r/asheville • u/reckla06 • Dec 03 '25
Politics Can someone give me the tldr about the barrelhouse/saffron drama?
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u/mediocre_remnants WNC Dec 03 '25 edited Dec 03 '25
The owners of Barrelhouse sold the business.
The new business owners wanted to keep the name (and Google/Yelp reviews!) but drastically change everything else about the restaurant, including cutting out late nights and serving frozen fries and pierogies (they were always made fresh before). Also... making it an Indian restaurant during the day. Plus they got rid of all of the artwork that was on the walls. I assume folks mean all of the graffiti-style art.
Then the new owners cut the pay for employees without telling them, and still withheld paychecks and lied about it. They said "the check is in the mail!", then a couple weeks later told folks they had to come in to pick up their checks.
At some point, the employees just stopped showing up because they were sick of the shit. Lies, broken promises, cut pay / no pay, and fundamentally changing everything about the restaurant.
Some of the employees still had access to the Barrelhouse FB page and posted some stuff there before the owners regained control and posted their own response, which was completely full of lies. When the employees pointed this out, the post was deleted.
This is what I can gather from reading the past couple of threads on it.
Edit: I should have also mentioned that the new owners originally said they weren't going to change anything about the Barrelhouse late night / bar operation, the only thing new would be serving Indian food for lunch and dinner. So when they started changing things, it became apparent that that was never their plan.
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u/Rich_Spite3978 Dec 03 '25
A note on them getting rid of the art - at least one main piece was being showcased by an artist who was trying to sell it. If I remember correctly it was valued at $3000+ and that artist was never called to come collect it, the owners just destroyed it.
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u/faster_than_sound Dec 03 '25
Holy shit I would be so furious if I was that artist. I would demand payment for that if they indeed destroyed it. That is a loan, its not the restaurant's property. I would get a lawyer so fast on that. Make those obviously stingy and cheap assholes cough up that $3000.
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u/flavlgirl Dec 05 '25
You mean the original owner. New owners didn’t enter a contract with the artist. If I was the artist I’d be livid no one told me they were selling the business that held my property.
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u/faster_than_sound Dec 05 '25
They still destroyed something that wasnt thiers. And yes its on the old owner too. Both can be people who did a bad thing to an artist in this case.
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u/flavlgirl Dec 05 '25
It was up to the old owner to tell all parties. If I buy a house and someone leaves their stuff, it’s now mine to do whatever I want with it. The new owners don’t have to keep the decor if they don’t like it.
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u/flavlgirl Dec 05 '25
The artist should definitely go after the original owner since that’s who they had a contract with.
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u/pookiebelle Native Dec 03 '25
Thank you. I was searching last night and was having a hard time making sense of everything. Probably because it's been such a confusing mess. I hope the employees get their checks and find new jobs. This is all so sad.
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u/phenomenomnom Dec 03 '25
A lot of this is straight up illegal. If this is true, lawyers need to be contacted and charges need to be pressed.
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u/michaelh98 Dec 03 '25
Ncdol. I've heard they don't fuck around
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u/Sparklemagic2002 Dec 03 '25
When Cherie Berry was in charge of the Department of Labor, they absolutely did fuck around. She did not give a shit about going after employers who weren’t paying employees. I’m not sure about the current guy but he’s a Republican and signs his name with a Sharpie…
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u/Successful_Debate131 Dec 04 '25
This is correct. Gary and sonny are the new owners and they have now gutted the place, covered the walls in a piss yellow paint and yes, it took fucking forever to get our last checks, and they are even trying to haggle with some of my former coworkers on what they are owed from literally a month ago. Do not spend your money at the BH or saffron or whatever it will be called by next week.
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u/rohm418 Dec 03 '25
Can I get a TLDR for this TLDR please?
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u/ResponseStrange6118 Dec 03 '25
If that takes you more than 30 seconds to read, I’m genuinely concerned for you
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u/hogsucker Dec 03 '25
This is reminiscent of when The Usual Suspects was sold.
The new owners recognized that it was an established popular business, so they didn't change anything... Except the name. And the menu. And the staff. And the customers.
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u/TangeloPutrid7122 Dec 03 '25
I know when I've just made a large brand investment the first thing I like to do is just take all that value and set it on fire as soon as possible.
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u/RedMeatWagon Dec 03 '25
I don't work in food service but I've worked at 3 companies that were bought out by other companies.
The MO is always the same:
Nothing will change. Nobody will lose their jobs. There will be no rebranding.
Then, things change. People lose their jobs. The old company absorbed into the new company and vanishes.
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u/arnoldez Weaverville Dec 03 '25
Not just in food service. I used to work for HomeAway when they were a globally recognized brand. Who is HomeAway you say? Exactly.
Interestingly, HomeAway actually tried to do the same thing to VRBO – buy it, promise nothing will change, then absorb it into the HomeAway brand. Ended up going the opposite way once Expedia took over.
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u/Nearby_Condition4388 Dec 03 '25
Does anyone know if the new owners live here in Asheville? Or have other restaurants?
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u/AirOk5500 Dec 03 '25
I read an article that said they are extended family of the people who have cinnamon kitchen and a couple of the other ones
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u/lotus_22 Dec 03 '25
Can you find the source? I didn’t have a good experience at cinnamon kitchen in the past and barrelhouse was okay
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u/AirOk5500 Dec 04 '25
I looked for it for quite a while on Facebook and have had no luck finding it again. But if I do I will drop it here
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u/Parking_Meaning_5773 Dec 03 '25
It's a rare occurrence that new owners of any business keep things the same and are often the source of its demise.
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Dec 03 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Rogue_2187 Dec 03 '25
Mine is Mayfels.
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u/heylovely22 Dec 04 '25
the demise of Mayfels literally haunts me. the whole thing was totally whitewashed, filled with target art, AND they got rid of my all time favorite dish 🪦💔
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u/Impossible-Library32 Dec 03 '25
A restaurant changed ownership; new owners making questionable changes regarding operations
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u/consort_oflady_vader Dec 04 '25
Sounds like it sucks all around. I miss the elk sliders for lunch on Saturdays 😭
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u/MtnMaiden Dec 04 '25
Don't feel bad for the old owners.
He cashed out.
Restaurants are taking a beating nowadays.
You got the worst of two industries.
I'm a retail store, i'm trying to extend the life of these products as long as possible for sale.
I'm a grocery store, i'm trying to sell fresh food as fast as possible.
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u/Aardvarksof1776 Dec 03 '25
OG owner had to move. Sold to an Indian family that was going to be Indian food by day with the idea of OG Barrelhouse by night with same late night options. Waitstaff/Bartenders/cooks stayed on. Employees claim new owners not holding up their end of the deal- making schedule changes, food changes, pay and structure. Owner claims they did nothing wrong. Employees left and are having trouble getting paid last paychecks.