Ontario comedy club staff allege they're owed over $100K in unpaid tips

More than a dozen current and former employees at an Ontario comedy club allege they are owed over $100,000 in unpaid tips.

Staff at Jokers Theatre and Comedy Club in Richmond Hill, along with staff at its affiliated concept restaurant Le Petit Chef, tell blogTO they have not received a "proper" tip out since August 2025.

Jokers Theatre and Comedy Club, located at 115 York Blvd. in Richmond Hill, opened in early 2022 and is owned by Steve Kalantar, who previously owned Le Petit Chef locations at 291 Harbord St. in Toronto – which changed ownership in September 2025 – and at 107 Wyndham St. N. in Guelph, which is currently "under renovations."

Kylie Lopes, former front-of-house manager at Le Petit Chef Guelph, tells blogTO that all three locations are auto-gratuity venues, meaning every bill automatically adds a service charge (usually 18-25 per cent) as standard policy. 

The tip out process for staff was improperly handled for well over a year, Lopes alleges. Staff began tracking money owed in monthly spreadsheets, which blogTO has obtained, that date back to March 2025. 

"We only get 37 per cent of our tip outs," Lopes says. "Seven per cent goes to kitchen staff, 16 per cent to hosts, 20 per cent to the booking website, and 20 per cent goes to the owners, which, if you go into the [legalities] of that, that's not allowed unless they're doing the work to be getting the tips."

Under the Ontario Employment Standards Act (ESA), owners are prohibited from taking employees' tips, unless they regularly perform the same tip-earning work as staff – for example, serving tables, bussing or working behind the bar.

Lopes says she filed a complaint with the Ontario Ministry of Labour back in November 2024, which spent a year investigating.

blogTO also spoke with other employees in roles ranging from bartender to supervisor. Due to the fact that a lot of current employees are immigrants in Canada on a work permit, they wished to remain anonymous.

One of those anonymous sources shared text messages with blogTO showing an exchange with Kalantar. The owner responded to an inquiry about unpaid tips, writing, "We have rent to pay. I don't know what to tell you." The employee replied, "You've used this rent excuse three times to not pay us."

A former general manager tells blogTO they're hoping this finally exposes the "serious injustices and financial harm the owners have imposed on hardworking hospitality professionals."

Another anonymous worker, still currently employed by Jokers, echoes the litany of excuses from Kalantar and Dave Curran, an affiliate, when pressed about any owed money.

"It's just been excuses like 'next week,' then 'sorry, we can’t make it this time,' 'we have payroll, we have rent,'" they allege. 

Bartender Mike Belgrave tells blogTO he was frustrated to see Curran on a lavish trip while employees sat waiting on unpaid tips.

"He went down to a Los Angeles Dodgers game during the World Series and spent money on vacation, but he's not paying us," he alleges. blogTO obtained a screenshot of Curran's private Facebook post from a source confirming his presence at the game. 

Another employee says they repeatedly tried to contact Kalantar by phone before messaging him on WhatsApp on Sept. 28 and again on Oct. 7. However, the employee says Kalantar's profile photo disappeared the following day, and checkmarks stopped appearing after texts, leading them to believe they had been blocked by Kalantar.

"This guy is not someone who should be owning or running a business," Lopes says. 

blogTO reached out to Kalantar, who says he is "aware of concerns that have been raised regarding tip distribution." He says these issues unfolded during a period of "significant operational disruption" at the venue.

"We take our obligations to staff seriously and are committed to addressing any issues identified through the proper process," Kalantar says.