Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Financial challenges experienced by Beef-A-Roo are being cited as the reason the company has been unable to pay its employees for weeks.
As a result, all locations were temporarily closed until the matter has been resolved, according to a letter to employees late last week from Beef-A-Roo Human Resources Director Enid Silva.
On Tuesday, a sign on the door of the East Center Street Beef-A-Roo in Warsaw said, “Closed for today, come visit at Detroit Street.” The Detroit Street location had its lights on and signs that said “open.”
The letter from Silva states, in part, “As many of you are aware, the company is experiencing significant financial challenges. As a result, available work hours have been reduced based on business needs, customer volume and operational demands. These decisions have not been made lightly, and we fully understand the uncertainty and hardship this creates for our team.”
The letter informs Beef-A-Roo team members that the funds necessary to process payroll have not yet been released by its funding partners. Because the funds have not been made available to the company, Beef-A-Roo states they are unable to issue payroll on the scheduled payday.
“At this time, all locations will remain temporarily closed until this matter has been resolved and we are able to safely resume operations. This decision was made to protect our employees, our guests and the long-term stability of the business while leadership works through these financial challenges,” the letter states.
Every available option is being pursued, they say.
Beef-A-Roo also announced in a letter it would be under new ownership as it was sold to Hungry Investments Inc., a Texas-based company.
On June 30, a former Beef-A-Roo general manager, Delanea Cobb, sent a letter to various media.
“I am reaching out to you as a desperate cry for help on behalf of the employees of Beef-A-Roo,” she wrote. “Right now, a devastating situation is unfolding across multiple restaurant locations, and everyday working people are being financially ruined while corporate leadership completely ignores us.”
She stated for past weeks, Beef-A-Roo has stopped paying its employees. Payroll failed, paychecks are bouncing and direct deposits are missing.
“Despite this, management and corporate entities have pressured us to keep working, giving us zero answers, zero timelines and absolute silence when we ask how we are supposed to feed our families or pay our rent,” she wrote.
Cobb said they have started filing complaints with the Indiana Department of Labor and the federal Wage and Hour Division, but the government process takes months and they need help now.
“We need to shine a massive spotlight on this corporate negligence, hold the owners accountable and help us get the answers and the back pay we are legally owed. We have documentation, messages from management and a massive group of affected workers ready to speak out on camera,” she stated.
Beef-A-Roo is a fast casual food chain founded in 1967 by Dave Debruler and Jean Vitale, with multiple locations in a number of states. Its second location in Warsaw on Center Street just had a ribbon-cutting ceremony in May, with the first location having opened in June 2025.
