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/ck/ - Food & Cooking

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12035398 No.12035398 [Reply] [Original]

What's the biggest giveaway a restaurant is a cover for money laundering?

>> No.12035407
File: 25 KB, 500x375, plastic-milk-bag-500x500.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
12035407

Its run by a woman

>> No.12035417

>>12035398
Smelly, dirty, barely anybody eating there, minimal effort on menu/presentation, and despite all these, still running after many years of business.

>> No.12035424

>>12035398
Cash only

>> No.12035426

>>12035398
When they’ve got those shady ass cheap curtains

>> No.12035432

>>12035398
There's one right by me. It remains open even though no one goes there. I once dropped in for a plate of fajitas (Mexican Restaurant). The service was terrible, the food was terrible and decor was nearly non existent. That was over five years ago. I pass by the place daily. It's always open and the parking lot is always empty with the exception of two vehicles which are for the "employees."

>> No.12035433

>>12035398
Not money laundering per se, but shitty ethnic joints are hives for illegal immigration.
>coast on three year tax break
>it ends
>"sell" retaurant to relatives who know get visas they will overstay forever on
>more tax breaks
Can we just start culling shitskins already?

>> No.12035451

>>12035398
Idk, they're white owners? This is the kind of answer you want, amirite?

>> No.12035455

When it's a "local favorite", but: all the menu items are costed all wrong, the place is perpetually empty, sparkling clean, there's always a few super friendly staff members though and the food comes out perfect, and it stays open for over a decade despite the fact that it should be hemorrhaging money.

You know when the most you've ever seen in a place is 5 people there's something wrong.

>> No.12035456

>>12035417
Barely anyone there and still in business after years are my two picks

>> No.12035462

>>12035398
Good food at reasonable prices.

>> No.12035471

>>12035398
>be Happys Pizza
>open a store outside of your native niggerhoods
>in my hometown
>deals too good to be true chain wide
>better deals than little caesars
>half the customers only walk out with a brown paper bag
>the round and square pizzas as well as the bread sticks all have this same wierd after/under taste to the dough that it ruins the pizza
>fries are bretty good though
>get shut down a few months later for being a front for a drug operation
The fries were good though.

>> No.12035690

>>12035398
It's Chinese.

>> No.12035700

>>12035690
in Philadelphia yes

>> No.12035735

>>12035398
We've got around here. Won't mention its name because it's practically a landmark but it's been in business for probably like 20 years and is a pretty big, nice-looking place that serves a specialty kind of dinner. But no one EVER goes there. The parking lot is always barren but it still has a full staff.

>> No.12035747

>>12035432

Why don't you report them to the police?
Or better off: to the IRS, since they probably don't pay taxes as they're supposed to either.

>> No.12035758

>>12035735
Just checked the place out on google maps and, as always, huge parking lot with not a single car in it. Fountain is on though.

>> No.12035795
File: 152 KB, 286x191, tom cruise.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
12035795

There's a strip of businesses up the block from my house, and one of them I'm fairly confident has to be some kind of front. It's not a restaurant but it's always closed with the blinds shuttered and the purpose of the place is completely incomprehensible. I don't want to accidentally dox myself by giving out the name because it's literally in my block, but it has a foreign word of indeterminate meaning in the name and it literally doesn't even have a google maps entry, it's just a blank space in between the other businesses.

>> No.12035818

>>12035795
found it

>> No.12035829

>>12035818
Here's another thing, they have a website posted on the front window which doesn't actually exist, and I'm sure if I tried phoning their number it wouldn't go anywhere either.

>> No.12035838

>>12035398

Is it owned and/or operated by:
Russians
Greeks
Italians (maybe)
Pakis
Poos
Chinese

If the answer is 'Yes' than there's a 60% chance it's a money laundering front.

I actually like dining at Russian and Italian mafia joints, they don't skimp out on the quality of the food.

>> No.12035876

>>12035417
This. Basically, most Russian/former Soviet places. Around here, that's Uzbek restaurants.

>> No.12035890

>>12035398

Cash only

>> No.12035903

>>12035433
As an immigrant business owner, I sure as fuck wish I knew about this tax amnesty when I was starting out! Woulda saved me thousands! Must have missed that box when I was filling out the forms. Damn.

>> No.12036678
File: 47 KB, 800x450, 1551834728309.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
12036678

we had a chinese place that was just like that in CT, clean as fuck, and the food was actually decent. but no one was every eating there.

giveaway was the fact all the workers spoke 3 words of english

turns out that they were a huge front for chinese human trafficking. basically people would pay them half up front and then work off the other half at the restaurant stateside. why the food was so good.

shut down the whole chain of like 4 stores.

>> No.12036683

>>12035838
This. Italian joints in NYC’s Little Italy are basically all money laundering places with decent food.

>> No.12036689

>>12035398
across the road from my local railway there's two asian restaruants in a row, then a random other business then another one. at least two of them are the same type of food as well. never seen anyone in it.

>> No.12036690

>>12035795
illegal brothel, especially if it's got a neon sign in the windows

>> No.12036693

cash only, low prices for decent food

>> No.12036753

>>12036690
Highly unlikely, considering it's an absolutely tiny storefront in between a grocery store and a pet store in a relatively well-off residential neighbourhood. No neon sign either, and when I've peeked under the blinds all I can see is a bare room with a chair in it.

>> No.12036781

>>12035838
I'd add El Salvadorean. Seen a couple places that never have business, but have shady looking people coming and going.

>> No.12037365

>>12035398
Probably who owns the restaurant, and whether they own or are involved with other businesses as well, and what kinds of businesses.
One of the restaurants in my city is owned by a guy covicted of Loan Sharking.
Not that anybody but the feds would likely bother trying to convict many if the local “businessmen”.

Restaurants that are gringy and look like hell, are only good for money laundering if the laundering is small amounts, or if the restaurant is only opened for several years.
It’s pretty easy to tell if a shithole restaurant is laundering money if nobody but local poor people shop there, and the restaurant is claiming large profits.

>> No.12037368

>>12035700
I live in Philly.
A lot of well known food establishments are probably laundering money.
Given that the local police seem to not make any mention of local murders likely having to do with gang wars, or mob hits, it’s unlikely anybody is going to give a shit about a restaurant laundering money, as long as it pays reasonable local taxes to the city.

>> No.12037376
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12037376

>>12035433
>tax break
>for anyone
>ever
Sorry pal, only tax breaks being handed out go to corporations, Pedro's taco hut has to pay up lile everyone else.

>> No.12038226

>>12035398
If it's open 4 hours a day three days a week

>> No.12038243

>>12038226
explain

>> No.12038247

>>12035758
>just checked the place on google maps
Y-you know google maps isn’t live right. If the lot was empty years ago when they took the picture it’s gonna be empty every time you google maps it.

>> No.12038269

>>12037376
I mean, I talked to the Indian dude at my nearest convenience store and he told me how the whole shebang works. I can't see him having any incentive to lie about it.
>>12035903
It's might be a state thing.

>> No.12038271

>>12035433
Racist

>> No.12038274

>>12038271
Experiencing "cultural enrichment" first hand tends to have that effect.

>> No.12038277

>>12038274
Cringe

>> No.12038417

>>12038247
What an idiot

>> No.12038435

>>12038277
>le cringe
You could at least try not to be so obvious, reddit.

>> No.12039150

>>12035432
Could be a drunk place, there is a local Mexican chain in my city that is absolute shit and always dirty but the owner makes bank by keeping them all open till 4 am and having locations leaving all the major nightlife areas in the city. Fucking brilliant really.

>> No.12039180

>>12035747
Because I don't care. If someone finds a way to skirt the IRS, I applaud them.

>> No.12039184

>>12039150
I hear you and I've seen those places as well. But this one is not that. It is criminal.

>> No.12039224

>>12035398
Is this movie good?

>> No.12039234

>>12035903
And after researching it myself, yeah, you probably could have snagged 25-40k in tax breaks pretty easily for at least the first year. Unless you had already been paying taxes here and such already, which is retarded.
The left and the right loves flooding the labor pool.

>> No.12039586

>>12035432
I have a pizza place like this by my parent's house. I remember there being rumors in middleschool that it was a front to sell weed out of, but those were probably just rumors.

>> No.12039620

>>12035747
Isn't the point of money laundering that you pay taxes on it so it's no longer dirty money as far as the gov is concerned?

>> No.12039743

>cash only
>owned by non-whites
>changes ownership suspiciously often

inb4 racisms, I'm not even white.

>> No.12039837

true story

>call place
>phone rings forever
>decide to hang up
>call back a few minutes later
>they answer "hello?"
>"um...is this [restaurant name]?"
>"yeah..."
>silence
>"...can i place a takeout order?"
>"hold please."
>wait about ten minutes on hold
>hang up
>decide to go up there figuring it would be easier
>enter the place
>nobody is dining or behind the counter
>stand around awkwardly for a few minutes
>i say "hello" loudly and unsure of myself
>employee walks through door
>we stare at each other a few seconds
>"can i help you?"
>"i...wanted to place an order."
>bends over and grabs a pad from underneath the counter
>we stare at each other again
>"i'm ready."
>"oh, sorry. um, i just want [food item]."
>disappears into the kitchen
>over half an hour passes
>finally appears with food
>pay and quickly leave
>open the food in my car
>food is cold
>imagine getting a burger but instead of a bun it's wrapped in a tortilla
>not exactly like that, but close
>place is still there
>always vacant
>nobody ever recommends it and i don't know anyone who has eaten there but me

if that's not money laundering, then it's some kind of creepy shadow government shit going on

>> No.12040016

>>12035838
>russian and Italian mafia joints
based
I live next to a russian pizza place
They have the most tender chicken I have ever tasted

>> No.12041383

>>12035398
Local domino's has a shitton of mudslimes working there and it's rumored you can ask for "extra spices" and they'll hook you up

>> No.12041482

>>12038274
This is true. I didnt become "racist" until I worked at an inner city gas station. I dont even think its racism, it's just easy to spot problematic people and they were almost always black

>> No.12041760

>>12035398
Donut places

>> No.12042557

>>12041760
Dont say that. I cant imagine the old vietnamese couple being criminals. They're so nice to me

>> No.12043554

>>12035398
Unusually hot girls, everything paid in cash lot of the same weird comp customers around, money being spent in unproductive ways.

>> No.12043563

>>12035407
unironically this
there are soooo many businesses in montreal set up as hobbies for mob wives

>> No.12043596

>>12038247
Well aware but the photos are all taken in the daytime during business hours. The place is in a particularly area surrounded by very large popular shopping spots in both directions. No matter when you go though, there's no one there.

It also has a 5-star rating on yelp with 600 reviews. Some of the more interesting snippets

>Not much cooking actually going on in the kitchen
> it smells pretty funky in here.
> We came for a date night, had a reservation and was seated within 5 minutes or so of arriving. From start to finish, we were there for almost THREE AND A HALF HOURS!!!! And this was not because we were so engulfed in each other's eyes and canoodling dragging our date night out!!! At about the 2/2.5 hour mark we were antsy to leave!!!
>At first the people inside wouldn't let us in even though they saw us. This was 5 hours after their opening time.
>If you want to spend 3 hours to finish a dinner, wait for over 20 minutes between courses, get attitude from waiters and wait for a check for the rest of the nigh, welcome to this restaurant.

>> No.12043598

>>12035735
Why won’t you mention the name? Don’t be a faggot

>> No.12043603

>>12035735
>>12043596
>>12043598
Never mind; figured it out. It’s The Melting Pot of Farmingdale in Farmingdale, NY
https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-melting-pot-of-farmingdale-farmingdale-2

>> No.12045141

It never actually opens-ever. The money laundering is done during the refurbishment/fitting out.

>> No.12045188
File: 67 KB, 399x351, 1533705990126.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
12045188

>>12035398
>strip mall or shitty run down building
>no cars in the parking lot
>next to a "massage parlor"
>cash only
>owned by chinese, italians, etc
>staff are all miserable looking people of the restaurant's ethnicity (immigration scam/slave labor)
>food is zero effort slop (dead giveaway)
>windows are all closed (especially chinese joints)
>somehow open for years/decades

>> No.12045487

>>12045141
Actually a really good point, for laundering really large amounts it probably is best to run it through contractors, with illegal immigrants being the bulk of the construction workforce in America any building contractor is essentially a cash-only business.

>> No.12045669

>>12039743
>cash only
>changes ownership suspiciously often
>this is fine
mm hmm I believe you're not racist, you're just dumb as fuck

>> No.12045693

where i live they are not even trying. its just a hole in the wall with that sells "kebab". its just disgusting, but hey, shitskins are here to save the world and do the jobs us whites wont do!

>> No.12045859

>>12045693
Reported

>> No.12046765

>>12035417
>despite all these, still running after many years of business
Mostly this, there's a couple of places in my town, not just restaurants, that are completely unviable yet have operated for several years.

>> No.12046798

>>12039837
>not exactly like that, but close
Why are you too lazy to just make something up instead of this shitty lie-comparison for your shitty ass story. Fuck you

>> No.12046808

Biggest clue? They hire a tiny amount of employees that are never stressed out because profits don't really matter to management. Their turnover rate is nearly nonexistent, so you'll get the same cashier and cook for like 10 years straight. They also serve super cheap food that undercuts the competition by a lot.

This one local pizza place I know is just like this. They sell amazing pizzas with high quality salad and breadsticks for a price that's too good to be true and cheaper than even the big chains like lil Ceasar. They never try to price gouge you, even though they're good enough to where they can up the prices without driving away customers.


I honestly think they're making so much money off of legal weed growing that they let their employees run the place however they want and without pressure. This strategy worked, and now they have a 5 star obscure little restaurant that people know by word of mouth.

And no im not mentioning their name or location because I want to keep this amazing place all yo myself.

>> No.12048130

>>12036753
That really does sound shady

>> No.12048368

>>12035407
What if it's a cozy vegan place that regularly fills to capacity?

>> No.12048397
File: 53 KB, 750x421, 1548249757237.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
12048397

>>12035398

>> No.12048536

I live in Tucson and quite a bit of Mexican restaurants prefer you pay in cash, that is an obvious sign...

>> No.12048554

>>12048536
It's an obvious sign they like to evade taxes on their legitimate income.

>> No.12048575

tfw had a couple of beers at an obvious laundry bar and ended up having a nice chat with an old gangsta looking dude

cozy feeling

>> No.12049408

>>12048536
Why would having customers pay in cash be more beneficial for money laundering? Having a higher electronic payment to cash ratio would be more beneficial come audit by the IRS. Obviously assuming the money being launded is cash depostis.

>> No.12049742

There's a chain of Chinese restaurants in my city and most of them get low to moderate business but some of the locations get fuck all for customers. It's really suspicious how they have stayed open for years but the food isn't half bad actually so I eat there occasionally but I've never been there with more than one other car parked out front.

>> No.12049747

>>12049408
>Why would having customers pay in cash be more beneficial for money laundering?

Because cash payments are untraceable, whereas electronic ones are.

>> No.12049772

>>12049408
>>12049747

Anon understands

>> No.12049802

>>12049742
Do they deliver?

>> No.12049819

>>12049802
No but they do have a drive thru. Even then I don't really see a lot of traffic but could just be the times I go.

>> No.12050005

>>12048397
dude she is active on every video about that shithole of a restaurant. she comments when people make jokes and make fun of her.

>> No.12050033

All restaurants launder. It's e only way one can stay in business

>> No.12050086 [DELETED] 

>>12045693
Berlin?

>> No.12050116

>>12039620
yes
he's an idiot

>> No.12050131

>>12036693
>low prices
this is the opposite of what a laundering business would do

>> No.12050137

>>12037376
>corporations
>Pedro's taco hut
anon, Pedro's taco hut is an LLC that was incorporated in Delaware because of the favorable incorporation laws

>> No.12050346

>>12050033
This.

>> No.12050352

>>12035838
That's because the criminals eat there for free, and they appreciate good food, so they fund them well and usually their wives run them tightly.

>> No.12050368

I know there's one about 4 blocks from my house.
3 years ago it was a massage parlor, then got renovated into a burger and shake joint, now it's being renovated again into a boba tea/cafe place. I suspect it will be renovated again in 3 years.
Exact same owner and staff each time.
Owner is an older asian man, manager is an older asian woman, they have one younger asian guy on background staff duty, and three young cute girls who used to work the massage parlor doing front-of-the-house stuff and cashiering/cooking.

>> No.12051517

>>12035398
Their used to be a deli that sold nicks & dimes of weed in the next town over. The shelves literally had 4 bags of chips & the fridge had 3 cans of coke. Nothing else.

>> No.12051529

Had one that was 100% money laundering or flat out just for Chinese mob or something illegal.

Was open for like 6 years and NO ONE went to it, EVER. It always looked closed, but I went in a few times just to see. Was super basic and once again, no one but me and like 2 workers. There was almost always just 1 or 2 cars in the parking lot(and it was a big fucking one)

I never ordered the food, only had some beers.

>> No.12052177

There's this Chinese place in my area thats pretty sketchy and this thread is starting to make me think its a front for something. The thing about it though, is that its not advertised as a Chinese restaurant, its name is "Jimmy's Sub Shop" (Jimmy isn't the actual name but its a different white name that sounds similar, don't want to dox myself). My friends and I went there once expecting, you know, a sub shop, but inside, the walls were covered with Chinese shit, and the menu was like half Chinese food and half American food. The employees were Chinese. It was one guy and this girl who was like maybe 13 or 14. I ordered some french fries cause I wasnt that hungry and not a fan of Chinese food. It was literally just some frozen fries you can get at the grocery store heated up. You can peek into the "kitchen" behind the counter, and its like just some empty warehouse with a bunch of steel tables.

>> No.12052182

>>12039586
I had friend that worked at a local Domino's when we were all in high school. I could call up, and as long as the manager didn't answer the phone, I could buy weed with my pizza and the driver would deliver it. I could also buy shrooms and pills, but never did.

>> No.12052203

>>12035398
If its been around for so long with no business. I visited a suspected money laundering restaurant before and the food quality sucked, if they had no customers cause of shitty food, how are they still around for over 10 years?

>> No.12052499

>>12045141
I worked at one that opened for six months just to look legitimate... Italians doing Hungarian food - hired me because of my name, and kept me around because I could cook.

Fraud and whatever else aside, they were good people. There was that first day or two of intimidation, but they figured I was a clever kid and knew I could do more as a half-complicit asset than a hobbled rat.

>> No.12052520

>>12035398
extremely lazy and uninspired name and signage

>> No.12053540

>>12049747
But payments from your actual customers wouldn't matter. If there was suspicion from the IRS it would be beneficial to have some actual traceable transactions from actual customers which was my point.

If there are two resturaunts one takes in 80% cash 20% electronic and the other 100% cash. And the IRS have some time on their hands, they're going to look at the 100% cash first.

Obvioulsly you would still launder your "dirty" money through cash deposits, but having both payments in the books is far better in this day in age if you're looking to get away with money laundering.

No shit cash is untraceable and electronic isn't you fucking moronic retard, I strongly suggest you grow some braincells before replying to posts again.

>> No.12053547

I worked at one. He got busted some how. I quit before then. We basically didn't do anything. Bare minimum service and quality.

>> No.12053584

>>12049408
The IRS is exclusively used to engineer wealth transfer from whites to blacks and mexicans my man they're never ever going to bust one of those places.

>> No.12053649

>>12053584
OK, sure thing dumbass.

>> No.12053654

>>12053540
>But payments from your actual customers wouldn't matter
Of course not. However, dealing with cash allows you to pretend the money you're laundering is just cash income from customers.

>> If there was suspicion from the IRS it would be beneficial to have some actual traceable transactions from actual customers which was my point.
Yes, that's beneficial, but not enough to matter.

> And the IRS have some time on their hands, they're going to look at the 100% cash first.
Yeah, so? If it's 100% cash that "looking" won't get them anywhere.

>> I strongly suggest you grow some braincells before replying to posts again.
Same to you. Given that the dirty money is still being laundered through cash deposits it doesn't make a single iota of difference whether or not there are also electronic transactions to consider. In fact, it may even be wise to avoid doing any electronic payment processing, thereby preventing you from possibly being charged with wire fraud.

Either think harder before you post or stop discussing subjects that you don't fully understand.