Donald Trump sues Chef Geoffrey Zakarian over D.C. hotel deal

Days after filing a similar lawsuit against Chef Jose Andres’ ThinkFoodGroup, Donald Trump is suing Chef Geoffrey Zakarian for pulling out of a restaurant deal for Trump’s planned Washington, D.C., luxury hotel, the National Law Journal reports.

The breach-of-contract lawsuit, filed in D.C. Superior Court, is estimated to exceed $10 million.

Both restaurateurs backed out of Trump’s hotel project after the real-estate mogul made disparaging comments about Hispanic immigrants in June. 

Andres has since fired back at Trump, calling the legal action against his company “unsurprising and without merit.”

Members help make our journalism possible. Become a Restaurant Business member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.

Multimedia

Exclusive Content

Financing

Despite their complaints, customers keep flocking to Chipotle

The Bottom Line: The chain continued to be a juggernaut last quarter, with strong sales and traffic growth, despite frequent social media complaints about shrinkflation or other challenges.

Operations

Hitting resistance elsewhere, ghost kitchens and virtual concepts find a happy home in family dining

Reality Check: Old-guard chains are finding the alternative operations to be persistently effective side hustles.

Financing

The Tijuana Flats bankruptcy highlights the dangers of menu miscues

The Bottom Line: The fast-casual chain’s problems following new menu debuts in 2021 and 2022 show that adding new items isn’t always the right idea.

Trending

More from our partners