Dec. 20, 2016 By Hannah Wulkan
A popular Woodside restaurant is asking for the community’s help to keep its doors open.
La Adelita, located at 52-22 Roosevelt Avenue, launched a GoFundMe campaign on Saturday to raise money to pay off back taxes.
Owner Maria Iglesias wrote on the page that after a recent audit she was informed that she owes $72,000 in back taxes, blaming her predicament on the accountant she used for the last 13 years.
She wrote that she took out a loan for $30,000 to help pay the taxes owed, but said that the daily expenses of the business on top of the money she owes to the Finance Department are too much for her to handle on her own, leading to her plea for help from the community.
“I have striven to create a restaurant filled with heart, friendly ambiance, while providing authentic Mexican culture and tradition. Each ingredient is authentic and carry a legacy of a secret sauce that my grandmother has passed down to me in which I would love to pass it down to my daughter,” Iglesias wrote.
The campaign launched Saturday with a goal of $25,000, though so far it has only raised $140 with donations from 5 people.
“All I ask is that if my community could look into their heart and help me through this very challenging time. It is a setback for I never would have imagined that this would have happened as it come from a place of love,” Iglesias wrote.
She added that if she is successful in remaining open, she would offer a 25 percent discount to all customers who supported her.
To learn more or donate, visit https://www.gofundme.com/savelaadelita.
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48 Comments
Granted it was like 3 years ago, but I had some of the worst service of my life in this place. Waited 20 minutes to order, another 20 to get my check, then another 20 to get it back to sign. The worst part was that it was freaking empty!! I’m sure it’s gotten better, but after that catastrophe I steered clear of this place. The sad part is the food was enjoyable (though nothing amazing)
Also the taxman doesnt let it go 14yrs. They will shut you down. This was no surprise to her, she had some ongoing agreement that strung them along until she either stopped paying and broke the agreement or it became too much debt compared to her income she was claiming. They do have your yearly reports. This lady either got in over her head and tried to ignore it or shes scamming. The dont just send you notices, an agent will make a visit and try to straighten the issue out, or just lock your doors and slap up the stickers. She definitely had a visit
I own a restaurant,you get your tax bill every 3 month like clockwork. This lady is f.o.s.
Gotta watch out for that too rikki. Theres alot of shameless people out there. Oh my kid is sick, if i dont get 20k poor little jack wont make when in fact, there is no poor little jack.
looks like the go fund me was taken down… very interesting.
This restaurant has only been open for about 7 or 8 years. It was a Cuban restaurant right before her. So, I find it hard to help bail her out when she was already over five years behind on taxes when she opened this business. Either her story is really fishy, or she maybe just shouldn’t be operating a business.
Bring back Michael’s Pub.
Old Timers would say.. DANNY BOYS!
i would be glad to help out if she didn’t pay taxes and had a child or spouse with a severe illness and needed the money to keep them alive..
the link doesnt work and if you google it or type the name in go fund me it says “cannot be found” – it mustve been take down.
a firefighter dies and to create a go fund me for the kids is one thing, but youre not going to get much sympathy failure to pay taxes over several years.
Still there – link is broken or something. I had to search for it in the GoFundMe Searchbar.
Everyone has been in some tough positions before. They dont beg the public that she charges to eat for money. How do we know she wont keep the money and close. Also if i want to fund a restaurant it’ll be one i patronize or one i want to own. The moneys to save her business, not for life saving operation. Close your doors, your not the first to fail.
I guess no one has been in a situation where you need help.
not like this she had plenty of time to pay her taxes what did she do with all of her money
For once I actually agree with everyone here. This whole thing stinks and she has a lot of nerve asking the public to bail her out.
And here sunnyside post is giving her free advertising space and eyeballs for her go fund me campaign. Niiiice. If I set up a go fund me page, can they throw a post up for me?
It’s because Christian Murray never made the big time and is like the national enquirer he will print anything that comes there way.
This is his bio. sounds like a real loser.
Murray has spent his entire career as a reporter– where he spent 6-years at Newsday and 5-years at Reuters. He earned a graduate degree at the Columbia School of Journalism and was nominated for a Pulitzer in 2001 for a story on a New York real estate scam.
If it was a front for something, i guess the business they’re doing behind the scenes is failing to because the reason for a front is to wash money earned from some kind of illicit funds . So shes lucky they dont tax the side $$
Pearl-85% of new restaurants fail within 3-6 months. Biggest reasin is not enough working capitol. Like a couple of other posts say, incredibly high expenses, too many to mention.
Um you should sue your accountant if they screwed up. Otherwise, you owe the money and should pay yourself.
she says on her go fund me page that she has 7 days to pay in full. if theyre giving her 7 days she mustve know about this for a while and chose to ignore it.
A popular woodside restaurant?
the govt doesnt just inform you that you owe 13 years of taxes, you would hear about it frequently in your mailbox. This ladys not honest.
I am tired of people starting go fund me pages for everything.
Now you get to pass your secret way to cheat the government out of tax money to the kid
Future republican
Why does everyone say that they have a special sauce?
It’s a harder lie to disprove than “the food is good.”
On the one hand I’d prefer not to see a huge storefront go empty. On the other
–Tax department will almost always work with you on a payment plan if you’re acting in good faith. Fact they apparently aren’t willing to do that here indicates she’s screwed with them in the past.
–There’s no secret sauce, in fact, there’s no sauce of any kind. Those burritos are extremly dry.
–A 25% discount on a $12(!!!) burrito only gets you to market rate for the neighborhood; but those competing burritos that are less are actually good.
–I stopped ordering food there when I found a bunch of uncooked sausage in my burrito. I hadn’t ordered sausage at all
-Phil This is a typical MO concerning fronts. They give substandard service and/or merchandise to discourage you from making a return visit.
what is it supposedly a front for? Wouldn’t that front pay off the tax debt and not announce it in the news?
folks keep saying, its a front. A front for what?
Front for what?
Get lost. Go file chapter 7
She’s full of it, blaming her accountant. She knew. This place is a front!!
For what?
-Phil it’s a front for just about anything. There is not enough financial activity in this place to generate any sort of tax liability. The place is always empty, except for the occasional customer buying the cookies in front by the register. Front!!!
alot of things read between the lines
So in other words people are just making that up
This is actually the true location of the satanic child trafficking ring that was supposedly ran out of a D.C. pizzeria, that too was a front to cover up this locations existence
I blame Trump.
Between the taxes, regulations and expenses of opening and operating a small business in this city, it’s a miracle anybody even bothers anymore. It’s so bureaucratic, it’s easy for business owners to mistakenly fall afoul of something and get walloped by the government. They should just shut the doors, declare bankruptcy and apply for welfare. Can’t beat ’em, join ’em.
-skk But so many do open restaurants in this city and thrive. The Kettle, Aubergine, Donovan’s, Dee, Side Tracks, Asian Fusion, Quaint, Dog and Duck, Mario’s, Donatos, etc. etc. just to name a few. You want restaurants without regulations move to a third world nation you idiot. $72K in back taxes and she has run this place for 13 years and didn’t see this coming? If you believe this then you’re a bigger fool than I first thought. Well then again maybe this story just supports your deregulation and tax free agenda. You sound like a Fox Fake News imbecile.
Indeed. Never requested an audit (outside accountant) in 13 years??
You do realize, that at least half of new estabishments will fail. #youarearachelmaddowlovingfool.
Pearl cream – This establishment is not new stupid.
You don’t know what you are talking about. I actually know the owners and some of the families that own these restaurants.
Owed Taxes, loans, and summer drought affected most of these restaurants.
Hell at one of these places changed owners recently because they NEEDED to sell.
13 years in business means something. and Taxes can add up with late fees and interest.
Yeah. It adds up to pay your taxes on time like the rest of us. And drought? Really?