LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – A Las Vegas restaurant is reopening after current management claims previous management caused a near-permanent closure.

Nashville Hot Chicken, near Desert Inn Road and Decatur Boulevard, opened last fall and was open for just a few months before being forced to close for several months. But what happened after the closure shocked everyone, including the employees.

“The owners kept paying us the whole time we were unemployed. That touched me somehow because there aren’t many people like that,” explains Teresa Hernandez, who has worked there since the restaurant opened.

“I love them. I treat them like my family and try to help them as much as I can because I know what it’s like to struggle,” said co-owner Jedia Gan.

The owners said they could pay their half-dozen employees for five months and in return they would come in to help clean and maintain the closed restaurant.

“We want to keep our employees because they have families and children and are very loyal to us,” said Pavel Necsu, the other co-owner. “They came to help us and clean the store.”

While loyal employees returned, the previous manager was fired after owners claimed he stole money, didn’t pay employees properly, and even recycled oil that should have been changed every week. Current management also accused former management of being rude to both customers and employees, resulting in bad reviews and a bad reputation.

Now, after months of hard work, they’re back, promoting a better manager and making tastier chicken. “We’ve made more sales now that we’re back in business, and it’s like being back home,” Hernandez said.

The owners stated that they will not press charges against the previous manager and simply want to put the whole matter behind them.

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