2 Chainz Franchising Esco Restaurant Nearly 2 Years After Settling Lawsuit With Pablo Escobar’s Family
2 Chainz Franchising Esco Restaurant Nearly 2 Years After Settling Lawsuit With Pablo Escobar’s Family
Atlanta rapper, 2 Chainz is finally expanding his restaurant business almost two years after settling a lawsuit brought on by the family of the infamous Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar.
The popular rapper, along with his business partner, Mychel “Snoop” Dillard opened their first Escobar Restuarant and Tapas restaurant in 2016 in Georgia. In 2020, according to TMZ, Escobar’s family sued the business owners for $10 million stating that the restaurant violated federal law by using unauthorized commercial use of the Escobar name and likeness.
Franchise Times reported that 2 Chainz and Dillard finally settled the lawsuit filed against them by the Escobar family for $15,000. They are now expanding by using the Esco name instead of Escobar. Dillard tells the media outlet that they are now franchising Esco. The first person who became the first franchisee, Jessica Shinholster, is slated to open a location in Columbus, Ohio. Snoop also revealed that they are most likely opening franchisees in Dallas and Memphis, Tennessee.
2 Chainz praised his business partner for being the reason he was able to transition into the hospitality space.
“She’s one of the people that really made my transition into this hospitality space easier because originally my introduction to the space was real estate. I own properties and dirt and stuff like that,” he stated. “So that merged with her passion and mine and made me very comfortable in this space going on six years now.”
Late last year, workers at one of their Escobar restaurants in Atlanta accused the rapper and Snoop of hiring a manager who is a known sex offender and maintaining an environment that was harmful to the employees who work there. Also, the business was also accused of issuing bounced checks.
An employee at Escobar Restaurant & Tapas posted the accusations and misdeeds to her Instagram account last year in December. Shalyse (playgirllysiee) posted on December 20 that the general manager, Lawrence Robertson, shot at her as she was leaving the restaurant.
Meanwhile, another employee of the establishment, who posted under the handle, kekeda1__ on Instagram, alleged that Snoop and 2 Chainz knowingly hired a registered sex offender and posted proof of it. She also stated that the restaurant had bounced checks and showed proof of the misdeed on her Instagram post. She showed checks that were returned in March and August of 2021, as well as another one from December 2020.
2 Chainz Franchising Esco Restaurant Nearly 2 Years After Settling Lawsuit With Pablo Escobar’s Family
