Mr. Gus' Ristorante faces shut-down threat over city taxes

The Montgomery City Council voted Tuesday to strip longtime Atlanta Highway eatery Mr. Gus' Ristorante of its business license if it can't settle a tax debt by the end of the month.

A city representative said the business entered an agreement earlier this year to repay back taxes that it owes the city, but the restaurant has since defaulted on the agreement.

The vote to revoke the restaurant's license was unanimous, but it won't be finalized until after a show-cause hearing at the Nov. 1 council meeting. If the business and the city agree to terms on a new repayment deal before that, the restaurant will keep its license.

Family friend Michael Passineau took over the family dining spot after original owner Dimitri Polizos died in 2019. But an existing debt mounted when the pandemic arrived and the restaurant was forced to shut its doors last year.

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The restaurant reopened earlier this year after working out a deal to repay thousands of dollars in back taxes that it owed the city. That plan required Passineau to pay 40% of the debt upfront and to pay the remaining balance within a year.

In Montgomery, 10 cents of every dollar paid at a restaurant or other business goes toward taxes that fund local services. That breaks down to 4 cents for the state, 3.5 cents for the city and 2.5 cents for the county. "It never belongs to the business," city Compliance Officer Pam Rowe said earlier this year.

If a restaurant agrees to a plan but can't make the payments, Rowe said the city will try to work with them to come up with a new plan. She said businesses often enter several repayment agreements before winding up at a City Council meeting, where they get a hearing to explain their situation. "It takes a lot to get here," she said.

The historic Martin's meat-and-three restaurant in Cloverdale avoided losing its license earlier this year when they reached a deal with the city after a similar council vote.

Brad Harper covers business and local government for the Montgomery Advertiser. Contact him atbharper1@gannett.com.