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    Plucky Protester

    Ex-employee takes protest to the streets outside Old Warsaw restaurant

    Teresa Gubbins
    Aug 8, 2014 | 12:33 pm

    UPDATE: Al Heidari called to offer his perspective on the dispute with Charkowicz.

     

    "She worked here on Tuesday last week," he says. "I told her I would pay her $12 an hour. We were not busy at the restaurant and we had a wedding going on at the Maple Manor hotel. I knew there would be a big tip involved. She had a worried look on her face that she would not make $12. I told her I would guarantee she would make $12 an hour. I said, 'If you work there and do not make $12 an hour, I'll make up the difference to you.' She said, 'OK, I'll do it.'

     

    "She worked that day with one other person, and they made $175 cash. And then we needed help at the Kennedy Room, so she went to work there. She made $122 in credit card tips. Then she came to me and said she wanted $12 an hour. I reminded her that I would cover it if she did not make it in tips. But she was still asking me for the money. She used the F word. She said, 'Do you know, I'm a fucking teacher, and I know how to do this.' She also said she had worked Monday, but she never worked here.

     

    "I've been at Old Warsaw for 29 years. What do I want to do, get money from her? But I cannot pay someone money that I don't owe."

     

    - - - - -

     

    Dallas isn't ordinarily a striking kind of town, but that's not stopping Michelle Charkowicz, a restaurant worker who's conducting a one-woman campaign for a better work environment.

     

    Charkowicz, 27, was a hostess at Old Warsaw restaurant and a bartender at the Kennedy Room, both owned by longtime restaurateur Al Heidari. She's been standing outside Old Warsaw this week, through sunshine and rain and the pelting of a sprinkler system; she's striking over unfair compensation.

     

    "I resigned due to unsatisfactory working conditions, and he's retaliating by not compensating me fairly," she says.

     

    According to Charkowicz, she worked for Heidari from July 15 to August 4, and she gave her notice on August 5. "I don't know if I should get into the details, but it was because of poor working conditions," she says. "I was never paid. When I came in to get my paycheck, I discovered that I'd been severely docked for no reason, and he refused to show me my timecard.

     

    "I asked about my check, and he's trying to say that I made tips, and he's taking those tips out of my hourly wage," she says. "It doesn't add up, and it’s not legal."

     

    While Charkowicz was asking about her paycheck, she parked in the gated lot where she'd previously parked as an employee. When she came out, she discovered that two of her tires had been slashed. She had to have her car towed.

     

    "He didn't ask me to move my car," she says. "I'm lucky that the police department stayed with me so I could take my vehicle."

     

    Another former employee who asked not to be named said they'd been through the same experience but chose not to expend the time or energy to pursue it.

     

    "He hires these people to work at events and tells them they'll be paid in cash," the ex-employee says. "Then at the end of the night, he says he'll pay them later in the week. But he never does."

     

    The former employee says they were never paid in salary, only in tips. "I kept a record of when I clocked in, but that's all I had to show for what I had worked — either that or else customers who would see me," the employee says.

     

    Heidari did not respond to calls for comment.

     

    Charkowicz is a kindergarten teacher who is moving to Oregon in September. She took the job as a transitional way to make money, and now she has all the time in the world to pursue this.

     

    "I want to get my money back, but I'm also fed up that he thinks he can walk all over people and they'll put up with it," she says. "I'm in a unique situation that I can come out here and stand up. Hopefully it might protect somebody in the future."

     

     

     
    unspecified
    news/restaurants-bars

    Skewer News

    Vila Brazil to bring affordable Brazilian steakhouse to Cedar Hill

    Raven Jordan
    Jul 11, 2025 | 6:10 pm
    Side of meat
    Photo courtesy of Vila Brazil
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    A Brazilian steakhouse known for its low-for-steak prices is coming to Garland: Called Vila Brazil, it's part of a small local chain and will open in Cedar Hill, at 305 W. RM Rd. 1382 #316, in the former Crab & Bar space, in late 2025.

    Vila Brazil was founded by restaurateur Roberto de Sa, who opened the first location in Irving in 2011, as a home-grown rendition of churrascaria-type restaurants such as Fogo de Chao. A second location opened in Garland in 2024.

    According to co-owner Gabriel de Sa, the Cedar Hill location will feature the same menu, including rotating chef specials at the buffet.

    Vila Brazil features a lower-cost version of churrascaria, a Brazilian style of serving cuts of grilled meat from giant skewers onto diners’ plates. They offer eight cuts of meat including picanha steak, sirloin, chicken, lamb, and pork.

    There’s also a salad bar buffet featuring rice, salads, vegetables, and Brazilian-inspired dishes such as cheese bread rolls and cinnamon-grilled pineapple.

    Weekday lunch is $25 and dinner is $40 daily. For the buffet only, it’s $18-$21.

    They own other restaurants including VB's steakhouse in Arlington and Casa Pollastro, a Brazilian-Italian concept in North Dallas. But Gabriel says they take a different approach with Vila Brazil than some of the other more expensive churrascaria restaurants in town.

    "Instead we offer homemade food at an affordable price with great quality and flavor,” he says. "Our guests on average visit our store three times a month — much more frequently than your typical churrascaria."

    The Cedar Hill location will be fairly large, in a 6,528 square-foot space, with an approachable casual dining atmosphere.

    “We choose the Cedar Hill community for the same reason we opened in Garland, to serve an underserved community,” Gabriel says. “A fusion between a fast casual buffet and a Brazilian Churrascaria Vila Brazil is accessible to all members of the community with high value.”

    openings
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