We’re a small family business. We’re not anywhere near the level of a big corporate chain or multimillionaires of any sort. If I had the account, I’d have it cleared up in a day.” 

Tedeschi said he plans to open another restaurant in Dr. Phillips in about six months.

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Contact Gabby Baquero at [email protected].