Country music singer Toby Keith’s north Phoenix bar, restaurant to close doors
Sep 6, 2015, 4:00 PM
FILE - In this April 7, 2014 file photo shows Toby Keith performs at ACM Presents an All-Star Salute to the Troops in Las Vegas. The New York location of country music star Toby Keith's chain of restaurants owes more than a quarter-million dollars in sales taxes to the state. A tax warrant filed by the state earlier this month seeks $107,000 owed by Keith's I Love this Bar & Grill at the Destiny USA shopping mall in Syracuse. Keith's Syracuse bar, which opened last year, also owes more than $145,000 in sales taxes from earlier in 2013. The musician's chain of restaurants, named for the title of one of his hit songs, features guitar-shaped bars, beer in mason jars and traditional southern food. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)
(Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)
With locations closed in Mesa and Peoria, Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar & Grill has closed its doors at its north Phoenix location. Tuesday officially marked the High Street restaurant location’s closure.
According to Phoenix Business Journal, the restaurant’s owners have been locked out of the business by the landlord, while Boomtown Entertainment, the company that owns Toby Keith’s franchised restaurants, has not responded to requests for comment.
Based in Phoenix, Boomtown has come under fire after reportedly failing to pay wages for employees at the franchise’s Cincinnati location and also been accused of ducking contractors in San Antonio who performed approximately $850,000 worth of work on was to be the city’s first Toby Keith location.
Houston, Sacramento and Newport News, Virginia have also seen their Toby Keith franchises close.
The franchise still operates in five other cities across the country and the restaurant’s website says there are new locations planned in other states.
