Rose Villa Southern Table and Bar in Ormond Beach closed without warning on Friday, Aug. 28, leaving former staff stunned and, according to multiple ex-employees, without weeks of pay they say they're still owed. The restaurant at 43 W. Granada Blvd. had been serving Southern classics like fried chicken and jambalaya for years, and its sudden shutdown has left workers picketing outside a building now sealed with plywood.
Employees told Hometown News Volusia they were allegedly left without three weeks of pay when the restaurant closed. According to the report, staff began picketing outside Rose Villa on Aug. 29, voicing concerns about unpaid wages and what they described as harsh working conditions, and demanding their wages and tips be paid.
Rose Villa Southern Table and Bar had been a decade-long staple in Ormond Beach, according to the same report. The building itself dates back further still: it was constructed in 1901 and became a restaurant 20 years ago, per the outlet's reporting, with Bill Jones having purchased the building in 2007. Red Fusion, LLC operated Rose Villa Southern Table and Bar, the report states, while News-Journal Online identifies Pat Sullivan as the restaurant's owner.
Staff Describe Missed Paychecks in the Weeks Before Closure
Payroll records reviewed by the News-Journal Online show the trouble predated the closure by weeks. Rose Villa prep cook Skylar Green said she received her last paycheck on Aug. 11, and line cook Kachina Starr's most recent recorded pay date was also Aug. 11. Starr's employment status was changed to inactive by Worksite LLC on Aug. 28, the same day the restaurant shut down, the outlet reported.
Former general manager Lindsey Murphey, who left Rose Villa shortly before its closure, said the staff had truly become a unit, according to Hometown News Volusia's report. Photos accompanying the News-Journal Online's coverage show plywood covering the front door of the now-closed restaurant, a stark image for a building that had anchored the block for two decades as a dining destination.
No Response From Ownership as Workers Demand Answers
As of press time, Rose Villa Southern Table and Bar had made no statement regarding former employee wages or the restaurant's future, Hometown News Volusia reported. A representative for Bill Jones declined the outlet's request for comment.
The closure comes as Florida's minimum wage was scheduled to climb to $15 per hour on Sept. 30, 2026, the final step in a series of annual $1 increases, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. The required cash wage for tipped employees was set to rise to $11.98 an hour under that same schedule, per the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association. It remains unclear whether that wage change had any bearing on Rose Villa's payroll practices.
For now, the historic building on Granada Boulevard sits boarded up, its future as uncertain as the back pay former employees say they're still chasing.
