Waiting staff at the crisis-hit Dundee restaurant Brassica say they fear it will go in to administration.
The Shore Terrace restaurant closed this week after waiting staff walked out in a row over unpaid wages.
Co-owner Dea McGill has admitted the restaurant – which only opened in June – is suffering from cash flow problems but promised staff would be paid as soon as money for wages is available.
She said the company is hoping to restructure financing and to re-open soon.
Around 15 members of staff, including waiters and the restaurant’s general manager, say they have not been paid for their last month’s work and are owed a combined £20,000 in wages.
The restaurant, based in the former City Arcades, also features an art gallery.
One member of Brassica’s waiting staff said some members of staff received pay on Thursday morning, although nobody received the full amount they were owed.
Instead, staff allocated the money offered to their colleagues who were most in need.
One angry employee said: “There was no meeting on Thursday. However, some people have been paid, although it is just little dribs and drabs.
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“Some have been given £200 while others have maybe got £500. We made sure one staff member got money to pay their rent – we decided where the money went.
“We are a team. We’re a brilliant team and we are going to stick together.”
But the front-of-house staff member said he fears for the future of the restaurant.
“I think it is going to go into administration,” he said.
“A lot of people are just waiting to see what money they are owed they will actually get.”
However, one senior member of staff said he believes the restaurant can be saved, if the owners can find a way to settle outstanding debts and balance the books.
He said: “It has potential.
“There should be more information next week.”
The restaurant has been closed all week. A Facebook post said this was because of staff training while posters in the windows of the restaurant blamed “technical difficulties” for the shut down.
Dundee City Council city development convener Lynne Short said she hoped the restaurant can survive its current predicament.
She said: “Hopefully it gets itself in order but obviously the priority is the staff getting wages for the work they have done.”
