Former manager wins $154K judgment against Mamma
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A former manager of Mamma got everything she and her husband asked for in their suit against the now-closed Davis restaurant and its owner.
Yolo Superior Court records filed on Aug. 29 show that Judge Samuel McAdam ordered Mamma Davis LLC and restaurant owner Michael Galyen to pay Kris Pytel-Souza and her husband Jeff Souza $153,000 in damages plus $654.18 in costs.
The Souzas’ suit, filed in April, said Kris was a general manager at Mamma when she and her husband invested $100,000 for a 5% interest in the Davis restaurant. They also provided a $60,000 loan to Galyen, and paid $10,000 to participate in an “Ambassador” program. Only $17,000 of the loan was repaid.
Although there was no promissory note, Galyen did not dispute the claims in the suit. He acknowledged in the records that he still owed them $153,000. That’s what the court awarded.
“We’re so, happy with the verdict but not sure what happens now,” Kris said today in a video call. The judge gave the defendant 10 years to pay it off.
Sources report that Galyen has filed for bankruptcy but Souza could not comment on that. Trying to get the money back “will be interesting,” she said.
“Either way, it turned out really bad for my family,” she said.
The Italian eatery and cafe closed for good on June 15 after serving its Father’s Day guests. The property at 226 F St. is listed for lease. The historic site once housed Davis City Hall and – at different times – the fire and police stations. It’s widely considered the best outdoor dining space in town.
The Ambassador program was another way Galyen was raising money to keep Mamma open. An investor in this program said, “a bunch of local business owners” and other residents put in $10,000 each. In return, they had a $200 monthly credit to dine at Mamma. The arrangement was that these participants would get their $10,000 back after two years, or with two months’ notice if they wanted it sooner. However, it was apparently another loan where the lenders did not receive a copy of the agreement. Only Galyen knows how many people invested in this scheme.
Kris, who spoke from her job as a captain at Fentons Creamery & Restaurant in Vacaville, said she was embarrassed at first about the bad investment. But “since this happened, I’ve seen so many people coming out of the woodwork just to say, ‘Crap! That sucks.’ ”
She still wonders how someone could screw up the best restaurant location in Davis.
Galyen, who grew up in Davis but lives in Napa, also shut down the NapaSport restaurant he owned in Napa, soon after Mamma closed. He is reportedly working as a server at another steakhouse in Napa.
The Souza case was one of at least two lawsuits Galyen faced. Former chef Adam Hinojosa sued Mamma for wrongful termination, failure to pay overtime, breach of oral contract and six other complaints, in a case filed March 28 in Yolo Superior Court.
Hinojosa alleged that he and Galyen agreed on a salary but the chef was paid much less. Though Hinojosa asked for $75,000 a year, the suit says they agreed on $64,000 to start, with the guarantee of raises every 30 days for the first 90 days, to reach $74,000. Instead, Hinojosa was paid $2,093 biweekly – the equivalent of about $54,000 a year.
A settlement was reached for an undisclosed amount but Galyen defaulted on payments. Hinojosa said today that he has not received any funds, and he’s acquiring a new attorney who specializes in recovering judgments.