After a year in business, Cyros Sushi and Sake Bar in South Park has developed a loyal following. Cy Santos, the executive chef and co-owner, can take credit for that because of his signature roll, the Avante Garde.
Lately, though, there have been some big changes and behind-the-scenes fighting with partners Santos and Rogelio Lawsin. The restaurant’s liquor license has been revoked, according to Santos, because Lawsin called the ABC board to inform them that he was no longer a part of the business, and it was his name on the license.
Creative Loafing called Lawsin without success.
“He’s sabotaged the business,” Santos said. “I put my trust in him and he took advantage of me.” Right now, customers can still experience the food, but they have to bring in their own wine and beer. Santos said Cyros isn’t charging a corking fee for the wine.
“This is affecting our business because of what he did. He abandoned us,” he said. “I want to move on and continue doing this.”
But, keeping Cyros open is proving to be a challenge; Santos said that their rent is five months late because Lawsin hadn’t been paying the landlord. Nearly half of the staff quit when they didn’t receive their paychecks and Santos said he hasn’t been paid either. “Cyros, me and Ro, are supposed to be kicked out because he’s not paying the bill. I was surprised one day when the owner of the building told me one day that he’s not paying the rent.”
“Ro handled the administration side of the business. I don’t even have access to the bank account,” he said. And Santos said, he and Lawsin never had a contract; they started their business on a handshake and he trusted his friend, whom he’d met in 2002. “Every time I’d ask him about it, he would say, I have the lawyers working on it.” But the paperwork never materialized, despite the fact that the men are also partners in a catering business (Cyros LLC Sushi Catering). Santos said Lawsin has locked him out of the catering office.
According to Santos, he and Lawsin had been at odds about how much money the restaurant was making. Lawsin was telling him that they weren’t making any money, but Santos said Cyros was bringing in $70,000 a month.
“Every night we were packed,” he said of the 49-seat restaurant. But since the alcohol has been taken away, Santos said 50 percent of the people who read the sign posted outside the door about the situation simply leave. “People are coming, but people walk away because we don’t have any alcohol.”
But what is coming are tax notices, from Mecklenburg County and from the IRS, Santos said. “I got so scared that I started to seek help from the owner of the building. When we started this business, the owner of the building invested some money to me, because of me.”
The building where Cyros is located is owned by Harris Land Company. A representative from the company could not be reached Wednesday afternoon.
“We got so many reviews and awards, we’re very proud of it and I want to continue keeping that reputation. It’s just unfortunate that this things happen.”
For right now, it’s business as usual at Cyros, despite the fact that Santos said Lawsin has sent messages to some customers that the restaurant has shut down.
“I’m going to continue serving the best sushi,” said Santos.
Stay tuned for more details as this story develops.
This article appears in May 10-16, 2011.
HAHAHAHAH!! what a crock of bs. I worked there for almost a year and witnessed the whole breakup. Ro wanted to stay! Cy had me and the other servers take credit cards manually while ro was on vacation so he could deposit the money into a seperate account. When confronted by Ro he ran to his car with the cc slips and drove off! We sure as hell called the cops. CALL ME FOR MORE DETAILS LOL (704)904-2819 -GAVIN ERVIN
ALSO!!!! The only reason people came there in the first place was to see the “CHEF” NOBU, which Cy FIRED for no reason other than Nobu’s friendship with Ro. NOBU created the specials, NOBU worked the line and interacted with the guest, NOBU built the repeat business and now this guy is lying and taking credit where it isnt due. Shame on this company and anyone who continues to support it. I’m only bitter because i loved my job, coworkers, and all the regulars that came in to dine.(plus the $$ wasnt bad). ITS not your fault creative loafing, but next time get the whole story befroe you report on something please. FEEL FREE TO CONTACT ME FOR THE TRUTH, I WITNESSED IT ALL!!! 704-904-2819
Creative Loafing should have gotten their facts straight before this article went online. This is very irresponsible and if I were a lawyer, I would be all over it! What Gavin Ervin said about what Cy did was correct. While Ro joined his family for his kids’ spring break, they (Cy or the landlord) changed the locks and Ro couldn’t get in the restaurant. I can’t believe that after all the money that Ro has invested in the restaurant and the catering business (while Cy did not put in even one single cent) they just locked him out while he was gone to spend some time with his family. He did not abandon the restaurant…THEY CHANGED THE LOCKS ON HIM!!! Cy has lost his credibility and I don’t see any reason to continue giving him business. He is full of BS!!!
Like Gavin, I also worked at Cyro’s Sushi for a year. I witnessed the whole breakup between Cy and Ro and everything Gavin has said above is true and basically everything in the article are lies from Cy’s mouth. We were a tiny staff, five servers, two hostesses, and six sushi chefs, plus two guys making hot appetizers and doing the dishes. We were all very close, just like a family. Cy poisoned Cyro’s through his selfish attitude and lack of foresight. Ro worked tirelessly at the restaurant; he was there every single night and most days. Ro was the heart and soul of the restaurant and Nobu, the head chef, was the artist responsible for the amazing sushi as well as the friendly, fun vibe at the sushi bar that garnered him a huge following. Cy verbally attacked Ro several times, bragging to the staff about the cruel and abusive text messages he was sending to Ro and he physically threatened Ro on two different occasions, one of them even in front of customers! He allowed his anger to spill over and threaten his professionalism on several different occasions – once, he broke the office computer which prevents servers from entering orders or running credit cards, and he yelled cuss words and tried to have a physical altercation with Ro while Ro tried to exit the situation.
Also, the staff did NOT quit because they didn’t get their paychecks. I personally got my paycheck every other Friday and got my tips every night at the end of my shift and I know this to be true for the other staff. The staff quit because Cy did NOTHING to keep the restaurant running. He randomly decided on a Thursday that Cyro’s would be closed the following two days for Easter weekend. This upset the staff who were on the schedule and were counting on working and making money! Servers don’t make money if they don’t work and Cy took that opportunity away with the explanation that he wanted to go on vacation!!!! When he left for vacation, he changed the locks to the restaurant so when Ro and the staff showed up to open on Friday, they were unable to open the restaurant.
And the alcohol license was taken away because Cy’s lockout of Ro essentially dissolved their partnership and the partnership was Cyro’s and the alcohol license had to function under the partnership, not under just the auspices of Cy who has NO knowledge of ordering, serving, or disposing of liquor, wine, or sake or their corresponding containers. One of the servers sweetly offered to have her father hang nearly $100,000 of origami artwork from a world-renowned artist and Cy refused to invest any money in properly lighting the artwork which would have cost them south of $1,000 and was hung in the restaurant FOR FREE. Ro was the main contact for the art and cared for the art and when he left, the server and her father did not want the art in Cyro’s without Ro’s guidance.
Staff started quitting when all the discord began to be heavily felt and Cy made NO moves to hire any additional staff. Servers invited interested friends to join the staff and also put ads on craigslist to try to keep the restaurant going. The staff was so short-handed that some shifts were not covered and chefs had to serve food and take orders but Cy still didn’t put a single ad on craiglist or try to find new staff even when the staff drafted ads for him and even offered to post the ads.
As a female, I don’t feel comfortable publishing my contact information but will answer any questions posted in the comments.
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And I should have added that, like Gavin, I LOVED my job. The money was AWESOME, the customers were the greatest (especially my regulars, I love and miss you all!), and I adored all the chefs and the other servers. I am so sad that I had to leave but Cy ruined that place. Please do NOT support Cyro’s!
Who allowed this to be published? Isn’t the first rule of journalism to make sure your facts straight? Or maybe you fell for Cys story telling. Granted there were problems over the year I worked there, however it wasn’t so bad tht half the staff quit in less than 2 weeks, including me. Ro wanted to stay, let’s get that straight. He got kicked out. It’s Cys own fault about the liquor license and poorly planning everything once Ro was gone.
Cy didn’t even have the respect to tell his employees tht he was going to shut down easter weekend till the week of!
So Creative Loafing please don’t fall for this bs sob story. Do some justice for all of us who were once part of this dysfunctional family and get the truth!
Though I believe that Creative Loafing became a victim to Cy’s story telling, this is a media injustice.
Sure, the restaurant had problems, what restaurant doesn’t? People came and go from time to time, but it was never so bad that HALF the staff quit in LESS THAN 2 WEEKS, me being one of them. As the other’s have said before me, Ro wanted to stay. Let’s get that straight. One thing that shows the lack of respect Cy had as a manager was when he decided to close down the restaurant Easter weekend so he could go on vacation and informed his employees the week of!
Secondly, it’s Cy’s own fault that he doesn’t have the proper licenses. He knew he was taking over, he should’ve prepared. He acted as if everything was going to be handed to him on a silver platter. So don’t believe this sob story.
Creative Loafing, I beg you redo this article and do some justice to the all of us who were once part of this dysfunctional family!
I worked at Cyros as well, and as much as I loved my job I was also completely unwilling to work for Cy. Not only did he ruin the place after forcing Ro out, he also tried to ruin it while everyone was still there. He would ignore tickets, and leave customers to get their rolls before their appetizers because he was trying to make Ro look bad. He would act childish with his employees and constantly complain about everyone. We worked ourselves into the ground trying to keep the company open, but eventually we all grew tired of the fights, and putting in all of our effort into a quickly failing restaurant. The five servers that stuck together to run this restaurant loved our regulars and the chefs, but had to choice to seek other employment. After Nobu was fired, we lost a lot of regular clients. Not only did the sushi quality take a traumatic turn for the worse, and it took well over 45 minutes for our food to leave the kitchen. Not long after, we found out the liquor license had been revoked. Cy was not even competent enough to realize this meant he couldn’t sell wine or beer either. So, we all left Cy with the mess of the restaurant that he had single handedly destroyed. None of us left over not receiving our paychecks, my last ones actually bounced, and no one has been able to correct the problem. Cy refuses to pay any servers the money which they are owed.
If anyone got taken advantage of, it was the employees trying to keep the restaurant afloat. Please, DO NOT support this company and everything it has turned into. Cy Santos is a liar, and does not even deserve any of your hard earned money.
“im going to continue to serve the best sushi” hahahaha, it will be mediocre and take at least an hour to get to the table. enjoy.
I feel bad for whichever reporter had to write this story. and sorry that they were conned by Cy’s amazing story telling abilities. It’s amazing how easily people trust a liar.
I’d like to point out that the executive chef, on paper, may have been Cy, but Nobu and Michael Le were the real stars of the show. Those two worked every day, while Cy came and went as he pleased. How can you be an executive Chef when you only show up three shifts a week?
Then the liquor license. Any business owner who has any knowledge of the restaurant industry should know that if your corporation dissolves, so does any permits and licenses that were under the name. Cy chose to ignore that fact, and assume everything would be alright. Ro did not call the ABC board to ruin him, infact the ABC board called Cyros to inform them they no longer had a license. Cy also thought it was an okay idea to pick up beer and wine to sell from Costco.
Cy set up a separate bank account and started taking all of the credit card money, because he didn’t want Ro to access the money.
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As far as I’m concerned, someone should stick a fork in Cyros. It’s DONE.
the writer of this story should really look into his “facts” before writing such a one-sided, hostile, and ignorant piece (of trash). DO YOUR HOMEWORK
this peice is ignorant and one-sided. do your homework!
I just want to let you know that customers know better! let them be the judge, I just ate at the sushi bar last night and Cy is working on new specials, He’s been in the industry for years and had a good business manners, So please to those of you giving bad comments mind your own business, you have nothing else to do , find your own life. that’s why you guys dont have a decent jobs!
Oh by the way, Cyros will not materialize if Cy does not know anything, he’s the brain of all this and I have been a customer since his Dean & Deluca wine room days, people wait for sushi because it was well presented and clean. Cy keep up the good work and we will continue to support you here in south park area. you have good team now. To all of you badmouthing,find something else to do because you are wasting your time.
FYI the reason why the restaurant exist because they invested their money because of CY! they would not invest so much money if the food is not good! god bless you all!
Cy, get back to work and quit making up fake comments. Concer?, i think you meant Cancer
Hey Concer (or really Cy!!),
Are you on your break and trying to pretend to be a customer but actually it’s really just you and now you’re pretending to be a customer to fake support for you?? Anyone that reads this knows it’s you Cy because of the way you speak and write and that these are details only you would know!! So anyone reading Concer’s comments please know that it’s actually Cy and just as he tried to fake being a customer, he will do the same to you if you go to the sushi bar and give you some lame excuse why you have to wait an hour for your food!!! Cy is a fraud – he’s self taught and never been properly trained as a true sushi chef!! Nobu has been trained by true master sushi chef’s and all along that’s why Cy was so jealous of Nobu and the fact that in the end Nobu was and is a better chef than Cy!! All the customers I served told me that and deep down Cy you know that’s the truth you fraud!!!
“Concer” (isn’t it funny how the first part of the name is Con) huh?
So, I’m pretty sure most of the servers would recognize the name of someone who seems to be such a big fan of Cyros especially a name like that. I surely don’t.
So anyone….anyone…? Beuller..beuller…
This is not the typical partnership storybook bad ending. When one partner puts up all the money, the other partner generally puts in the “sweat equity” in this case, not only did Ro put up 100% of ALL of the money, but he still busted his butt 6 days a week making sure not only his customers were happy, but also keeping his employees motivated, Cy is the typical “no money invested but wants to say he is the owner” partner, big head, big ego, talks down to his employees, has no consideration for good service, etc. thinks he is the MAN! Maybe he needs to pawn his Rolex to pay the rent! I remember when Cy worked for Hissho Sushi, told everyone he was a vice president, part owner, yeah right. He gave Ro a good snow job just like he is giving that landlord…..Ro has carried that jerk for years. Cy personally was responsible for every lost catering account due to his bad attitude and mouth. I wish Ro and Nobu all the best, because the honest, hard working people always triumph in the end. I will miss Cyros and the great concept it was.
first of i dont think yall know what kind of financial bullspit Ro has caused, and its really funny to me how when u servers worked here you would talk shit about ro and agree with Cy, now i love nobu and dont know what happend there but i do know for a fact Ro owes me close to $1000 and i plan on sueing him in small claims, he told me on pay day that he would have my paycheck ready next week, im in debt now and was late on my rent bc of his punk ass and has been ignoring my phone calls, voice mails and texts for the past month when he claimed to be my friend, mikey Ray Quin Eli, and everyone else here hasn’t got paid either so suck on that, they actually have bigger pay checks than me too, and for everybody talking shit about us has quit on us, on me too, i havent had a shift off in 2 months bc we have been short staffed bc you guys quit and gave up bc you couldnt handle the “drama” all the stuff you guys are writing is horsegobble and i wish yall would come tell me that to my face, and btw we really are screwed with bills that Ro hasnt been paying, Ro even got a couple of subpoenas about not paying bills shortly before he left, and the art?? that was Ro’s fault as well, we sold 2 of the pieces and the servers parents got none of the profit when Ro was handling the money, thats messed up, i was there for everything too and i bout punched the computer screen reading all this stuff ^, im not saying i agree with every descision made here but i can’t believe yall are trying to bash us like this, i really cant believe it, thank you to everybody that still supports our restuant
Alex, im sorry if i offended you. You are a hard worker and deserve better than what you are being put through. Everything i said was just the other side of the story that CL failed to include in their inital report.
Chef Boi R DEESE NUTS!!! in da house
I think Alex should be asking Cy where his money is not Ro, cause it is in his SIDE bank account where he has been diverting funds collected at Cyros for some time, and get it quick cause Cy is going to jail over it
I still work at Cyros and wish everyone would just concentrate on keeping this place open. As a long time customer, I realize how unique this restaurant is and wold hate to see Charlotte lose its best sushi restaurant because of fighting among partners. And seriously, its not like this is a rare occurrence; business partners, especially in the restaurant industry, rarely work.
The food has not changed, and ultimately, that is what matters. Cyros is temporarily not serving alcohol, but customers should view this setback as an opportunity to save money; bring in a great bottle of wine and knock $40 off your tab.
To everyone else, I’m sure the complaints and divergent stories will keep coming, but as long as the Fiery Tuna Roll and Avante Garde Roll don’t change, so will I.
^ another clueless sheep
K rod, its already lost buddy, the core staff and chef left
K rod, its already lost buddy, the core staff and chef left. too late
you do know you need a permit to be BYOB. k rod, i would be careful, they will take away your ability to serve alcohol for five years if you get busted.
decent jobs? incase you havent noticed, we make a lot more money than you do, and we have enough respect for ourselves to not work for a jerk.
i am the man, just a btw
– Deese nuts in ur mouth
remember that time we had a party with an open bar? and cy told the bartender to ring up two drinks each for the staff on their tab??
Nobu is the man. The only reason to go. Find out where he went to and you’ll have found a great place to chill and have excellent food.
Whatever! We still love the food and we will always be a regular! Business must continue and and some partnership doesn’t work! just move on and mind your own Business.
stfu we are still dealing with this bullshit so it still is our business, mind your fucking business
I can’t believe you guys can say this about my dad. You guys worked for him and this is how you treat him after? Such people yall are. Im not taking sides just because he’s my dad but you guys have no respect whatsoever. And when you say he doesn’t do anything for the business, what the hell are you talking about?! Do you know that i barely even see my dad anymore? I see him ONCE a week. On Sunday. When the restaurant is closed. Because the other 6 days of the week he is busting his butt of at work. And that’s his job, that’s what he invested for this business: LABOR. So get a life and stop taking shit about him.
Caryl, you will be seeing alot less when hes in jail or deported
yeah that place sucks now, slow in there and still took 45 mins for my rolls. and my spicy tuna roll that took so long came out and the tuna was grey..grey meat.. yukk. we sent it back and left. bad times at cyros, r.i.p.
and the “avante garde”, more like avante lard, that shit is 90% dukes mayo (that is rarely kept at proper temp).
I think it’s really interesting that the two comments that discussed the involvement of Gary Harris and the Harris Land Company were edited and all of the references to the Harris Land Company were deleted. Why is that? They are the landlords and are directly involved – helped Cy change the locks, called a server overweight, etc. I would love to know why their involvement has been deleted from the comments when they are directly involved and culpable?
We are currently attempting to contact Gary Harris.
if they were smart they would also remove their name from cyros
I understand that you are trying to contact Gary Harris but I still don’t understand why Cy was allowed to say whatever he wanted in the article (all baseless lies) and commenters were allowed to discuss Cy, Ro, other servers, etc but the Harris family and their company is exempt? They are not allowed to be discussed? That seems extremely fishy. I understand their sphere of influence is very large but this is a public forum. There was nothing slanderous or dangerous and in the comments and it appears that Creative Loafing is in cahoots with the Harris Land Co and isn’t making any attempts at fair journalism. Please do not publish my email address but feel free to contact me via email if you need Gary’s contact information or a statement from me.
Ro stop creating names and making your own comments, Just move on and find other things to do, maybe spend sometime with your family more. To his puppies get a life!!!
Cyros is done
Hey Ginger! Great comment! Maybe YOU should get a life and stop getting drunk/having sex with 7682364872634 different disgusting men and spending your entire life drunk in the sushi bar or TRYING to be a cougar. perhaps YOU should spend some time with YOUR family. And God. And this isn’t Ro – this is one of his “puppies” – and I can’t get a life because I am owed several hundred dollars and if Cy hadn’t been diverting money, I would have gotten paid. So, babygirl, I WILL continue in my relentless pursuit to get the money that is due to ME and to right the wrongs that were done to me, my friends & co-workers, as well as my kind-hearted boss Ro.
Why did you even comment on this article if you feel like everyone who is commenting should get a life? That’s pretty hypocritical. And you’re right, Cyro’s is done and you have NOTHING at risk here – I have money owed to me AND my reputation – so it’s pretty clear that YOU are the one who needs a life.
hahaahahahhahahahahahh
Nice comment from an old drunk sushi slut
The previous post from Cy Santos was not from Cy or anyone at Cyros. Tonight is not our last night. Please disregard. Immaturity at it’s worst.
Hey former Cyros server why dont you ask Ro for your money, if he loves you hahaha!!! he will give you your money! DA!
Shouldnt it be just cys now
that ro got out of that shithole
Cyros Server,
Sorry, but you sound a little psycho.
I’m sure I sound psycho, I feel psycho over the fucking $750 that is owed to me. And also, I am not the only one posting under “Cyros Server”. There are 3 or 4 of us who used that as our handle; you should be able to differentiate between our writing styles.
And I sound psycho not only because of the money that is owed to me but a man that we worked for, that we considered a FRIEND, told lies about us, closed our place of business with no notice and took away our money-making opportunities. He allowed the landlord to speak negatively about the physical appearance of his female employees. I feel hurt, betrayed, and wronged.
And PS it’s funny that you say that I sound psycho when I am directly involved in this situation. Who the fuck are you? Some fuckwad internet troll who wants to put in their two-cents?
Also, I’m surprised nobody has mentioned that Cyro’s has disgusting bugs EVERYWHERE. Like they used to crawl out of the wall behind the server station where we kept sauces and all the plates and also the used to crawl out from behind the line. One time, a server grabbed a handful of plates to take to a table and she lifted the top one off and a bunch of bugs ran out from between the plates.
And to everyone saying that Ro owes us our money instead of Cy, that’s ridiculous. It’s not Cy or Ro who personally owes us money; Cyro’s the corporation owes us the money. Cy has effectively frozen Ro out of the corporation so it falls on Cy’s shoulders (as the sole representative of the corporation) to reimburse all the servers for their paychecks that weren’t received, paychecks that bounced, and tips that were never received because Cy was sketchily diverting money and kept telling us “I will go to the bank and get the cash tomorrow”.
Ro has no access to Cyro’s accounts or monies because Cy froze him out. Once Cy decided he was the primary controller of Cyro’s finances, he decided that it was up to him to pay the staff.
So any psychoses that will garner me the $750 that is owed to me and any psychoses that will punish a man who caused severe pain and stress for a number of people is just fine by me.