Support Island Cuisine's Legal Battle for Justice

This has been the hardest three months of our lives, and we’ve stayed quiet long enough—because we believed things would work themselves out. But now, we need to speak up. Here’s what’s really been going on.

To Our Community,

We want to sincerely apologize for taking so long to update everyone.

It’s taken us some time to figure out how to even begin putting everything we’ve been going through into words—especially when it’s this personal. But we also know we owe it to our community to be transparent. So many of you have supported us, stood by us, and believed in what we’re building.

Right before one of the most meaningful events we’ve ever hosted—our Recovery Dinner in September—something happened that shook us. The night before the dinner, while we were in the kitchen prepping food and setting up, everything felt normal. But the next day, customers began walking in around 4 PM asking, “Are you guys closing? What’s going on?”

We were confused—until someone pointed out the massive FOR SALE / FOR RENT sign on the building.

We hadn’t been told anything. No notice, no heads-up. Nothing. We were current on all rent and bills. The sign was a complete shock. And it hit even harder because that night wasn’t just any night—we were welcoming families, people in recovery, and those who’d lost loved ones to addiction. We were hosting a space of healing and togetherness, and in the middle of that, we found ourselves blindsided.

The next day, it bothered us so much that we decided to hire an attorney to understand if this was even legal and to figure out what was going on. One week later, after notifying them that we had retained legal counsel and that all communication should go through him, things escalated. They became visibly upset and retaliated by taping a fake iPhone-typed eviction notice to our door. (It was clear someone was trying to push us out.) We immediately handed that notice over to our then-attorney.

A few weeks later, they decided to go through the legal system—though not properly. They filed with the magistrate, which is the wrong court for this case since it involves a purchase agreement with over $20,000 in equity—not a typical landlord-tenant dispute. Even after they acknowledged in court that it wasn’t the right jurisdiction, it was still ruled on. For some unexplained reason.

We had a written lease-to-own agreement for the building. We paid $40,000 toward that agreement—half of which ($20,000) was to be credited toward the purchase price. Now, the other party is fighting hard to avoid honoring that agreement. The terms also stated that if we breached the contract, we would forfeit the full $40,000—an unfair clause from the beginning. But we never breached. We paid on time. We upheld every part of our deal. We poured our time, energy, money, and love into that space.

Ever since that sign went up, it became painfully clear: someone has been trying to force us out—not because we failed to pay, but maybe because we paid so much in. It felt like there’s an effort to take both the building and the financial investment, everything we invested into it.

We’ve now been fighting this in court on our own, for three months. At first, we hired an attorney—but he vanished mid-case. He failed to serve the opposing party and neglected our case completely. We believe this was intentional, to sabotage our position. After understanding the magistrate was the wrong jurisdiction, allowing the eviction, failing to serve the other party, charging us $5,000, he then disappeared, up to this day. No returned calls, no filings—nothing. We even sent certified letters, contacted hospitals, and requested a wellness check. Nothing.

So, we’ve been representing ourselves—filing motions, submitting exhibits and evidence, and doing everything we can to fight for our business, while also raising our family and serving our community. We were given 30 days to find a new attorney, which is why we had to step away for a couple of days/weeks. We’ve been searching outside of Johnstown, due to what happened with our previous attorney. And we’re truly sorry for the time away, and for any worry or concern this may have caused our loyal customers.

We’re now being quoted another $5,000 retainer with hourly rates between $150 and $300 by several attorneys we’ve consulted.

If anyone would like to support us during this fight, or help us afford proper legal representation to continue moving forward, we’ve set up a link for aid (GoFundMe). Which feels strange because we have never had to do anything like this. Our business was built so we can cater to our community, cater to our customers, we can be the givers, help families when in need. We never saw this coming. Even if it’s a referral—an attorney you know that you can trust—please feel free to point us in the right direction.

With love and gratitude,

Island Cuisine