As if Whataburger hasn't already shot itself in the foot, so to speak, for much of the past four decades, now they're going to ban open carry in Texas, where an open carry law just passed. Can't fix stupid, I guess.
Nobody eats there anymore anyway, don't know how they stay around.
Probably a money-laundering business for the mafia.
There is no such thing as the mafia.
So I've heard. I'm still trying to figure out what Bill Bonanno was talking about the night I met him.
I currently work with Chris Bonanno, grandson to the infamous Joe.
my mother's side of the family Tony:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cipriani_S.A.
and:
LINK TO EX-MOB CEO
By Susan Edelman
July 13, 2008 | 8:16am
Restaurateur Giuseppe Cipriani’s mob-linked former right-hand man says his ex-boss knew about his criminal past when he was hired fresh out of prison.
“How could you hide me?” Dennis Pappas, 61, told The Post. “I’d never withhold it.”
A spry Pappas stepped out of the Lincoln Correctional Facility in Harlem, a work-release program, last week, a day after the state parole board granted him a “merit release.” It means he’ll be sprung Sept. 27, three months earlier than scheduled.
As a Cipriani CEO, Pappas last year admitted raking in about $900,000 in salary – which prosecutors said was off the books. He also collected $1 million in Social Security and disability insurance, claiming he couldn’t work because of a heart condition.
Surprised to hear about Pappas’ release, state and federal law-enforcement sources said last week they think Cipriani hired the disbarred lawyer because of his past as alleged “financial consigliere” of the Colombo crime family.
As officials keep a fresh eye on Pappas, the Cipriani family faces a State Liquor Authority hearing on Aug. 12 – and possible loss of all its nine liquor licenses for the Rainbow Room, Cipriani Dolci, Cipriani Downtown and Cipriani 42nd Street, among others.
The high-stakes hearing follows an admission last year by Giuseppe and his father, Harry, that they used a scheme to evade $10 million in state and city taxes. They agreed to pay it back, and were spared jail.
The SLA charges the Ciprianis are unfit to hold liquor licenses, and the accusation that Giuseppe helped Pappas commit insurance fraud may emerge as an issue.
Pappas – described by one federal official as “one of the smartest criminals I’ve ever known” – once ran a network of insurance companies and pension plans to enrich himself and the mob, the feds charged.
He also threatened to “break legs” or commit other violence to extort payments, and boasted he had arranged the murder of a former employee, court papers say.
Pappas’ ruthless reputation and mob ties could be seen as a valuable asset.
“If you’re in the restaurant business, dealing with unions with whom you periodically have a dispute, it might come in handy to have someone connected to wiseguys on your payroll,” a law-enforcement source said.
By paying Pappas under the table – without paychecks or W-2 tax forms – Cipriani helped Pappas not only commit insurance fraud but avoid paying $1.5 million in restitution he still owes the feds, prosecutors said last week.
The Manhattan DA’s Office, in a plea deal with Giuseppe last year, agreed not to prosecute him for “insurance fraud committed acting in concert” with Pappas.
Pappas worked for Cipriani USA – the umbrella company for its posh restaurants and banquet halls – from June 2000 to April 2006 after serving four years in prison for federal racketeering and tax evasion. He has said he got the job after being “referred” by some Cipriani employees.
Pappas told a judge he reported only to Giuseppe as manager, chief operating officer, CEO and vice president of Cipriani USA.
“All told, I could exercise managerial authority over hundreds of Cipriani employees,” he said in court.
His duties included hiring and firing, dealing with labor unions, overseeing multimillion-dollar construction projects and approving payments to architects, engineers, food suppliers and others. Pappas said he also helped the Ciprianis with litigation.
Once described by the feds as “an energetic partier” who spent money on prostitutes and snorted cocaine, Pappas worked not only weekdays, but attended “work-related functions” nights and weekends, he said.
Pappas was indicted in 1995 in a massive racketeering case.
But most counts against him were dropped after he threatened to reveal how the FBI recruited him to help spy on suspected terrorists following the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, records show. In his plea deal, Pappas agreed not to talk about the FBI’s counterintelligence work.
The SLA bars liquor licensees from hiring ex-felons.
But Pappas said last week that he and Giuseppe didn’t know his hiring was “anything wrong.”
He called the mob accusations “nonsense,” saying he made sure the Cipriani operations ran smoothly: “I did a very good job.”
Cipriani spokesman Chris Giglio said, “This whole subject is an old story. Beyond that we have no comment.”
