Donovan's Reef, Branford

Submitted by DeskFan203 t3_115xzly in newhaven

Back in the fall, they closed when their staff called out due to lack of wages. There were a few news articles about the issue, including the owners being really jerky in their responses to staff.

Anyone have an update or know what ended up happening? I really felt for the staff and thought what happened to them was awful. I always loved going there--husband and I had our rehearsal dinner there.

Just popped into my head tonight and looked for any news but couldn't find anything...

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Comments

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stealyurbase t1_j9443aa wrote

Been closed since around the time the article was posted…..building is empty.

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[deleted] t1_j949ch2 wrote

[deleted]

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stealyurbase t1_j95jeyc wrote

I don’t think it’s that complicated. They didn’t didn’t make a lot of revenue during CoVid, hung on for a bit, but ran outa of money. Why they continued to stay open if they couldn’t pay their workers is a mystery though.

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bingybunny t1_j9bjeod wrote

they took 300k in PPP loans that vanished and 100k in unpaid rent according to the article.

i bet they didn't pay suppliers either. add in the wage theft and this person was easily half a million dollars in the weeds

Dragon East was another longtime landmark that went under during the pandemic

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SharkMark18 t1_j9moxmp wrote

Dragon east was fire man. Loved that shit

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bingybunny t1_j9oczu9 wrote

the general tso's was perfect, on the level of real Shanghainese food, Barry's scorpion bowl was like an aphrodisiac and neurotoxin

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montvilleredwood t1_j95p03n wrote

The building is covered in f*ck Biden and I did that stickers now lol

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montvilleredwood t1_j95p4gg wrote

Rumors are different restaurateurs have been looking at the space recently though…

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DeskFan203 OP t1_j95po6z wrote

Lmao OK I will do a drive thru the parking lot tomorrow after I drop the dog off at doggy daycare...this I have to see...

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DeskFan203 OP t1_j9bgni7 wrote

Ah crap I forgot...maybe when I go to pick her up..

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Ecofre-33919 t1_j94v74w wrote

It was a nice hang out back in the day.

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bingybunny t1_j9bkssl wrote

the happy hour in the early 2000s was dope. Rosemary roast chicken, gabagool and cheese sandwiches, roasted potatoes. Ant DeSerio from Food Schmooze on NPR was the bartender

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DeskFan203 OP t1_j95pqwy wrote

I was mostly asking about the staff, if they were able to get anywhere with the owners...or get paid.

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