Former Padre, Toma owner faces criminal wage theft charges as new allegations emerge

Cream-hued cocktails are placed in front of two women sitting at the bar. Before they indulge, the bar manager explains the drink and has them each eat a Szechuan button — a flower, also called the “toothache plant,” which creates a multi-sensory experience including mouth tingling.

The women giggle at the sensation as they take their first sip.

The bar manager, who asked to remain anonymous so as not to affect their future career in the industry, was proud of the menu they created for Toma — the bar they were under the impression was fully licensed.

They believed that, three former bartenders allege, because owner Jay Krymis printed a fake California Alcohol Beverage Control license. Unbeknownst to staff, however, the bar was never licensed and was forced to shutter after less than a month.

In a Feb. 22 email to the Watchdog, Krymis denied printing a fake license, as well as other new allegations, saying it is “slander/libel” and that his former employees are not to be trusted.

“This is nuts,” Krymis said. “I lost everything. Everything.”

ABC became aware of the illegal sale of alcohol at Toma after inquiries by the Watchdog, which resulted in the restaurant and bar being shuttered on Nov. 21. It never reopened.

But Krymis found himself in hot water before Toma. He previously operated Padre and Mezcalero, popular restaurant and bar businesses that occupied the same building in Downtown Long Beach, where he regularly bounced paychecks, had unpaid bills and lacked necessary supplies.

Krymis shuttered Padre in September — and Mezcalero a couple weeks later — but an Oct. 2 report from the Watchdog alerted the Long Beach City Prosecutor’s Office to claims of wage theft, according to City Prosecutor Doug Haubert.

On Feb. 7, in a case brought by Haubert’s office, Krymis was arraigned on 18 counts of misdemeanor wage theft totaling more than $25,700 from two former Padre and Mezcalero employees from January through September of last year. Krymis pleaded not guilty to all 18 counts, court records show.

Lawyers for Krymis did not respond to multiple requests for comment regarding the case. Krymis also declined to comment on the case as well as how much his legal representation by criminal defense attorney Ross Wood of the Law Offices of Henry Salcido costs.

The next court date is March 19, according to Haubert.

In May of last year, Haubert’s office was awarded $414,392 from the California Department of Industrial Relations and the Labor Commissioner’s Office as part of the Workers’ Rights Enforcement Grant program, which was established to prosecute wage theft crimes.

“Our wage theft program is focusing on cases where we believe the conduct is particularly egregious and shows a pattern,” Haubert told the Watchdog, adding that the goal is to protect victims and deter future crime. “Criminal enforcement is not going to be applicable in every case so we are focused on the most serious and blatant examples.”

Haubert declined to speculate as to whether there may be more employees who experienced wage theft at the hands of Krymis. Interviews conducted by the Watchdog, however, identified at least nine other workers who allege wage theft to varying degrees at Krymis’s three Long Beach establishments. And each former employee claims there are many other cases.

Former Toma bartender Chase Farguson, 47, said he is owed almost $1,000. Hired in late October ahead of the bar’s opening on Nov. 2, Farguson said he put in numerous shifts until the space was shuttered.

When money was exchanged at Toma, Farguson said it was done via mobile apps such as Venmo, rather than traditional payment methods between workers and employers. For the hours he put in, Farguson said he was only paid $275.

Numerous companies that provided goods and services at Toma confirmed they are also owed money from Krymis.

Harbor Distributing, a prominent alcoholic beverage vendor in the region, said Krymis owes the company just shy of $6,000 for an order dating back to October. Cypress-based Beach Plumbing said they have an unpaid bill for nearly $11,000 worth of work done in April of last year.

Anthony Ortega of Audio Edits said Krymis never paid the $375 invoice for work he did installing the restaurant's point of sale system for payroll company Toast. Ortega was contracted by Toast and when Krymis stiffed him on the bill, one of Toast’s sales managers paid Ortega out of pocket, he said.

“I’ve never had a situation like this where a guy owes so many people,” Ortega said. “Mine is just pennies compared to everybody else. It’s unfortunate.”

The owner of another company, who asked not to be identified, said they paid a $500 deposit for a holiday party at Toma. They were never told, however, that the restaurant was shut down in mid-November. Instead, after not hearing from Krymis, the company moved its party across the street to Broken Spirits distillery at the last minute.

“We never got [our deposit] back,” the company owner said.

Krymis claims “most” vendors have been paid and that he is “almost caught up.”

Toma’s former bar manager, meanwhile, says they are owed upward of $4,000 for work at the now-defunct Long Beach bar and restaurant as well as time put into one of Krymis’s West Hollywood bars formerly known as Fubar.

"I'm already financially fucked," they said.

Located at 7994 Santa Monica Blvd., Krymis shuttered the gay bar in October 2022 after 24 years in business. Since then, he has been renovating the space to reopen under a different name — an effort Toma’s former bar manager assisted with after Krymis was unceremoniously evicted from the Long Beach space on Dec. 20.

The former employee claims Krymis owes the property owner — a partnership between multiple developers — upward of $60,000 in back rent. None of the owners responded to requests for comment. Krymis confirmed he owes rent but did not give a dollar amount.

Much of Toma’s decor and furniture as well as computers and other items were left behind, with Krymis saying “they belong to the property owner now.”

Alcohol and perishable items, however, were moved from the Toma location to the former Fubar space as well as Krymis’s other West Hollywood gay bar, Schmitty’s, located at 8737 Santa Monica Blvd., according to the former bar manager who continued working with Krymis until mid-February.

While helping set up the new WeHo bar, the former employee said at one point the general manager from Schmitty’s tracked Krymis down to the Fubar space and demanded $3,000 to pay workers and would not leave until he got it.

“Like, where does the money go?” the former worker said, noting that Schmitty’s is regularly busy.

Krymis denied this incident occurred and Schmitty’s employees could not be reached. In a Feb. 21 voice text, Krymis said his former employees “have a real creative imagination.”

Back in Long Beach, liquor for Toma had been illegally purchased through Padre’s liquor license. According to the former employee, Krymis had a similar plan for the newly renovated bar in which alcohol would be ordered via Schmitty’s and then transferred to the new space, which had its ABC license auto-revoked in October, according to the government agency.

A license is auto-revoked when a business does not pay renewal fees on time.

Schmitty’s, meanwhile, only recently had its liquor license reinstated after it was suspended by the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration on Oct. 23, ABC officials confirmed. Such a hold is imposed when a business is three or more months late on paying taxes or penalties, according to a CDTFA spokesperson, "or if the taxpayer’s bond becomes void or unenforceable for any reason."

Despite the suspension, the bar continued to operate for four months without a license, including posting at least 25 times on Instagram indicating it was open for business. According to the agency, the license was reinstated on Feb. 21.

“His motto is ‘do it until you get in trouble,’” the former bar manager said, adding that he has had to take Toma off his resume because it’s a black mark costing him opportunities. “Just a river of bullshit. Just some fucking crazy shit, dude."