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Café Brasil

2811 S McKnight Rd

Rock Hill, MO 63119

314-963-3535

Thick chunks of sirloin, sliced rounds of sausage, smoky bacon and black beans simmered into a heady, fragrant stew. Served with cassava flour, white rice, collards and a slice of orange and you have feijoada, Brazil’s national dish. Café Brasil’s cozy kitchen cranks out other finery as well, including big plates of grilled shrimp, chicken or sirloin steaks. Sip a caipirinha (a sweet-and-sour, lime-laced cocktail made with the potent, rumlike spirit cachaça), listen to the piped-in Brazilian tunes and dream. Don’t forget to rouse yourself from your reverie to order the flan for dessert.

Cuisine(s): South American
Hours: Closed Mon.; 11 a.m.-1 p.m Tues.-Thurs.; 11 a.m.-11 p.m Fri.-Sat.; 10 a.m.-2 p.m brunch & 5 p.m.-9 p.m. dinner Sun.
Price: $$
Serving: Lunch, Dinner
Reservations: Accepted
Parking: Lot Available, Street
Payment Types: All Major Credit Cards, Diners Club, cash, check, ATM/Debit
Attire: Casual attire
Features: Smoking

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Overall:

First of all, Café Brasil in Rock Hill, MO (on the corner of Manchester and Rock Hill) serves MEDIOCRE FOOD that is OVERPRICED. The owners butter up customers for their money but do not treat their employees with respect. They have never hired a manager for the restaurant and, therefore, have left the restaurant to be run by their own ever-changing whims and by the naïve work ethic of their teenage employees. The owners cannot effectively manage a restaurant and own it at the same time, and their lack of structure seems to be hurting them. But, I believe this is the least of their problems.

The owners have had financial issues since mid-2007 and have refused to pay their employees for the time that they work because they “cannot afford it.” This has led many, including my own boyfriend, to have to find a new job after weeks of non-payment and resort to pleading over the last six months for his paychecks that he is owed. The only response he has received has been “Well, as the owners, we have not made money either, so this justifies us not to pay you as well. Be patient, and if we have the money we will eventually get it to you.” This has been repeated almost weekly for months.

The reason they have had money issues has been an 80% decrease in profits (or so Rachel, one of the owners, told me personally over the phone before hanging up on me for asking her questions about their labor law compliance) since their liquor license was revoked. According to the employees of the restaurant, this license loss occurred due to a zoning fight with the city combined with an alleged rape by an employee of an under-21 girl served alcohol at their restaurant.

Now, as 2008 is beginning, the owners seem to be planning to attempt tax evasion. Since they cannot and will not pay their workers, they are not planning on reporting 2007 wages earned as 2007 payments to employees. They are planning on reporting them as 2008 wages once (and IF) they are paid (and, therefore, omitting them from 2007 W-2s) even though some of the hours worked were as long ago as July 2007. By not reporting these wages, they not only do not have to pay their employees, but they also do not have to pay 2007 taxes on these wages to the IRS. Although they may be able to construe this as legal somehow, I refuse to believe that this is completely legitimate.

I asked one of the owners if they were going to file for bankruptcy soon, and all I received was the response, “That may be a possibility.” In my opinion, they have operated illegally for long enough and action should be taken soon.

Not only should customers not pay ridiculous prices for their “okay enough” food, but the place should be boycotted on principle. Even if bankruptcy would not guarantee payment to the employees of the restaurant, it would bring closure to the situation, stop the exploitation of the workers, and permanently mark these people as terrible business owners (and thereby prevent future harms they may commit).

I leave that decision up to you, the readers.
Review by concerned customer

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