Restaurant

How closely do you inspect your restaurant receipt?  You may not have noticed some checks show a tax on alcohol. Eyewitness News viewer "Phil" sent us a copy of his bill from a recent visit to Red Lobster.  He thought it was fishy the restaurant charged him a $1.73 "wine tax".  In an email to the FactFinder 12 Investigators "Phil" wrote: "Why is Red Lobster the only restaurant that charges a wine tax on wine?" The Investigators found out all Kansas restaurants charge the tax.  But some places calculate it differently on a receipt.

Kansas Department of Revenue agents and Alcoholic Beverage Control officers have seized the business assets of El Azteca in Park City. The restaurant's owner owes $50,286 in deliquent taxes to the state. The Department of Revenue seized all bank accounts, on-site cash, business inventory and personal property assets belonging to owner Cindy Rowsey. The restaurant, at 1540 E. 61st  St. N, Park City, was closed and its assets will be sold at public auction to pay the taxes owed.

A pile of charred items sits in front of Pour Haus Restaurant & Tavern after a theft and fire that will force the business to close for a while. The fire, which started around 6:45 a.m. Thursday, was deliberately set in an upstairs office area, WFD investigator Stuart Bevis said. Photos from the Scene Courtesy KFDI The fire may have been set to cover up the theft of about $150 from the bar's cash register, said manager Jarrett Barnes.

Hutchinson Police are on the look-out for a man they say robbed a business Saturday morning. It happened around 6:00am at the Sirloin Stockade, located on the 1500 block of E. 17th st. Police say three people were opening up the restaurant for the day when a man armed with a handgun entered, and forced them into the walk-in cooler. The suspect then took approximately $1,200 from a safe, and left the area. No one was hurt. Police described the suspect as a black male, measuring 6'1", weighing 180 pounds, and had 2 to 3 days worth of facial hair growth on his face, black and grey in color.  He was last seen wearing a black stocking cap, a black jacket with Asian style art on the front, and wearing black pants.

A federal judge has found a Wichita restaurant in contempt of court for failing to comply with provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. China Star of Wichita is owned by Hank Luc and Xin G. Chen. Magistrate Judge Karen Humphries ordered them to pay more than $223-thousand in back wages and damages to 11 employees. The U-S Labor Department's Wage & Hour Division says its investigation found that the restaurant's cooks, dishwahers and busboys were paid a flat rate in cash, without regard to overtime compensation for more than 40 hours of work a week.

Wichita police are called to an aggravated robbery at Church's Chicken Saturday night. Authorities say they were called to the fast food restaurant in the 500 block of North West Street around 10:30pm. Two suspects entered the business. One was armed with a black semi automatic handgun. They made off with an unknown amount of cash. A witness was the one who called police after they saw the robbery in progress. No one was hurt.

The concept raised questions when the restaurant in Missouri first went to a "pay what you can" model.  Would it be able to stay open if customers made donations for their food instead of a set price?  And what about people who couldn't afford a meal?  Read here how this social experiment worked out and is now expanding to other restaurants. The president of the Panera Bread Foundation calls it a test of humanity.

Are they legal?   It's the question FactFinder 12 gets asked a lot.  Viewers want to know if the gaming machines they see in some restaurants and gas stations legal, or if they are considered gambling.   FactFinder 12 Investigator Michael Schwanke talks to two business owners who defend the machines saying they are legal.  He also takes the question to the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission in Topeka. Look for that report Thursday night at 10 p.m.

A man and woman arrested in Wichita after a police chase have been charged with robbing a Subway restaurant, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said today. David B. Johnson, 26, and Brittany R. Holt, 22, are charged with one count of robbery. In addition, Johnson is charged with one count of unlawful possession of a firearm after a felony conviction. An agent's affidavit filed in the case alleges that on Jan. 28 Johnson ordered two sandwiches at the Subway shop at 343 S. Greenwich in Wichita.

Police arrest two people after a chase that stretched from Wichita into Butler County.  It all started with a robbery at the Subway restaurant in the 300 block of S. Greenwich Road.  Police say the robber ordered sandwiches, then demanded money from the cash register.  He then got into a car driven by a woman and left the scene. A short time later, a sheriff's deputy noticed a vehicle matching the description from the robbery and tried to pull it over. The suspects gave chase, which led to 210 Street S. and Cole Creek Road in Butler County.