![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/07mar24-cafe8-324763-csdhes9l-685552-2z00grvv-814698-zfisd5dp-742994-rUFtiX7c-1024x527.jpg\")
Art lines the walls of the inside of the East Village Caf\u00e9 at 443 E. First St. in the East Village in Long Beach, Thursday, March 7, 2024. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/p>\nA cafe that called itself the oldest coffee shop in Long Beach\u2019s East Village closed abruptly last month after a judge ruled it owed tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid wages to former employees.<\/p>\n
Previously called the Village Grind before relaunching as the East Village Caf\u00e9 around 2020, the State Labor Commissioner\u2019s Office says the business cheated employees out of $65,000, mostly by not paying them minimum wages and overtime.<\/p>\n
With additional penalties tacked on, owner Richard Saldana was ordered in 2019 to pay $69,646. Instead, authorities allege, he tried to dodge the debt by transferring the business to his fianc\u00e9e and mother, who began running it under the new name, \u201cat least on paper.\u201d<\/p>\n
After years of trying unsuccessfully to collect from Saldana, the Labor Commissioner\u2019s office asked a judge to hold the East Village Caf\u00e9 and its new owners liable as well. They argued it was a direct successor to Village Grind, meaning it should be responsible for paying the outstanding debts.<\/p>\n
The state agency characterized the East Village Caf\u00e9 as a \u201cmere continuation\u201d of the Village Grind, despite the new owners claiming that Saldana \u201cno longer plays a role in the business.\u201d Through several examples, investigators argued that Saldana maintained financial control.<\/p>\n
According to court papers, he kept the cafe\u2019s lease in his name and signed its rent checks through December 2020. He also maintained a credit card in the business\u2019s name, using it to pay personal expenses \u2014 purchases include Hulu, SiriusXM, Spectrum, Game Stop, and various restaurant bills \u2014 later found on its bank statements.<\/p>\n
\u201cClearly, he remained heavily involved in the business,\u201d attorney Matthew Sirolly wrote on behalf of the Labor Commissioner\u2019s office. He characterized the new owners as either \u201cstrawmen\u201d or \u201cbusiness partners\u201d who became \u201cthe public face of the business\u201d after the original judgment.<\/p>\n
In a call last week, Saldana\u2019s fianc\u00e9e, Emelida Garcia, disputed the agency\u2019s claims.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were very adamant that (East Village Caf\u00e9) and the (East Village Grind) were the same business, essentially owned and operated by the same person, when it clearly wasn\u2019t,\u201d she said. \u201cI went to court to try to dispute my case, and they just were not letting it go.\u201d<\/p>\n
During an investigative deposition, Garcia said they had no formal agreement to take over the Village Grind\u2019s assets and \u201cpaid nothing for them.\u201d When asked, Garcia could not recall how much she paid for the business.<\/p>\n
Art lines the walls of the inside of the East Village Caf\u00e9 at 443 E. First St. in the East Village in Long Beach, Thursday, March 7, 2024. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/p>\n
Although she previously testified that three employees at her business also worked at The Village Grind, she said Tuesday none of her staff ever met or interacted with Saldana.<\/p>\n
Los Angeles County Superior Court judge Jerrold Abeles ruled on Aug. 27 that Garcia and Saldana\u2019s mother are liable to pay the original sum plus all interest accrued since 2019.<\/p>\n
More wage claims are also pending against them. The East Village Caf\u00e9 is being investigated for more than $27,700 across three wage theft claims filed between September and January, the state Labor Commissioner\u2019s office confirmed Thursday.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s unclear if workers will see a dime.<\/p>\n
Asked about her plans, Garcia said the business \u201chas no money\u201d and \u201chas officially closed down.\u201d She said a recent ADA lawsuit that cost the business $8,000 and a $5,000 payment for wage claims drove her finances to the brink.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m moving out of my own home,\u201d she said. \u201cSince I will have zero type of income, I can\u2019t afford to live in my apartment. So I\u2019ll be moving in with my family until I can get back on my feet again.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Labor Commissioner\u2019s office said Thursday that the current three wage claims are under investigation and cannot comment further.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A cafe that called itself the oldest coffee shop in Long Beach\u2019s East Village closed abruptly last month…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":161872,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[131,133,132],"class_list":{"0":"post-162150","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-long-beach","8":"tag-long-beach","9":"tag-long-beach-headlines","10":"tag-long-beach-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162150","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162150"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162150\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/161872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}