Sammy’s, a Cleveland dining and catering tradition that dates back decades, will cease to exist from here on out.
This morning, employees were called into a meeting and told that Sammy’s and all of its venues is closing.
“They met us this morning and we are all out of a job,” says Sammy’s executive chef Taty Agustina, literally in tears. Everybody from servers and chefs to managers and human resources have been let go, she adds. “It’s a shock for me personally. We were still all working a party last night. I’m worried about my cooks and my staff. They really need a job.”
With facilities at Severance Hall, PlayhouseSquare, the Flats and numerous catering venues, the decision effects hundreds of full time employees and many more part-timers.
“We all feel very betrayed and manipulated,” adds Krystal Kovacik, assistant GM at Sammy’s PlayhouseSquare.
Asked to comment, Sammy’s ownership said they would return our call but have yet to do so. This statement was added to the website today:
“On August 5, 2013, City Life Inc. d/b/a Sammy’s announced it has made the decision to close its facilities. We are currently in negotiations with a local caterer to transition our existing clients.”
This article appears in Jul 31 – Aug 6, 2013.
Well at least you guys worried about your clients, but not your employees. Nice job. And people STILL wonder why nobody wants to live here.
any bakers looking for a job call lucy’s bakery 216-752-0828.
Wow Mike, I guess I just don’t see any connection between the article and your post. I’ll still take the bait- In other news, wait lists for Cleveland apartments continue to grow…
Sammy’s Severance Hall space is so lucrative – and yet they never stayed open for “après” concert hours….
I worked at Sammy’s for six years, and I’m not surprised at all to hear the way they’re treating their employees. Shame. Lot of good people worked there, hope they find employment soon.
Yeah, Mike. Because Sammy’s closing has everything to do with one’s decision to move/live in Cleveland. I can imagine all of the moving companies phone systems are being jammed up because people are now wanting to move out because Sammy’s closed up shop. If your intention was to publicly display your stupidity, congrats!
Man, that’s rough. I feel bad for all those workers that are now trying to find a job all at once. I find it very hard to believe that the company didn’t know this move was on the table. They could have at least given them some sort of advance notice.
Advance notice of closing is rarely given in the restaurant business. Doors are locked to keep the place from being looted…. Take Ground Rounds closing as an example; stores were stripped of everything not nailed down when they announced their closing in the middle of a shift.
I went to work this morning like I was scheduled. While parking I get a call that I could return home because Sammys has closed down. Wth is wrong with these people. No concern for there employees. Meeting… I hear there was a meeting for employees. What meeting?
Last I heard the managers were told by memo. How professional!!!!!
I worked at Sammys for almost 10 years…being let go last June. Its a shame,but the company has been in a downward spiral over the last year since the divorce of the principles ( Ralph and Denise ). Denise put her unqualified brother and sister in charge and made bad decision after bad decision…including hiring an idiot HR director and an F&B director who was jailed in July on 35 counts of pandering child pornography……what a shame…I know how hard Ralph worked to build Sammys into a great buisness.
Displaced Sammy’s staff should contact Marigold Catering. They might be able to help! Check their facebook for details!
I haven’t lived in Cleveland for 26 years, but still fondly remember Sammy’s in the flats as one of the best restaurants in town. They had a raw bar that nobody could follow and best hot hot horseradish cocktail sauce that I now make at home whenever I have guests….What a shame that a stupid divorce and subsequent mismanagement has caused all of that to end….But, that’s business.
I have been following this for the last couple of months. Unfortunately these things happen. All the venues will still need you. In the meantime if you need work please contact me. Call me at 216-631-9000 and leave a message. David Chido I will call you later today.
ALL THE BEST TO THE SAMMY’S STAFF! You ALL are a valuable asset to this community.
I’ve work ay sammys for 7 years.I am very dissappointed how it all went down but I must say working at sammys was experience I will never forget and we were all family..losing Ralph was hard on us all I’m concerned about our customers too..a advance notice would have been great
I have worked @ Sammys for 6 yrs. and put my heart and soul into this company. Missed so many special events for my kids to go to work (sometimes 18 hr days) to make sure a shift is covered for our customers. My heart is breaking to lose all the staff (my second family) because of a no good B*&*% that took us (and our families) down with her… Denise SHAME on YOU.. Someday this WILL bite YOU in the ASS..
Sorry to all the Sammy’s employees who were screwed over in this fashion. They probably weren’t allowed to join a union. Here’s an interesting side note:
What sadly got no coverage was the recent unjust layoff of all employees of THE CLEVELAND CITIZEN, a 150 year old labor newspaper. The paper is owned by the Cleveland Building and Construction Trades Council, which represents the building trades unions. Subscribers of the paper are trade union members.
Former employees of the paper were denied union membership, yet the paper was required to be printed by union printers, and advertisers were carefully scrutinized to be sure they were using union labor if available. The employees of The Citizen were underpaid, getting much much less than union wages (a little above minimum wage), no health care, regular raises or other union benefits. They were let go after 10-15 years employment through no fault of their own, all because a company with union ties (BMA) took over their jobs. They were deemed ineligible for unemployment and did not receive any severance pay. How’s that for union hypocrisy? These people have been plunged into poverty, and are now desperately looking for jobs, but it is difficult if one has no income and cannot afford to keep the phone and internet on. Or put food on the table.
Unions are always complaining about jobs being shipped overseas, yet these jobs were shipped across town.
SHAME on the Building Trades and the unions who turned their heads when these loyal and hard working employees were discarded like yesterday’s trash. If these employees were allowed to be union members, they never would have been treated this way.
Unions want to get paid big bucks, but won’t pay fair wages to the people who work for them.
Well Denise finally did it! She took the business away from Ralph the heart and soul of Sammys, hired clueless people spent a ton of money only to watch it crash and burn. Unfortunately hundreds of innocent people are going to suffer because of her bitterness. One word KARMA
It’s actually a LOT of different reasons that people aren’t wanting to live in Cleveland. I should have listed them all I suppose. How about the crime rate, poorly run city schools, rampant political corruption, and a under-utilized lakefront to name a few? I love this city, but it’s always more bad news than good, or that’s what we mostly hear about anyways. I’d love to see this waiting list of downtown apartment buildings too. How much do those run by the way? Cheap enough for the average joe to afford? If so, I stand corrected.
cleveland is on the upswing, mike. you’re about 5 years late to the “bash cleveland” party. head on over to the detroit scene page, you’ll still be relevant over there.
Im not bashing it at all truth. Just check the facts. The best thing that has happened in the past five years was that 3 girls that had been kidnapped were found. Sure, there are plenty of good things happening, but the bad still outweighs the good. When this changes, I’ll eat crow.
Mike continues his posting his stupidity in public campaign. He thinks his opinions are facts. Stop posting on the internet during McD’s company time. You’ve been warned before. Now, get back behind the counter. You have not a damn clue what you’re talking about.
Yawn. It’s satisfying when people are so completely dillusional about what really goes on in their city. Yet they’ll defend it mercilessly by hurling out insults to someone they don’t even know in order to feel better about themselves and their city. The facts are out there. I am not going to list them for you. If you continue to remain blind to them, or are just too lazy to seek them out, then you’re part of the problem, not the solution.
“Cleveland is top ten in crime. Education standards aren’t being met. The residents are worse off than they were in 2006. This isn’t smack talk. THESE ARE FACTS.” – Ken Lanci
Or you can keep voting for Frank Jackson
Better the devil we know, Mikey, than the carpetbagger and charlatan we don’t know. I’m not all that crazy about Jackson, but this city’s problems didn’t start on his watch…they go back decades, and will take decades more to fix. He’s trying, and things are getting better…slower than hell…but better. Or have you already forgotten Clueless Janey and Skanky Mikey? (not you, the three-term mayor)
Why don’t you just call a spade a spade and say “Keep votin’ in the (n-word)…and stop trying to bullshit a bullshitter? Or you can just keep being a flim-flam scammer like Lanci when it comes to word choices. Spit it out or STFU.
Chuckles the Clown
Some of the best veterans on the local hospitality scene got their starts at Sammy’s long ago. I’m so grateful to that background, but very disappointed in how this went down. Very ugly. And dumb.
AHA!!!!…so Mr. Pavlic is evidently on the Lanci payroll….it all makes sense now!!!
No, I am just sick of the absolute ineptness of our current mayor, who is now taking guns out of our policeman’s hands apparently. Keep your blinders on people.