Hummus Republic — Restaurant in Louisville

Ooh boy you dont want to eat or work here. The owner is not competent in good service and cleaning procedures. Continually trying to keep old products for the next day that were in warm water and serve them for catering. Made the staff mop the bathroom first so the restaurant was covered in nasty bathroom water and it always grossed me out. The AC unit was not working and I went into heat stroke on the job where I thought I was going to pass out and had to go home early because of it. Never got fixed while I was there. Do not get a job here, he never asked for my ID or social security for documents and I still dont know how im going to get my W2 when he had paid us in cash for a few weeks. Super sketchy business practices and im amazed no one got seriously sick from his lack of food safety knowledge. Definitely think twice before eating or working here. Owner has a horrible temper and explodes randomly. He is going through a divorce but thats no excuse to treat people horribly. Always yelling at people on the phone in the lobby for hours making everyone else uncomfortable and on edge. Demeaning to the staff. Plus assistant manager Ryann said she wanted a meeting with me about my career but I couldn't make the meeting so they basically ghosted me even when I texted and asked if im still employeed and I just went and got another job. Very unprofessional. Then he kept asking about me to my co worker after I left but never contacted...

The new owner (Cem) bought this place a month ago, but has never previously worked in food service, or owned a business. He has no knowledge of health code laws, and prioritizes making a good impression / flattering customers over food safety. Their entire staff walked out a few weeks ago and now everything is falling apart.

In the 4 days I worked there, I had to explain basic things to him like: label and date prepared food, temp logs, mop the floors every night, throw out meat that has been sitting in the hot well all day instead of serving it the following morning, sanitizer buckets, change the water in the hot wells, not wash dishes in the prep sink, clean the line fridges, etc... it seems the only thing he knew about food safety was to wear gloves. Whenever I tried to explain things to him he would either argue with me or do it only once while I was watching.

At first I thought it was just a language barrier issue, but he really doesn't know ANYTHING about running a restaurant. Yesterday I asked him when the floors were mopped last, and with a straight face he told me 2 weeks.

I recommended closing the restaurant until he at least takes Serve Safe courses, but I saw the shop was still open today, so here I am warning my community about this...

Title: Mixed Feelings: Great Food, Unpleasant Service

Rating: ⭐️

Review: The culinary experience was delightful, with flavors that truly satisfied. However, the service left much to be desired. An otherwise beautiful afternoon was marred by an uncomfortable encounter with a server. Sharing a small amount of lemonade with a young child led to an unexpected and unwarranted reprimand from the staff member. Despite the situation being handled calmly on our end, the server’s response escalated to a point of rudeness. When a request was made for a more respectful tone, it resulted in further argumentative behavior and dismissive gestures.

It’s disheartening when the human element of hospitality does not match the quality of the food. A restaurant experience is a blend of both, and unfortunately, the negative interaction we faced significantly impacted our overall impression. We hope this feedback is taken constructively, as we believe everyone deserves to be treated with kindness...