NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Those with Plaza Mariachi are now suing Nashville's Slim & Husky's Pizza Beeria for not paying rent at the location.
Plaza Mariachi has had financial woes since a foreclosure notice appeared on the property in the summer 2024.
Owners said at the time they weren't going anywhere, and they were in talks to restructure financial terms for the location. But nearly a year later, Plaza Mariachi is alleging in the Davidson County Circuit Court that they retrofitted the space for the pizza place for a lease starting in July 2021 and ending in August 2025.
Per the lawsuit, Slim & Husky's were supposed to start paying monthly rent in September 2021. The lawsuit stated they failed to pay rent in January 2023. As of the lawsuit's filing in March, they haven't paid any more money. They later left the location in May 2023.
Plaza Mariachi officials said in the lawsuit they tried to find another tenant but struggled because of the design of the space meant for the pizzeria. While a new tenant has finally agreed to take over this month, the lawsuit said they are trying to recoup the $331,914 for abandoning their lease.
What Slim and Huksy's has said
In 2021, Slim + Husky’s entered into a lease agreement with Plaza Mariachi to establish a small takeout-only location and a production kitchen to support our local operations. However, Plaza Mariachi’s ownership failed to meet their obligations under the lease, making it impossible for us to operate successfully.
From the start, the landlord misrepresented critical lease terms. After signing the agreement, we were informed that an existing non-compete clause with another pizza shop, near the property, prohibited us from ever opening a takeout location — an important detail that was disclosed after the agreement was finalized.
Moreover, Plaza Mariachi failed to disclose pre-existing issues with the cooling and refrigeration systems, resulting in thousands of dollars in repairs and damages to our company. Despite our repeated requests for functional equipment, the landlord did not provide the necessary resources for us to conduct business. These ongoing issues led to excessive repairs, production delays, product loss, and increased operational costs, resulting in over 10 weeks of downtime in less than a two-year period and over $100,000 in repairs paid for by our company.
In early 2023, our corporate and legal teams reached out to Plaza Mariachi’s ownership to address these concerns. However, they did not respond or take action. Consequently, we determined that terminating the lease was in the best interest of our brand, and our production kitchen ceased operations in January 2023.
Now, more than two years later, Plaza Mariachi has resurfaced with baseless claims — our first communication from them since our departure. Given Plaza Mariachi’s well known documented legal challenges, the timing of these allegations raises questions. While we will not speculate on their motives, we will not allow our reputation to be misused in an attempt to deflect from their own issues.
These claims are unfounded, and we are confident that the facts, documentation and third party attestations will speak for themselves in court. Slim + Husky’s has always operated with integrity and transparency, and we remain focused on what we do best—serving our community with quality artisan pizzas
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