Paseo fans launch Kickstarter to buy beloved Seattle sandwich shop out of bankruptcy

There’s hope for chagrined sandwich lovers going through withdrawals since the abrupt closure of beloved Paseo.

A group of young entrepreneurs have launched an effort to reopen both the Fremont and Ballard locations of the iconic sandwich shop with as many of the original employees as possible.

Greg Gans, a partner with restaurant mobile ordering startup Savvy Orders, says he and his friends were stunned and heartbroken when Paseo shut down.

When they learned the owners had filed for bankruptcy Wednesday as first reported by The Seattle Times, they began exploring ways to save the business.

The group talked to their lawyers, who determined they could buy the business out of bankruptcy and reopen.

“We’re not sure of a timetable but hope it can be quick,” Gans says. “All of the equipment is there, we
can buy all the assets and take over the lease.”

The partners have started a Kickstarter, seeking to raise $250,000 to cover the cost of acquiring the business and reopening.

Gans says he doesn’t know anything about the lawsuit filed by four workers who claimed wage theft and discrimination, and the partners are focused on creating a stable workplace and sharing the profits with the employees who brought us so much joy (and clogged arteries), who abruptly lost their jobs.

“We want to make it a better place to work. We want them to feel like they’re invested in it. We want to give them a stake in the company,” he says.

But let’s cut to the chase. What we all want to know is how they can possibly duplicate the sandwich voted second best in the nation on Yelp.

There’s been plenty of talk that owner Lorenzo Lorenzo and his sons kept the recipe secret, and guarded it like a rare jewel.

But Gans says the employees know exactly what goes in to the sacred sandwich, and can resurrect it.

“We don’t want to change a thing. If we can get the employees back, they’re the ones who know the recipes by heart, they know everything that goes into the sandwiches,” he says.

There’s no shortage of incentive for contributors to the Kickstarter. Gans and his partners are offering benefits such as an owners card that lets you skip the line and a free sandwich a month. Donors of $500 and more will also get an annual dividend.

“Our original goal was to give people a financial stake in Paseo. However, Kickstarter’s terms and conditions do not allow monetary compensation for backers. The trust is a portion of the campaign which will act as an investment trust, with annual dividends redistributed back to the community,” Gans says.

Gans is hopeful the community will come together in what could be a grand reopening he jokes would be even more important than investor Chris Hansen’s bid to bring the NBA back to Seattle.

But he admits it’ll come at a price.

“My wife says I’ll have to go to the gym everyday because that’s all I’ll be eating,” he says.