Comments on: The Saga of Republic Turned Las Colinas Prime: Unpaid Workers and Bills, TABC Raids and Harassment, and a Possible Happy Ending

By: Narconon Arrowhead

Narconon Arrowhead — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 16:43:31 +0000

Sounds like guy has a huge problem. You think he's on drugs

By: anonymous

anonymous — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 14:54:30 +0000

i used to work there and after 2 weeks working probably 3 out of 14 days i decided to just walk out and call it quits. i start asking for my paycheck and was told, “ONE MORE DAY” by Brian Luisi. I started getting agitated so kept bothering him over and over and over again and finally just bargained for some cash and forgot about it. Brian Luisi and Costa can suck a nut…

By: YEAH RIGHT

YEAH RIGHT — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 03:11:54 +0000

THIS COSTAS GUY IS A JOKE HE OWES ME MONEY, HE WROTE ME A BAD CHECK. TOLD ME I WAS GOING TO GET PAID, THEN DECIDED NOT TO PAY ME. HE IS A SCAM ARTIST. I HAVE EVIDENCE…..

By: JS

JS — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 05:42:17 +0000

I worked for them for less than a week when it was still called Republic. It was I and another waiter and we only had 6 tables in those couple of days. I never met or ever heard of Bill. I was told by Brian Luisi that Costa owned it and Brian was the manager. I did see the expensive scotch and vodka bottles be filled with cheap versions. I was NEVER paid and I’m not the only one. I let it go because it was more of a joke than anything else. Brian gave me **** for quitting but I had the most uneasy feeling while working there. And there concept of having a bar in the fine dining room and crappy 90’s dance music in the other should say something.

By: b

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:44:44 +0000

Well said Ted, I am in the food biz and had direct contact with both. You mentioned Nellies, what I heard was they took off with all the wine and Michael was heading to NY to hang with his gangsta family he claims he has.

I know Stuertz was all over the Nellies story, I wonder what ever happened to that.

By: JW

JW — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 13:05:21 +0000

@Ted
Well said. Both of those guys are scum and will someday get their a**es kicked real good.

By: Ted H

Ted H — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 17:05:27 +0000

The infamous Michael Costa and Brian Luisi are quite well known lowlifes to anyone at all remotely connected to the Food & Bev business in the D/FW area for the past many years. Even the mere mention of their names produces a throat clenching reflex for the many folks they’ve left in their wake.

Here’s their usual vulture-like M.O. — they are famous for contacting restaurants that are already on “life support” and giving the ownership their whole tired song and dance spiel of a “rescue” by putting everything under their control. Then they bilk and raid anything they can that’s not nailed down until they’ve sucked the place dry. Then they move on to the next carcass. Real simple folks.

Why these two have not been tarred and feathered while being chased down the street with lit roman candles up there respective arses is beyond me. However, the visual alone of Costa checking himself into jail proves there is at least some poetic justice left in this world.

BTW: They’ve never “turned a restaurant around” Nancy — not once. Check it out if you want. Just burned a whole lotta good employees with bad checks and empty promises not to mention all the lies they said to weak owners who ultimately got completely screwed by these two. Anybody remember Costa and Brians rape of Nellies to name one outta many examples??

Reread the Stuertz expose’ that some sharp Disher mentioned earlier. It said just about everything about these two losers.

By: joe

joe — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:48:39 +0000

I worked there a while ago, Brian and Michael such a low life pieces of ****, every time I needed to talk about my paycheck Brian would literally start a huge argument about it, just yelling blah blah blah. Michael said I was a malicious excuse of a human because I wanted my final pay, I ****ed over all my friends he said, “What kind of person would do such a thing? If you wanna live your life like that… uh, it’s your choice.”
Like he has any room to talk

By: Gern

Gern — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:46:02 +0000

Real story?

The real stor is that everywhere Costa and Luisi go, they leave a pile of bounced/NSF checks, unpaid bills and BS promises.

The TABC needs to investigate all the under the table activity that he demands…

By: john doe

john doe — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:46:34 +0000

ask about mayas

By: john doe

john doe — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 23:47:34 +0000

THIS ARTICLE IS FUNNY IF PEOPLE ONLY KNEW THE REAL STORY….

By: S

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:57:59 +0000

@b: Thanks. Costa is a scumbag.

By: b

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:02:04 +0000

I can only read so much, I mean we are talking about Michael Costa. The biggest thief in the business and what amazes me is theres always some idiot that hires him. It’s the same story everywhere this thief shows up. I was hoping the Observer story Mark wrote would of put a end to this poor excuse of a human. Someone ask what Brian and Costa did at Gilly’s. They are trash that keeps recycled.

By: HC

HC — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:28:04 +0000

You gave him enough rope, I see.

By: White Lines

White Lines — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 04:44:34 +0000

I am EXHAUSTED after reading that. Martini lunch backed with a key-bump for your interview w/ NN maybe?

Very funny, though.

And, hey dummy, you’re a restaurant consultant (or whatever you are) and you know it’s soooo illegal to re-fill bottles that you’ll turn people in for it, but didn’t know it was illegal to buy booze at a grocery store and re-sell it at your place? Awesome. Then I’m coming to LasColinasParkPlaceNissanRepublicEdhardyLoungeandGrill and bringing my own bottle of Goose to “pop”. That’s cool, right?

You, sir, are an idiot.

By: Gern

Gern — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 03:03:55 +0000

Ask Costa about his management of Gallager’s in San Antonio and Vino y Baso Dallas…

Hotel in Scotland…right…..

By: Sir Caesar Salad

Sir Caesar Salad — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:46:22 +0000

@luniz
Yeah he should’a just said, “I came, I saw, I faltered”.

By: luniz

luniz — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:29:37 +0000

it’s amazing how many words it took to say all that.