Guy Fieri’s favorite Tri-Cities sandwich shop shuts down. COVID contributed to tax troubles
The owner of Vinny’s Bakery & Bistro, the beloved Pasco eatery that inspired celebrity chef Guy Fieri to wax poetic over its Cuban sandwich, was forced to close over unpaid taxes following a string of setbacks.
The Washington Department of Revenue revoked Vinny’s certificate of registration on April 25. The agency previously filed tax warrants totaling $69,000 in Franklin County Superior Court last spring and summer, according to a notice posted on the door.
Vinicio “Vinny” Marín Gomez, who owns the restaurant with his son Charlie Marín, told the Tri-City Herald he didn’t expect to be shut down by tax authorities. The interview was conducted with the help of a translator.
Marín Gomez said he hopes to reopen quickly to settle the tax bill and pay his six employees. But on Thursday morning, he and his dad were inside the closed restaurant collecting items that could be given to the food bank.
Vinny’s opened in late 2014 at 1107 W. Lewis St. in Pasco after Marín Gomez, an immigrant and a fifth-generation baker, fell in love with the community.
He’d previously visited Chicago, Colorado and other potential locations before a chance visit to Pasco convinced him to set up here.
Marín Gomez said supporters, including his landlord, encouraged him to find a way to work with the state to reopen. That wasn’t his first thought though.
He initially planned to sell the business and equipment to pay off the debt and restart in a new location.
Felix Vargas, a community supporter, said there is no reason for the state to shut down a business if its goal is to settle a tax bill. The only way to do that is to allow it to earn revenue, he said, citing the Internal Revenue Service model of working out payment plans with delinquent tax payers.
Vargas is encouraging supporters to press state officials to make an exception to let Vinny’s reopen. Supporters plan to attend Monday’s Pasco City Council workshop session to raise awareness about his predicament.
The Department of Revenue said it could not comment on Vinny’s but released a statement that license revocation is the last option available. It is not a decision that is made lightly and is only taken when a taxpayer has demonstrated “a consistent pattern of noncompliance,” it said.
Pandemic troubles
Marín Gomez said his tax trouble began when he took three months off in 2019 to recover from surgery.
He left his business in the hands of someone he trusted. When he returned there was only $15 in the cash register and no way to pay bills or taxes. The COVID-19 pandemic began shortly afterward, leading to shutdowns that were particularly hard on the hospitality industry.
Vargas said organizers are contemplating a fund-raising campaign to cover Vinny’s debt. He noted Marín Gomez is reluctant to ask for money.
Notably, Vinny’s did not seek a forgivable Paycheck Protection Program loan during the pandemic. Marín Gomez said he was too busy trying to keep the business afloat to seek the federal assistance.
In Washington, nearly 195,000 businesses secured $18.2 billion in PPP loans. Most had their loans forgiven. The average restaurant loan was nearly $143,000, according to a PPP database maintained by federalpay.org.
But the pandemic wasn’t the first unexpected setback the restaurant had faced.
In 2015, Antonio Zambrano-Montes was shot and killed by Pasco police after a confrontation outside the new bakery’s front door. Protests and some nationwide news accounts followed, and the Vinny’s name was linked to the unrest by virtue of location, leading to doubts it could stay in business.
But many Tri-Citians, including a concerted effort by the police department, rallied to support the fledgling business with a modest Go Fund Me campaign, which collected $2,260.
The money, coupled with a surge in customers, propelled it forward. Vinny’s earned a devoted following for its baked goods, its homemade breads and for its flavorful sandwiches.
Food Network feature
It was thriving in late 2018, before his surgery and the pandemic woes set in. That’s when celebrity chef Guy Fieri called on Vinny’s and other Tri-Cities eateries for his “Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives” program on the Food Network.
The TV chef gushed to a national audience about its Cuban and chicken sandwiches in “Sandwich Showcase,” featured in Season 29, Episode 4.
Vinny’s Cuban piles slow-roasted pork, house-made hot sauce, ham and Swiss cheese on a house-made baguette. Its chicken features chicken, red onion, chipotle, tomato and zucchini, which, Fieri noted, melted on the tongue.
As the pandemic recedes, Tri-Citians haven’t lost their taste for Vinny’s.
In March, it tied with Foodies for second place in a Tri-City Herald poll of the best specialty sandwich shops in town.
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