After deactivating its Facebook page, popular St. Petersburg tiki bar and restaurant The Getaway is temporarily closing in real life.
That’s according to WFLA, which reports that owners Scott and Karina Tashkin have “temporarily shut down completely” due to “death threats.”
The action comes less than two weeks after Karina shared an internal video, on March 30, explaining back pay to employees who were out of work when the coronavirus forced local restaurants to move to to-go service only.
In the nearly 10-minute video recorded at the Getaway—located at 13090 Gandy Blvd N. in St. Petersburg—Karina said, “When the virus began, and the shutdowns began in restaurants. We didn't have to pay you. Even the last paycheck. But we did. We knew that you needed that we had it, we gave it to you and that's it.”
She went on to explain that more pay for “two-and-a-half days” was on the way. On Wednesday, a rep for the Getaway told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that the checks have been mailed.
On Thursday, a Getaway employee who wished to remain anonymous sent CL a picture of a check they picked up for work completed during the pay period ending March 17. The employee told CL they are still owed for part of the two-and-a-half-day pay period in question, but haven't received the check in the mail yet.
CL followed up with the employee—one of two who reached out and asked to remain anonymous—on Friday.
Karina told WFLA that the video—which also showed her telling employees they should have been “registered or whatever it is, to unemployment” and suggesting that it might be time for them to “reinvent” themselves—was taken out of context.
No Getaway employees have come forward to speak on the record, but hordes of commenters online have posted memes about Tashkin on Facebook.
Last summer, The Getaway’s Skyway Marina District location—located at 3769 50th Ave. S.—closed under different circumstances.
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