-PDBM/FXT EATERIES
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The result is that most of the restaurants have lost a majority of their business over the last year, owners say. “When you’ve lost 70 percent of your business, how long can you pay rent? Maybe seven to eight months?� said Bella Awdisho, owner of Cucina Venti, an Italian restaurant on Pear Avenue and Shoreline Boulevard. The owner of Falafel and Kebab, Dervis Yuksel, said he recently sold his car to pay his restaurant’s rent, and said he
wasn’t sure how much longer he’d stay open. In an attempt to save their businesses, the restaurants have been in talks with Google in recent months to find a solution. Awdisho has been representing the owners of the restaurants, including Shoreline Park’s lakefront favorite Michael’s at Shoreline, and several small eateries near the Century movie theaters: Sunny Bowl, Falafel and Kebab, Hon Sushi, and Ole Taqueria. They say there is really only one way for them to stay in business — Google should pay for its employees to eat off-campus.
MAGALI GAUTHIER
Falafel and Kebab’s owner says his patrons have been disappearing, as Google and its free employee cafes expand in the area
But Google executives have refused, the owners say. “We are all going to close,� Awdisho said of the businesses, saying that many would be “looking at bankruptcy� to pay off debts. She has 13 years left on her 20-year lease.
MAGALI GAUTHIER
Google bikes are parked near the Ole Taqueria in North Bayshore.
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Googlers still eat free In private conversations, Yuksel and Awdisho said Google executives refused a proposed program where Google employees would use Google funds at the local restaurants using something like the “Google wallet� app. A Google spokesperson denied that such an
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arrangement was discussed, though City Council member Mike Kasperzak said he’d been part of talks to have such an arrangement implemented. Chamber of Commerce director Oscar Garcia said it had also been brought up in the talks, but Google never confirmed whether it could be done. The restaurant owners say Google executives refused such an arrangement because the restaurants aren’t up to Google’s standards — including the use of organic ingredients. There was also the issue of taxes, Awdisho said. Google executives explained to Awdisho and
others that they would have to pay additional taxes if Googlers were reimbursed for eating offcampus. “As a giant company, they are looking for pennies here and there to save,� Awdisho said. A Google spokesperson said the the tax and food quality issues Awdisho claimed Google executives raised were “misinformation.� The spokesperson added that Google has only discussed what is in two letters addressed to the restaurant owners that were provided to the Voice. In the first letter, Google refuses to provide a fixed
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â– Mountain View Voice â– MountainViewOnline.com â– July 12, 2013