Why did SLO County coffee shop close after nearly 3 decades? Here’s what former workers say
After failing to be paid for weeks, employees at a popular San Luis Obispo County coffee shop said they were forced to make a difficult decision: work for free or close down.
They decided to close the cafe, said Josie Monroe, former supervisor at Top Dog Coffee Bar in Morro Bay.
Known for its specialty coffee, a spacious back patio and welcoming attitude toward pets, Top Dog was open for nearly three decades at 857 Main St. in downtown Morro Bay before it abruptly shut its doors.
The coffee shop’s last day of business was on Sept. 18, according to Monroe.
“It just felt really difficult to go into work there toward the end because things weren’t being properly (run),” she said. “It got hard to hang on.”
About three months later, several employees are still waiting to be paid for their final weeks of work, she said.
As of Monday, Top Dog Coffee Bar owner Dustin Blom and Top Dog’s sister company, Rescue Me Coffee Co., had not responded to several phone calls and emails seeking comment on Top Dog’s closure or employees’ requests for pay.
So what happened to Top Dog Coffee Bar? Here’s what we know so far.
What is Top Dog Coffee Bar in Morro Bay?
Top Dog Coffee Bar, which opened in 1996, served coffee, local beer and wine as well as locally-sourced pastries and sandwiches.
In early 2022, Dustin Blom purchased Top Dog Coffee Bar from long-time owners Patrick Bietz and Suzanne Maury.
Blom initially marketed the business as a community-oriented space where people and their pets took priority.
“We welcome dogs in our establishment and greet them with tasty treats upon arrival,” Blom wrote on popular review site Yelp.
Yelp named Top Dog one of the top 25 dog park bars to bring your dog in North America in 2022.
That year, community members voted Top Dog the second-best coffee shop in San Luis Obispo County in a poll conducted by The Tribune. Top Dog received nearly 8,000 votes from Tribune readers.
Monroe, who worked at Top Dog Coffee Bar for five years, said she was initially excited by Blom’s vision for the place.
The new owner started a trivia night, launched a story hour on summer evenings and held more events on the outdoor patio, she said.
Blom also donated coffee to various Morro Bay organizations through Top Dog’s sister company, Rescue Me Coffee Co., which he also owns.
“He had a lot of good ideas and plans for the place, but then it just fell apart,” Monroe said of Blom.
Former Top Dog employee Laura Watson said she enjoyed revamping the business under Blom’s direction and thought the coffee shop was financially stable.
“It was literally going great until the beginning of this year, and then things started just to slowly disintegrate,” Watson said. “It was really sad to see. The saddest part is, I really, really liked my job.”
What happened to Morro Bay coffee shop?
According to Monroe, the trouble began after Blom was diagnosed with pneumonia in February and started to undergo medical treatments.
Those coincided with his sudden absence at the shop, Monroe said.
In the following months, Blom stopped coming in altogether and failed to communicate with employees about his whereabouts, she said.
“It made it really hard to be compassionate and understanding when he was still letting everything go,” Monroe said.
“He ghosted everybody,” Watson said.
Blom also stopped paying some of Top Dog’s vendors starting in May, according to Monroe.
Watson said it took a toll on staff to see vendors upset and food items missing from the display case.
“It was just getting worse and worse and worse,” Watson said, and then paychecks started to bounce.
Former coffeehouse workers still waiting to be paid
After the first paychecks bounced in early September, Monroe said, Top Dog workers took a vote on whether to keep the coffee shop open.
The majority of employees decided they were no longer willing to work for free.
Monroe said she tried to keep the cafe running by herself for a few more days to see if the money would come through, but payments never arrived.
“We were just done,” Monroe said.
At least eight Top Dog employees are still missing money from the final two pay periods they worked at the coffee shop, according to Monroe.
Watson is one of the people who’s still waiting to be paid, although she declined to share the exact amount she’s owed.
“I needed the money,” Watson said. “I had to borrow money from people to cover things.”
Eviction case filed against SLO County business owner
An eviction case was underway against Top Dog Coffee Bar’s owner as of Nov. 19, according to a notice taped to the business’ front door.
Landlord Jeanie Van Gronigen filed a commercial unlawful detainer action against Blom for not complying with the terms of the lease, the document stated.
She is seeking to evict Blom and collect monetary remedies amounting to $35,000 or less, according to the document.
It wasn’t clear Monday whether a trial date had been set for the civil case, and Van Gronigen’s lawyer, Christopher Lewi, declined to comment.
A copy of the business’s lease attached to the legal notice showed that Blom had signed a 10-year lease that began on July 1, 2022.
Top Dog Coffee Bar previously breached its rental agreement, The Tribune reported on Oct. 22.
The business failed to pay $1,500 in rent for the month of October, according to a document signed by Van Gronigen and taped the the door.
Top Dog also failed to pay for required trash services, according to the document.
This caused “a near total stop of all trash services to the premises and exposing (the) landlord to liability for the outstanding charges in the amount of $3,759.72,” the document stated.
Starting Oct. 7, Top Dog was given three days to pay dues and fix violations “or to vacate and surrender possession of the premises,” the document stated.
On Friday, the coffee shop’s doors were closed and the front was papered with notices and envelopes.
Top Dog’s website had not been updated to reflect any change in business hours, nor did it state why the business was closed.
When a Tribune reporter called Top Dog Coffee Bar, the phone number was no longer in service.
Could popular coffee shop reopen?
In September, Monroe penned a handwritten note announcing the closure of Top Dog Coffee Bar and posted it on the coffee shop’s front door.
“Top Dog will be closed temporarily to make improvements,” the note read. “Thanks for your support.”
At the time, Monroe said, she thought the shop would reopen once the pay issue was resolved.
However, after three months without any contact from Blom, she said she’s losing hope that will happen.
“It’s not a very positive outlook on getting paid,” Monroe said.
She’s still holding out hope that Top Dog could come back under new ownership, adding that she and several other past employees would return to work if given the opportunity.
“We’re kind of like family there,” Monroe said. “We loved our regulars. We looked forward to seeing them.”
Watson said that the coffee shop’s closure has left a noticeable void in downtown Morro Bay.
“I felt really bad just shutting it down like that without giving anybody an explanation,” Watson said. “I think that was the hardest part.”
This story was originally published December 17, 2024 at 10:54 AM.
