Neighbors Bar and Street to Kitchen on Harrisburg Boulevard were burglarized early Thursday morning after five masked men allegedly forced their way into The Plant, a commercial building that houses both businesses, according to Street to Kitchen co-owner Graham Painter.
“It was at 6 a.m. and there were five men,” Painter told Chron. “One of them was the lookout/driver. They used crowbars and were masked up.”
Security video shared with Chron appears to show the suspects moving through the restaurants before leaving with stolen property. Painter said the group first broke into Neighbors Bar before making its way into Street to Kitchen.
Although the restaurant operates as a cashless business, Painter said the burglars were still able to get away with full pockets.
“As a cashless restaurant, we don’t have a safe or much cash on hand,” Painter said. “Unfortunately, we were keeping petty cash and some cash tips of around $1,000.”
For Painter, however, the financial loss wasn’t the hardest part.
“More importantly, break-ins such as ours take away your feeling of safety and make you worry for your employees,” he said. “What if a cook had been in there prepping at that time? Or one of us working on building something out, creating a new recipe or cocktail?”
Painter said the restaurant has since strengthened its security but said the incident has left staff shaken.
“We have seriously beefed up our security and feel so vulnerable,” he said.
