Former employees of Choi’s, an Asian fusion restaurant near Petco Park in Downtown San Diego, alleged its owner failed to pay more than $100,000 in wages before the business closed Wednesday after nearly three years.

Several former employees gathered outside the restaurant’s locked doors and described bounced checks, unpaid work and mounting financial problems. Choi’s owner, Jiwoo Choi, acknowledged the restaurant struggled financially and said his biggest mistake was not recognizing sooner that it was time to close.

Luis Ramirez, a former sous chef who started working at Choi’s in January, said Choi owes him about $15,000.

“It started off very, very good. New project, new menu, the atmosphere, the team. It was good for a good 30 days, maybe. After that, staff started dropping off left and right,” said Ramirez.

Ramirez said he stayed at the restaurant for eight months after his first check bounced, primarily because he did not want to leave chef Kyler Alcorn.

Alcorn, another former employee, said his first day at Choi’s involved working a double shift for which he was not paid. He said he continued working long hours because he wanted to help the young business owner succeed.

“My first three months here, I went with no days off. I worked seven days a week, 12 hours a day. And I was like, trying to save the guy money. I was trying to do the thing that I thought was right since he was such a young entrepreneur,” said Alcorn.

Choi, now 26, signed the lease for the space during the pandemic when he was 21 and opened the restaurant at 23.

“I’m not from a rich family or anything,” he said. “A lot of people think I am because I opened the restaurant at a young age.”

Choi said the restaurant faced challenges even before it opened, including a pending legal dispute involving its former general contractor and what he described as substantial construction-related funds. He said a court date in the litigation is scheduled for December.

Choi said there was initial interest when the restaurant opened in November 2023, but he struggled to recruit experienced employees.

“I think my skill set, and having no track history within the chef world or the not a stellar resume plus my age… We weren’t really able to get really good staff if that makes sense. I mean, like what stellar chef would work for a 23 year old kid?”

As the restaurant moved into its second year, Choi said customers were coming in but did not like the menu and operations were “scrappy.” Choi said he traveled frequently while looking for other business ventures and initially believed his presence at the restaurant was not helping.

“Now, looking back, I don’t think that was the case. I think the owner should be at a restaurant maintaining the standard.”

Choi also said the restaurant’s concept was a poor fit for its location near Petco Park.

“We were trying to go for that upscale, romantic date night, celebration but people didn’t really want to drive all the way down to East Village for that. Also, half the year is filled with a Padres crowd. They also don’t want to go into an upscale restaurant and spend some money wearing a uniform, wearing a jersey right before the game. They usually want to crush a burger, crush a taco, you know, have some beers, some shots, and go to the game. So we couldn’t cater to either party,” said Choi.

Before closing, Choi tried changing the concept to Heavy Cut Burgers, offering burgers, hot dogs and other finger foods. He said that new venture lasted about two weeks.

Choi said his biggest mistake was failing to recognize early enough that the restaurant needed to close. Instead, he asked employees to continue holding out hope that money would come.

“On behalf of the restaurant, I can only say sorry that things didn’t work out,” Choi said.

Ramirez said the financial consequences for workers extended beyond the unpaid wages.

“A lot of people’s lives are ruined so it’s tough to sleep at night sometimes, honestly, with all the messages and calls I get like people losing their apartment, people losing their storage units, their cars.”

Alor Calderon, director of the Employee Resource Center, said the organization is inundated with wage theft victims. Calderon recommends employees document everything, including messages and bounced checks, and seek legal guidance. The Employee Resource Center is one option for getting help for free.

“Not being paid and hoping they’re going to pay you… You could have lost all kinds of other opportunities that would have been great for you and your family,” said Calderon.

San Diego city representatives said Choi’s never registered for a business tax certificate or paid its taxes. The city plans to issue a violation notice for outstanding taxes owed.

This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC San Diego. AI tools helped convert the story to a digital article, and an NBC San Diego journalist edited the article for publication.