Ghazi Issa Sued

The owners of Ghazi’s Pesto Cafe have been sued for $477,500 after opening a restaurant in a Fayetteville building at 3075 Market Ave. owned by Ben Israel, then abandoning it two month later, allegedly taking some $22,000 worth of the plaintiff’s equipment with them and not paying for it.

A lawsuit filed Aug. 17 in Washington County Circuit Court by David Horne alleges that Ghazi’s owners Ghazi Issa and Steve Glenn had promised 40 percent of the new restaurant’s proceeds would go to plaintiffs Kate Gelyukh and Lubov Gelyukh.

Horne also alleges that the Ghazi owners did $5,500 worth of damage to Israel’s building, primarily by painting their logo on the side of it.

In addition to compensatory damages, Horne is asking for $250,000 in punitive damages for the Gelyukhs and Caprice Inc., the Russian/American restaurant they operated in the building before Issa and Glenn took over the location. Horne is also asking for $200,000 in punitive damages on Israel’s behalf.

The original Ghazi’s Pesto Cafe opened last year at 1150 N. College Ave. in Fayetteville.

A second Ghazi’s is now scheduled to open soon in the building at 1830 N. College Ave. in Fayetteville that previously housed Tony’s Cafe.