Commercial Roofing Contractors in Roanoke, TX

Roanoke Hard Eight BBQ owed $867,572 in tips and pay for 910 workers, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

ROANOKE, Texas — A Texas employer failed to pay its employees nearly $900,000 in tips and overtime pay, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division.

The North Texas restaurant Roanoke Hard Eight BBQ owed its employees all their tips and hourly managers weren’t paid the correct time and a half rate for all hours worked over 40 hours in a workweek. This came out to $867,572 in owed tips and pay for 910 workers, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

The Fair Labor Standards Act does not allow an employer or their managers or supervisors to keep tips the business’ workers receive for any purposes, regardless of whether or not the employer claims a tip credit.

Roanoke Hard Eight broke the law by including managers in their tip pool, according to Dallas' Wage and Hour District Director Jesus A. Valdez.

"By doing so, the employer denied tipped workers some of their tips and managers proper overtime wages,” Valdez said. “As businesses struggle to find people to do the work needed to keep operating, employers would be wise to avoid violations or risk finding it even more difficult to retain and recruit workers who can choose to seek jobs where they will receive all of their rightful wages.”

The Department of Labor said its audit recovered those funds after launching the investigation.

Chad Decker is co-owner of Hard Eight BBQ. He shared with WFAA why he got into the restaurant business years ago.

"I have the joy of the people service industry. I've always been a people person. Our families always enjoyed cooking and getting around and have a family setting, and so we started our first restaurant in Stephenville, Texas in 2003," Decker said. "And it's just grown. We've been blessed to be where we're at because it's grown so much. We are such a family and such a family-oriented place to come and dine."

Decker said the restaurant got into hot water by adding managers to their tip share program, which has been against state regulations since 2018. He wants their customers to know now, that every single tip goes to Hard Eight BBQ employees.

"Immediately when we received notification from labor force, immediately we changed our protocol and how the tip shares were distributed," said Decker.

The Department of Labor confirmed that Hard Eight BBQ is in 100% compliance after paying the back wages and tips to their employees, something the restaurant owners want their customers to know.

ROANOKE, Texas (NEXSTAR) – An audit of a barbecue business in Denton County, Texas, revealed the company failed to pay 910 workers their full tips and appropriate overtime pay – a total of $867,572 owed, according to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Wage and Hour Division.

The department says Roanoke Hard Eight LLC, located in Roanoke, Texas, split tips between tipped employees and hourly managers, a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Additionally, the department says hourly managers weren’t paid their correct time-and-a-half rates for overtime worked.

DOL says Roanoke Hard Eight LLC has “cooperated fully” with the investigation. Nexstar has reached out to Hard Eight but hasn’t heard back yet. Hard Eight BBQ Chief Operating Officer Matt Perry told NBC News the violation was a misunderstanding of 2019 changes to the Wages and the Fair Labor Standards Act, which bars managers and employers from keeping tipped workers’ tips for any reason.

Perry said managers were originally included because they are as heavily involved as tipped workers are. The company said it made immediate changes once it became aware of the violations and gave managers a raise to adjust for the loss of tips.

DOL told Nexstar the business paid about 219 employees directly and disbursed the rest of the back wages to the department for employees they couldn’t locate. The DOL says it’s collected the money owed to these employees.

“Roanoke Hard Eight violated the law by including managers in their tip pool. By doing so, the employer denied tipped workers some of their tips and managers proper overtime wages,” explained Wage and Hour District Director Jesus A. Valdez in Dallas. “As businesses struggle to find people to do the work needed to keep operating, employers would be wise to avoid violations or risk finding it even more difficult to retain and recruit workers who can choose to seek jobs where they will receive all of their rightful wages.”

The Department of Labor says it’s actively looking for former Hard Eight employees who are owed money. It’s encouraging former employees to contact the department at (866) 487-9243 or at its Workers Owed Wages site.

Meanwhile, Perry told NBC News the company has been compliant since August 2021 and verified this once again with the department last week.

DOL says in situations like these, the amount of time a business has to fix the problem and repay its employees depends on the investigation and a number of variables. While DOL says it doesn’t disclose the nature of specific investigations or how they learn of potential violations, it says its Wage and Hour Division focuses on certain types of businesses and industries – particularly low-wage industries – because of high rates of violations and employment of vulnerable workers.

Smiley’s Craft Barbecue in Roanoke is closed permanently, says owner and pitmaster Brendan Lamb.

The restaurant last served its brisket, sausage and other Central Texas style barbecue in mid-September 2021. Lamb confirmed in late November that the restaurant won’t reopen.

After operating as a pop-up in Fort Worth and Ponder, Smiley’s opened in Roanoke in early 2019 to lines out the door. When the pandemic hit, sales fell. By 2021, Lamb appeared on a high-profile food network show called BBQ Brawl featuring chefs Bobby Flay, Michael Symon and Eddie Jackson. Surely, that kind of national attention could give Smiley’s a boost, right?

“We did enough to pay for meat each week and pay our employees, but we were left with nothing,” Lamb says.

Restaurant News

Get the scoop on the latest openings, closings, and where and what to eat and drink.

Email Address

By signing up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

“And then the meat prices went up.” It’s a common refrain among pitmasters across the country: They’re struggling under inflated costs of meat, with some restaurants charging customers up to $30 a pound for prime brisket.

Lamb says he wanted to get more creative with Smiley’s menu, but he had to be careful not to make dishes already served by other tenants at Oak Street Food & Brew. He had to stay away from burgers or tacos, for instance, because other businesses at the food hall already sold those.

Lamb was locked out in September 2021 for failure to pay rent.

“We rode it into the ground,” he says. “We kept on thinking it would get better.”

For now, Lamb is consulting for other barbecue joints. He plans to host backyard events teaching barbecue techniques with a company called BBQxo, and he’ll make a return in 2022 at For the Love of Barbecue, a festival in Roanoke.

Smiley’s Craft Barbecue was at 206 N. Oak St., Roanoke. It closed in mid-September 2021.

In light of existing market conditions and rising interest rates, officials from the Peabody Hotel development are considering financing options, according to Interim City Manager Cody Petree.

During Petree’s update to the City Council on Dec. 13, he mentioned construction on the project can not commence until the financing mechanism is finalized and in place. After an agreement was reached for financing in September, the Memphis-based hotel had until Jan. 1 to start construction. That deadline passed without any work.

“The Peabody and the city remain in constant contact and continue to look for the best options for both parties,” Petree said. “The City Council hopes to have more information in the coming months regarding the financing options before they can make any further decisions regarding the project.”

The project, which was initially supposed to have broken ground by April 1, 2020, was first announced in 2017 and approved by the City Council in May 2019, according to previous Community Impact reporting. In addition to market conditions and rising interest rates, another roadblock to the project's timeline has been the COVID-19 pandemic, according to previous reporting.

On Nov. 12, 2019, the council approved a resolution to issue up to $30 million in bonds to help fund the development of the Peabody Hotel and Convention Center. According to Community Impact reporting, the city would pay for the convention center, a portion of the parking garage and related infrastructure improvements, and the developer would fund the hotel portion of the project, which includes 266 rooms, a rooftop pool, two restaurants, two bars and a spa.

The project is estimated to cost a total of $144 million, according to previous reporting.

The Peabody Hotel is a landmark attraction in Memphis, according to the company website. Like the Tennessee location, the Roanoke Peabody Hotel will feature the Peabody Ducks—a flock that will grace the hotel lobby and fountain, according to council meeting documents.

“Our mission for Roanoke has long been focused on creating a unique and authentic sense of place, and we feel that bringing the Peabody brand to Roanoke will be the perfect fit,” Roanoke Mayor Scooter Gierisch said in a 2019 press release.

Mark joined Community Impact in Nov. 2022 after spending almost 20 years as a freelance writer. He covers Keller, Roanoke, Trophy Club, Westlake and Northeast Fort Worth. When he's not writing, he enjoys the outdoors, making his wife laugh and trying to keep up with his two teenage sons in the gym.

The founders of Mila & Rose, a wholesaler of children’s apparel and accessories, are expanding their business with a $2.6 million commercial space at 620 Henrietta Creek Road, Roanoke.

Founded in 2017, John and Rachel Kuelbs started the business out of necessity for their daughter.

“We couldn't find comfortable, cute and well-priced baby clothes for our own daughter, Mila Rose,” John Kuelbs said. “You could either go to the big-box stores and get the same plain clothes all the other children had or pay an arm and a leg for expensive boutique clothing. So, using our corporate experience in clothing, sourcing, buying and selling, we founded Mila & Rose to offer cute and comfortable everyday, everywhere boutique clothing at reasonable prices.”

As Mila has grown up, so has the Kuelbs’ business.

“Our line has increased, and we’re constructing the new building to accommodate our growth. Our ultimate goal is to generate feel-good emotions by providing an apparel and accessories line that is carefully curated with our little customers in mind,” John Kuelbs said.

Roanoke has been home to Mila & Rose since its inception. When they considered an expansion, they could not think of going anywhere else.

“We feel Roanoke is a perfect home because it has the perfect family community feel and is centrally located in the DFW area,” he said.

While many in their industry see challenges ahead in 2023 with inflation and a softening job market, the Kuelbs foresee even more growth this year.

“We are adding more children's dresses, other outfits and accessories for little girls to feel special in,” John Kuelbs said. “We attend various shows in Dallas, Las Vegas and Atlanta and are growing our online website presence. We sell wholesale to over 2,000 boutiques and children's stores across the U.S. and sell directly to the public.”

Mark joined Community Impact in Nov. 2022 after spending almost 20 years as a freelance writer. He covers Keller, Roanoke, Trophy Club, Westlake and Northeast Fort Worth. When he's not writing, he enjoys the outdoors, making his wife laugh and trying to keep up with his two teenage sons in the gym.