STAY AWAY!!!!
Establishment: Romanov\’s
Location: 12229 Ventura Blvd, Studio City
Having worked for Woorldwide Dining and Devine Dining, both of which are owned by Mikayel Israyelyan, I can only offer the the following advice.
1) It\’s not worth working for him. Yeah, everything is under the table and you end up with more money that way, but it ain\’t worth it. The checks are RARELY ready when they are supposed to be. And, when they are ready, you have to wait 3 or 4 days to cash them because there is no money in the account. And you have to cash the check, otherwise your bank will charge for a bounced check.
2) Because there is no money in their accounts, they rarely pay their vendors. While I was there, we couldn\’t order anything from our vendors… we had to go to Restaurant Depot. The reps would come in and ask to see the owner so they could get their money.
3) But there should be money in the accounts because they (Mikayel Israyelyan, his VP Mika, and his brother Gugo) are all Armenian mob. They are laundering money through these businesses. All this money, but they can\’t afford to pay anyone… except themselves.
4) Mikayel Israyelyan used to own Republic Restaurant and Lounge adn Pranar Cafe in WeHo. He lost that space because he was trying to fuck over the landlord and the landlord caught wind of it. Both of those places closed in July or August \’08. (ED Note: Look up the story on la.eater.com and search for Republic.) Then he lost Prana Cafe and Tea Room Cafe in Studio City. He lost those 2 cafes because he didn\’t want to advertise and they always had to feed him, his family, and friends… and they ALWAYS ate there, sometimes breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
5) Mikayel Israyelyan got his degree in International Law from UCLA (if my memory serves me correctly), which means that he knows exactly what he is doing. I will grant him that he is a very slick busineesman. When he shut down the 2 cafes in Studio City, he immediately filed for bankruptcy. By doing this, he was able to shaft his employees by not paying them. \"I don\’t have any money. I don\’t have any money. I have to file for bankruptcy.\" He owes his Special Events Coordinator from Republic over $10k, he owes his Prana (WeHo) manager over $8K, and none of the cook or servers got paid at the closing of the Prana WeHo.
6) You don\’t want to work for him because you will become the family\’s babysitter. He will broing his kids in and they will run all over the place… in the dining room, behind the counter, and in the kitchen. Those kids will only be a thorn in your side while they are there.
So, take heed. Do not work for Mikayel Israyelyan or any of his little minions. It is not worth your time, your effort, or your patience.
Comments
Actually I know the Israyelyan family very very well and the first description in 101% accurate. So it is not jeopardizing anything, making sure that they do not use more people for their skills and MONEY. I know them, I paid my price, I learned my lesson, and I validate the first comment. And NO he did not graduate from UCLA, he bought his degree from some school in armenia BOUGHT I said, if you want one, give him money and he will get you one too, any degree you wish. They have screwed enough people time to put an end to this.
If the writer has “personal issues” with the Israyelyan brothers, then I think it’s safe to say that all of the former employees of The Republic/Prana Cafe have those same issues.
I was lucky enough to be working for this upstanding family when the doors were closed abruptly a year ago for the final time and we were left holding our worthless paychecks. Worthless because the brothers closed their bank accounts and stopped paying out any money to anyone, which caused the closing of the restaurant along with the eviction and countless small claims court cases, I’m sure.
In fairness, I should mention that Mike Israyelyan was generous enough to give those who had the worthless paychecks a whopping 20 cents on the dollar (if they chose to accept it) and followed up that benevolant offer by saying “This isn’t anyone’s fault….sometimes these things just happen.” And he said it wish such sadness and conviction, I almost felt that he believed the load of crap he was heaping out on us that afternoon.
So, they declared bankruptcy and expected all of the people who worked their asses off for them to accept 20% of MINIMUM WAGE and just wander happily away with the coins jingling loudly in their pockets?! Try to pay a mortgage working for $1.60 per hour!
And to add insult to injury, in less than a year they somehow came up with the money to renovate the old burned out Fox Theater on Hollywood Bl. and turn it into a trendy night club called Playhouse! How bankrupt do you have to be to finance that sort of business opportunity?!
I just feel sorry for the employees at Playhouse. I hope they are aware of the potential problems they face working for these crooks. But now that I think about it, they probably have about 2 years before things start looking bad financially at Playhouse. That’s about how long the last 2 business cycles (first at Bliss, followed up by The Republic/Prana Cafe) took before they went bad.
Why the city attorney hasn’t investigated these guys is beyond me. They have screwed their employees and suppliers over twice and they’ll continue to do it until someone steps in to stop it. I really don’t know how these people can sleep at night knowing they’ve caused so much difficulty for people who trusted them.
But they’ll just keep driving around LA in their new Range Rovers and BMWs (with childishly loud exhaust systems) thinking that they’re highly regarded business owners and pilars of the business community, when instead, they’re just pathetic losers who’ll step on anyone they need to in order to make a buck and keep one step ahead of the tax collector.
It’s clear that you have personal issues with them, so trying to jeopardize their career is not a good idea! Also, mentioning his educational background and stating that he knows exactly what he’s doing, shows that the person is responsible and reliable.. does this support your description of him? No!