News

Salt7 The Real Story As Told By Someone Who Knows

First off let me say I am not an employee or have any direct involvement but am a vendor who has worked with Salt7 for almost a decade. So let me lay it out, Salt7 the real story as told by someone who knows.

A recent local TV station story appears to paint a bleak picture, but it leaves out a number of very important details. It all but accuses the owner of the parent company, John Kostoglou, of deliberately not paying employees and vendors. As it turns out, the old “never believe what you see on TV” may be true here. There is certainly a distinction between cash flow issues and a business intentionally not paying obligations.

A February 12 story from the South Florida Business Journal tells a much more factual account of an ongoing landlord dispute that was never resolved. What happened was explained by one of the most prominent and well-respected bankruptcy attorneys in South Florida, Ivan Reich, somehow never made into the TV story along with some additional very important facts.

When Salt7 Fort Lauderdale opened in 2021, it also still operated the original Delray Beach location, which opened in 2012. Some in the media have painted the picture of the Delray location as being a failed business. The truth is a restaurant group from Ohio made Salt7 Delray a very lucrative offer to sell. The Delray location was sold in October 2023 but continued to operate as Salt7, under the new owner’s management, until June 2024. On April 3, 2025 that will become the third location of Kapow, the popular Palm Beach County Asian Fusion Noodle Bar.

But there is more to the landlord story. One of the major issues that existed with the landlord, and a key reason for any withholding of rents, was that a promise of dock access was not provided. This caused the premature sale of another promising business venture, Salt7 Charters. Here partners, including the Salt7 owners, invested millions in a Viking Yacht to provide luxury fishing tours. Dock access was a key part of this business. Ultimately the business closed, and the yacht sold. Landlord to blame for sure.

The instigator of the local TV story is a disgruntled employee named Cassie Crumbly, who has taken to social media to tell her version, albeit theatrical, but also missing some important facts. As it turns out, there are now allegations of her stealing from Salt7, which are currently under investigation. Employees and video surveillance have confirmed that she disconnected the credit card processing at Salt7 which forced customers to pay in cash. Money that she then pocketed. Apparently, Ms. Crumbly is no stranger to problems with former local hospitality businesses where she was employed, who also claim they had issues with her.

Additionally, she encouraged other employees to steal cash, food and even bottles of liquor.

In the local TV story, the reporter spoke to the Salt7 owner who stated that the allegations of people not being paid unilaterally were simply not true and that the employees would be taking care of.

Now for yet another part that never made it into the TV station story.

As it turns out the owner was out of the country, from February 22 till the day before the reporter appeared at Salt7. Clearly, he was not aware of all the events that had transpired in his absence.

But now for what used to be called the Perry Mason moment. While the local TV station report said the Chapter 11 bankruptcy case had been dismissed, the reporter or editor did not bother to check why. Salt7 had been sold. The new owners had been on site while the previous owner was out of the country. The new owners had agreed to a payment plan, including vendors and employees but defaulted on their obligations.

While we will never know why the local TV station did not spend a little more time researching the background to the story, here readers can learn some critical material facts that were omitted.

Does it appear some employees were not paid as well as vendors, yes but the why is certainly not as portrayed in the TV station story. Businesses experience cash flow issues for many reasons, but employees stealing should not be one of them. Nor can anyone who has sold a business in good faith anticipate a future default by a new owner.