The landlord of TruOrleans is moving ahead with a lawsuit seeking to evict the Cajun Creole restaurant at 4th and H streets NE.
In a complaint filed in the Landlord and Tenant branch of the D.C. Superior Court on April 2, landlord Darryl Pounds, of POUNDS real estate firm, says the restaurant failed to pay $40,773 in rent, taxes, late fees, and more between Sept. 2011 and March 2013.
Reached back in May, Pounds (of Washington Pigskins fame) told Y&H he was still trying to work out a resolution to avoid eviction. But now, the landlord is proceeding with the lawsuit. He declined to comment further on the record. A hearing is set for Sept. 18, according to court records.
That’s not TruOrleans’ only legal trouble. Since the beginning of 2012, the restaurant has been sued by three different vendors, including a food supplier, a utility construction company, and a concrete contractor, for unpaid bills. Meanwhile, the Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration has cited TruOrleans with 18 violations since its opening in 2011, including 10 this year. The violations include multiple noise complaints, operating beyond approved hours, and not having an Alcoholic Beverage Control manager on duty. On July 20, ABRA notes that there was a “large fight between employees and patrons resulting in injuries and arrests.”
TruOrleans’ owners, including James “Tru” Redding and Brad Howard, have not responded to multiple requests for comment over the last several months and could not immediately be reached this morning.
Check out the landlord’s complaint and ABRA’s investigative history below:
UPDATE: ABRA’s case report of the July altercation that resulted in injuries and arrests reveals more details about what went down. According to witness statements and surveillance video, the dispute began over an unpaid bill and escalated into pushing and punches thrown between staff and patrons that included throwing food and a TruOrleans employee hitting a patron with a broom. A patron sustained minor injuries and three employees of TruOrleans were arrested. Read the full report at the bottom.
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Photo by Jessica Sidman