YULEE, Fla. — Two local restaurants shut their doors unexpectedly, and now, employees are left scrambling to find work right before the holidays.
Añejo Cocina Mexicana in Yulee and the Salsas Cocina on Blanding in Middleburg closed without warning.
“It’s just not right, we work very hard,” Añejo host Kaitlin said.
“I have a medical bill I have to pay for,” Añejo host Haley Simmons said.
“We really want answers,” Añejo server Araceli Quinones said.
Over the weekend, the restaurants displayed new signs on its windows saying, “temporarily closed”.
It came as a surprise to all the employees.
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“It kind of just happened out of nowhere,” Añejo server Camden Williams said. “We were working like usual … and these people that we’ve never really seen before just come in and locked the doors on us.”
It was a surprise for customers too. Connie Martinez drove from Kingsland, Georgia for dinner.
“We just found it was closed, and we were very disappointed,” Martinez said.
Employees came out Tuesday evening to speak out and demand answers.
“Me siento frustrada,” Salsas cook Griselda Quinones said.
Quinones said she’s frustrated. She works as a cook at salsas and is begging for help. In Spanish, she said, “Please help us for the people who don’t have a voice and can’t defend themselves.”
Three owners own both restaurants. Two of them – Jesus and Blanca Valencia – shut the business down and changed the locks.
The third owner, Melandy Higdon, said she was also left in the dark. She said she is just as frustrated as her employees.
“It’s heartless, it’s cruel, it’s just uncalled for,” Higdon said.
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Higdon said more than 45 people are now without work, and unable to support their families.
“They’re not thinking about the families and the people that are behind this restaurant,” Samuel Bena said. “Like I have to pay my rent, I have to pay my bills, I have a baby to take care of. It doesn’t seem fair, it’s like they’re disrespecting us as human beings.”
It’s unclear how long the business will remain closed. Action News Jax Annette Gutierrez reached out to the other owners, and never heard back.
Higdon said she’s working to file a lawsuit to get employees the money they’re owed.
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