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Restaurant Lawsuit Goes Before Judge

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By TODD LESKANIC, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 20, 2008

DADE CITY - Luis and Edna Gonzalez spent Tuesday afternoon away from their popular Cuban restaurant, Tropical Breeze Cafe.

Instead of cooking and dealing with the lunchtime rush, they sat inside a judge's chambers, across a table for their ex-landlord, David Hernandez. They listened for three hours as attorneys for both sides went back and forth about the meaning of the phrase "50 percent of the cost of utilities."

Not exactly appetizing fare.

"I've been to court once in my life for a speeding ticket," Luis Gonzalez said.

The legal battle has been part of their lives since July, when they filed suit against ANPM Enterprises, a company owned by Hernandez and his wife, City Commissioner Camille Hernandez.

In their suit, the Gonzalezes allege Hernandez's failure to maintain the restaurant's former site - most notably, the air conditioning - cost them business. Hernandez countersued, saying the Gonzalezes breached the lease when they didn't pay utility bills and underpaid the rent by $33 for several months last year. He also claims they did not pay rent from August through November.

Circuit Judge Wayne Cobb appeared to end Hernandez's counterclaim in favor of the Gonzalezes on Tuesday, but the parties won't know for sure until some dollar figures are recalculated.

Still pending is the Gonzalezes' lawsuit against ANPM, for which they are seeking a trial date. In the meantime, the couple has moved their business south on Seventh Street to what used to be the Quarter Horse Sports Bar. They spent thousands renovating the rundown bar and opened in their new 5,000-square-foot location Nov. 1.

With air conditioning, Edna Gonzalez added.

"Business is better, and people who didn't come because of the air conditioning are back now," she said. "There isn't a person in this town who didn't know about the heat in that restaurant."
David Hernandez and his attorney, Amanda Uliano, couldn't be reached for comment.

Hernandez purchased the 20,000-square-foot building at 14129 Seventh St. in 2006 for $680,000. Tropical Breeze had rented space there since opening as a sandwich shop and ice cream parlor in 2003.

By early 2007, the restaurant had expanded to 1,638 square feet, and the Gonzalezes had installed a full kitchen. Edna Gonzalez said she and her husband decided to opt out of the lease with Hernandez in May.

They were still open in the old location when the air conditioning stopped working, she said. Temperatures in the restaurant last summer reached more than 100 degrees, and Hernandez didn't listen to their constant requests to fix it, she said.

Reporter Todd Leskanic can be reached at (352) 521-3156 or tleskanic@tampatrib.com.

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