Owner of Former UWS Barbecue Restaurant Indicted for Wage Theft: Manhattan DA

Au Jus on the Upper West Side had a Marshal’s sign posted on its window in the lead-up to its official closure. Photo by Sara Lewin Lebwohl. By Gus Saltonstall The owner of a former barbecue restaurant on the Upper West Side has been indicted for wage theft, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced on Thursday. Patrick Griffin, 71, was indicted for allegedly stealing at least $8,000 in wages from five of his employees, according to the DA’s office. Au Jus, the Oklahoma-style barbecue chain, had three New York City locations, including at 2621 Broadway, on the corner of West 99th Street. All three are now closed. “As alleged, Patrick Griffin, owner of the popular Au Jus restaurant, took advantage of his workers and stole their hard-earned wages while they provided physically demanding labor,” Bragg said in a news release. “Griffin was allegedly vacationing in Europe while his employees were begging him for their money that they earned and need to support their families.” Au Jus’s Upper West Side location closed in September of 2025, after the front door was boarded and a Marshal’s Notice was posted on the front door. The neighborhood outpost opened in 2020. Griffin allegedly engaged in a “pattern of wage theft against his workers” beginning in January 2025, and ignored messages and blocked phone numbers when those employees followed up for their payment, according to the Manhattan DA’s office. Depictions of Texts from Workers to Griffin. Courtesy of the Manhattan DA’s Office. “Griffin told a former employee that he would not be paid unless he and his coworkers returned to work at the restaurant. When the worker returned to work, Griffin continued withholding his wages, and the worker was forced to leave again,” the Manhattan DA’s office wrote. “In another instance, Griffin demanded that a worker sign a document that falsely claimed he did not have government-issued identification. When the worker refused to sign the false document, Griffin withheld his wages.” After the unsuccessful attempts to recover the wages, employees reported Griffin’s conduct to the Worker Protection Hotline, which led to the Manhattan District Attorney investigation. Griffin is officially charged with grand larceny in the third degree by wage theft, scheme to defraud in the first degree, and failure to pay wages in accordance with the labor law. Subscribe to West Side Rag’s FREE email newsletter here. And you can Support the Rag here. Leave a comment Please limit comments to 150 words and keep them civil and relevant to the article at hand. Comments are closed after six days. Our primary goal is to create a safe and respectful space where a broad spectrum of voices can be heard. We welcome diverse viewpoints and encourage readers to engage critically with one another’s ideas, but never at the expense of civility. Disagreement is expected—even encouraged—but it must be expressed with care and consideration. Comments that take cheap shots, escalate conflict, or veer into ideological warfare detract from the constructive spirit we aim to cultivate. A detailed statement on comments and WSR policy can be read here.