Hey Bagel's Andrew Rubinstein suing Ethan Stowell Restaurants over unpaid money
Hey Bagel's Andrew Rubinstein suing Ethan Stowell Restaurants over unpaid money
Rubinstein alleges he is still owed $100,000 as part of their agreement.
Welcome to It’s A Shanda, one Northeastern Jew’s quest to find a decent bagel in Seattle (and beyond). Along with free bagel reviews every Sunday, we also offer bonus posts (like this one) each week. If you’re already subscribed, I hope you’ll consider upgrading to a paid subscription! Thank you for reading.
Andrew Rubinstein sold his ownership stake in Rubinstein Bagels in 2023 and, after a brief respite, started fresh with Hey Bagel. However, a significant part of the separation agreement between him and Ethan Stowell Restaurants (which owns Rubinstein Bagels) apparently remains unsettled.
As first reported by The Seattle Times’ Tan Vinh, Rubinstein is suing ESR, claiming he is still owed $100,000 that was supposed to be paid in two installments as part of an amicable settlement between the two sides.
The suit, which was filed last week in King County Superior Court, alleges that $51,000 was required to be paid by April 26, 2024. However, ESR “has not made any payment” despite three attempts to collect, per Rubinstein’s lawyer.
Vinh writes that the relationship between Stowell and Rubinstein “has turned contentious this past year.”
“I wish [Stowell] no ill will and I expect we’ll resolve it quickly,” Rubinstein told Easter Seattle. Reps from Ethan Stowell Restaurants have not commented.
Rubinstein launched Rubinstein Bagels as a pop-up in 2017, eventually selling his bagels in Ethan Stowell’s Cortina Cafe and kicking off a business partnership.
“He makes a good bagel,” Stowell told The Seattle Times in 2019. “There’s no doubt about that.”
The two partnered to open the first Rubinstein Bagels shop in South Lake Union in 2020, expanding to Capitol Hill in 2021, Redmond in 2023, and Eastlake a few months back.
“I was losing control of the wizardry,” Rubinstein told It’s a Shanda in 2023 when discussing his reasons for leaving. “There was a tension between me trying to chase this dragon in this dream of this bagel that I want versus, ‘Hey, this is great. Everybody loves it. Stick with it.’”
When he stepped away from his eponymous bagel business last year, Rubinstein said he had plans to open a new one closer to where he lives on the Eastside. However, after a very successful run as a pop-up, he decided to set up his brick-and-mortar home in U Village. That shop is expected to open at the end of the year.
Thanks for actually reading this far. If you enjoyed my bagel review and want to read more of them, make sure you’re subscribed to It’s A Shanda. Know someone in the Greater Seattle Area (or beyond) who would appreciate way-too-detailed reviews of local bagels? Please forward the link their way.