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Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
7 things to know about former Baltimore restaurateur Gregory Pranzo: ‘rats in the dining room,' unpaid bills
In December 2024, staff at Baltimore's Docks on the Harbor restaurant woke up to find the eatery had closed overnight. The owner, New York-native Gregory Pranzo, would later be accused of emptying the restaurant of furniture, fixtures and decor, in a lawsuit filed by Baltimore-based developer Cordish Cos. Over several weeks of investigation, The Baltimore Sun found Pranzo launched multiple restaurants across six states and then abruptly closed them, leaving staff, business partners or landlords behind, along with millions of dollars in unpaid bills. The full story ran in print Sunday (and is online here: but here's a quick take on what you should know about Pranzo's business practices. Celebrity partner: Pranzo has opened and closed restaurants in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland, New York and Connecticut over the last decade. He routinely partners with celebrities — including Guy Fieri, Mario Lopez and *NSYNC's Chris Kirkpatrick — and he has opened multiple franchises of Wahlburgers' restaurants, the Wahlberg-brother-owned burger chain (Donnie, Mark and their celebrity chef brother Paul). All save two of Pranzo's restaurants have closed, many racking up debt and health code violations along the way. Pests in food storage areas: In Baltimore, Docks on the Harbor also earned a closure order from the city's health department after an August 2024 inspection, that followed a customer's complaint about 'rats in the dining room.' Inspectors found 31 health code violations, including clouds of gnats, evidence of rodents and other pests in food storage areas, and a lack of water that prevented staff from washing their hands. The restaurant re-opened two days later, having satisfied most of the city's requirements. Health-related restaurant closure: Pranzo's Raleigh, North Carolina, Wahlburgers franchise was shut down after the department found his restaurant had lacked hot water for more than three months. The restaurant chose to close instead of immediately fixing the problem, and was evicted for nonpayment of rent before it could reopen. Multiple lawsuits: In Connecticut, Pranzo was sued by food vendor Sysco Connecticut LLC for an unpaid bill topping $30,000. Records show Pranzo has never responded to the suit and made no payments. In Georgia, Pranzo was sued by his former business partners, Finer Food Services, for more than $2 million. According to the agreement, signed by Pranzo, he admitted 'that he withdrew this sum over time from [Finer Food Services] and/or the [Finer Food Services subsidiaries] without the knowledge and/or consent of … majority member and manager, Barry Bierenbaum.' Unpaid judgments: The court ordered Pranzo to repay his partners, however, their lawyer said he has been unable to enforce the judgments. And in Florida, Pranzo is named in a lawsuit in district court, which alleges that he violated the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act, a federal law that bans businesses from using phones or fax machines for unsolicited advertisements. In that 2019 suit, Pranzo was accused of spamming fax machines with more than 125,000 unsolicited faxes over two years to advertise the opening of an Atlanta Wahlburgers. The case is ongoing. Docks on the Harbor property: In Baltimore, a civil suit against Pranzo by Cordish Cos. alleges Pranzo 'plundered' hundreds of thousands of dollars in fixtures from his Baltimore restaurant early one morning, walking away with tables and chairs, signage, stoves, refrigerators, decor and more. The lawsuit alleges that Pranzo was caught on security camera footage between the hours of 1 and 7 a.m. on Dec. 9 emptying out the restaurant space he rented from Cordish. $3.2 million lease allegedly unfulfilled: Pranzo also skipped out on a lease valued at about $3.2 million through 2032, a court document filed by Cordish's legal team alleges. Past-due charges between October and early December totaled more than $130,000 for rent and trash, water/sewer and HVAC service, per an account statement. Cordish's lawsuit argues Pranzo emptied out the restaurant with the intent to defraud. 'Pranzo's bad intent is readily evidenced by the midnight timing,' the suit reads. 'Why hide under the cover of night, unless he was following the playbook of Bob Irsay stealing the Colts in a Mayflower truck?' Lorraine Mirabella contributed reporting to this story. Have a news tip? Contact Kate Cimini at The Baltimore Sun, at (443) 842-2621 or kcimini@
Yahoo
22-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
OG Anunoby returns, but Knicks can't slow down top-seeded Cavaliers in 142-105 loss
York nativePlaying the second game of a back-to-back, the Knicks were defeated by the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers 142-105 on Friday night. - OG Anunoby made his highly-anticipated return to the Knicks' lineup after missing three weeks with a foot injury, but they still weren't back at full strength as Josh Hart was sidelined for the second straight game with a knee issue and Mitchell Robinson remained out. - Even with one of their top defenders back, the Knicks struggled slowing down the high-powered Cavs offense. Cleveland shot a whopping 73 percent in the opening quarter to take a double-digit advantage. Jalen Brunson picked up two early fouls, but he was doing everything he could to keep the Knicks in it -- leading the way with 16 points. - Things didn't get much prettier in the second, as the Cavs went on a stretch of hitting eight consecutive field goals to open the quarter. One-time Knicks trade target Donovan Mitchell picked up 17 of his 24 first-half points in the second frame to help them push the lead up to 27 heading into the break. - Karl-Anthony Towns was able to get going during the second, but New York didn't receive much else scoring-wise with Brunson glued to the bench after picking up his third foul. That dynamic duo combined for 37 of the Knicks' 50 points in the half as they received just four points from their bench -- while Cleveland's contributed 24. - Mikal Bridges and Precious Achiuwa found their stroke during the third, but it ultimately didn't make much of a difference, as the Knicks simply couldn't get the stop they desperately needed, and they found themselves trailing by 25-plus points for the majority of the frame. - Both coaches, thankfully, decided to empty their benches for the entire fourth quarter. Delon Wright saw the floor for just the third time since being acquired at the trade deadline from the Bucks and rookie Pacome Dadiet finished with five points in his first action since Jan. 17. - Mitchell led all scorers with 27 points, Evan Mobley missed just two field goals to finish with 21 points while reeling in eight rebounds, and D'Andre Hunter and New York-native Ty Jerome contributed a combined 35 points off the bench. - Anunoby played 27 minutes in his return but had just five points, Brunson led the team with 26 points, Towns finished with 23, and Achiuwa reeled in 10 boards. The Cavs' offense was on fire all night, and Spida simply couldn't miss, as he led the way with 27 points. The Knicks have another tough test when they take on the second-place Celtics on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.
