LJWorld.com

1029 (Anonymous) says…

now where's a person to go for a $5 slice of pizza?

Eride (Anonymous) says…

Hasn't this been an on going issue for awhile now… I seem to remember the doors being closed for non-payment of taxes before…

feeble (Anonymous) says…

reading comprehension for the win!

it was the Kansas Department of Revenue, NOT the Internal Revenue Service, downtown today.

terrapin2 (Anonymous) says…

1029,
Just head down the block to 704 Mass Street and buy a $3.50 Monster slice at Rudy's! Besides, Rudy's is much better than Papa Keno's! And they pay their taxes!

Thats_messed_up (Anonymous) says…

what a surprise considering my last 3 pizzas have been totally WRONG!

toe (Anonymous) says…

I guess KDR got a slice of Keno's.

RedwoodCoast (Anonymous) says…

I know a lot of people eat at Rudy's because it's cheaper, but I've personally never been impressed. If I could still handle wheat gluten, my choice would definitely be Papa Keno's. That is just my opinion.

OTSSweeper (Anonymous) says…

Now there's the voice of experience

ihatejohntravolta (Anonymous) says…

“all is well”? hardly! he owes several employees and ex-employees a lot of money!

loftie (Anonymous) says…

Maybe they'd have better cash flow if it took less than an hour 1/2 to get a slice of pizza that's the wrong order anyway

ihatejohntravolta (Anonymous) says…

i was referring to people he owed before today. he owes a friend of mine who has been trying to get a paycheck since the beginning of april. there are several other employees, i mean several, in her situation.

beatrice (Anonymous) says…

I remember Papa Kenos fondly and have always stopped in when in town for a visit. I thought they made a great pie with fresh and tasty ingredients. Rudy's doesn't hold a candle to it. If it doesn't open back up, it will be a real loss for Lawrence.

lawrencechick (Anonymous) says…

I like the pizza, but I have to agree with loftie. Why does it take 20 minutes to warm up one slice???

FormerCentralKansan (Anonymous) says…

I can't tell you how many complaints I've heard from people who have eaten at Papa Keno's. The worst complaint I heard was from an ex-employee who claimed the restaurant had an ongoing rodent problem. I've never eaten there ever since.

Eride (Anonymous) says…

I used to order pizza from there frequently but due to some issues the last couple of attempts I can no longer give them my business.

The last time I ordered a pizza the person who took my order charged my card and than apparently threw my order slip away so obviously I never received the pizza.

It took three weeks to get my money back and I had to resort to threatening to file a complaint with the States AG office under the Consumer Protection Act to get it.

The pizza is good but the service and ethics of the owner are not.

igby (Anonymous) says…

Two weeks ago the night shift left both their pizza ovens blazing at 500 degrees. They close at 11:00 pm and someone smelled the building cooking at 2:30 am and called the police. This building all closed up would have exploded like a bomb by morning.

Also, the night shift have drug and legal issues and are a public safety risk, they need to go before they burn the place down and destroy the park and Douglas County's Watson building in the explosion. Shape up or ship out of downtown Lawrence. You have good food, but your getting sloppy and are not responsible or you would not have the tax problems along with the bad help you have hired.

somebodynew (Anonymous) says…

Knowing someone who works there, this is not surprizing. It may or may not be the first time the DOR has raided them, but the Sheriff's Office apparently has “raided” them several times with court orders to take money from the cash register for unpaid bills and taxes. I think it takes a little bit of time until it gets to the point of the courts issueing an order to actually take money - so this must be an on-going problem with Greg not paying bills.

Shame, I like the pizza and will miss it if it doesn't straighten out.

mom_of_three (Anonymous) says…

We used to go there once or twice a month until one unfortunate incident. We went with some friends, and ordered a pizza, and breadsticks. Our friends got their breadsticks, and slices, before we got our breadsticks. Then when we went to check on the pizza, after our friends were finished with their meal, they couldn't find the order slip. No pizza. Luckily, we got our money back right away, but no apology. We haven't went back since. I tried to send an email to them, but their inbox was full.

igby (Anonymous) says…

I thought this place was a national chain. May be it's time for new management.

LongJohn Silvers is another slipping ship. They can never get your order right and always short change you. Got to watch them coming and going.

razetheworld (Anonymous) says…

I used to work at Papa Keno's from August of 07 to February 08. I was fired for going to Fox 4 News, and Greg owes me upwards of 600 dollars in unpaid wages.

He keeps changing his business partners and phone number and owed one employee $5,000 at one time.

He's a dishonest man, to say the least. He's pandered to the media, knowing what to say and how to say it to throw them off his scent.

Hopefully, he's off the streets for good. Unfortunately, all of the credit card purchases sent through the now defunct Westport Store (my store), and possibly the other stores, were sent to a bank account no one could find, i.e., not the store's cash account.

Gregory Keenan has approached female employees and propositioned them.

Gregory Keenan has beaten up employees more than once.

Gregory Keenan has laughed in the face of the justice system.

A few others and myself have evidence that could put him in prison for a while, we just need someone to hear our case.

The Better Business Bureau can't do anything.
The Labor Board can't do anything.
The Lawrence Police have known about this case and all the details i'm writing down since February, and they haven't done anything.

Anyway, if you would like to contact me to find out more about Papa Keno's and how it is a menace to basic human decency, feel free to email me at razetheworld at gmail dot com

thanks for reading

George_Braziller (Anonymous) says…

Pappa Kino's get's shut down for not paying taxes (yes it may be justified and legal) but it takes three years to get rid of Last Call? What's wrong with this picture?

feeble (Anonymous) says…

Two things:

First, the Fox4 story shows there is a history of tax trouble going back to at least 2005. So you can have on and off run-ins with the tax man and still keep your doors open for 3+ years.

Second, Steffes must realize the importance of “rendering unto Cesar what is Cesar's.”

Sigmund (Anonymous) says…

Papa Keno's assets seized for “nonpayment of taxes.” What kind of taxes were failed to be paid? How many businesses in Downtown Lawrence have failed to pay not only their sales taxes but they never paid the taxes they “withheld” from their employees paycheck. I can name at least five, all locally owned. So, if you work downtown and your employer is “withholding taxes” and sending them in for you, you might want to make sure they are really being paid and they are current.

The_Original_Bob (Anonymous) says…

“TSSweeper (Anonymous) says regarding Marion's earlier statement…

Now there's the voice of experience.”

Hoo Haa!!! Good stuff.

—

I just read in the KC Star on Sunday that the Westport (KC) location shuttered its doors. Ahhhhh, small businesses… Do what you do well, but don't try to grow to fast. It is too bad that poor business management killed a local icon.

And yes, I agree, Kenos has sucked really hard the past couple of years. I'm sad to see them go, but shoot, take care of what you already have.

Confrontation (Anonymous) says…

This place always had awful pizza, and Rudy's is just as bad. Is there any place that has decent pizza in this town?

Defender (Anonymous) says…

To make a play on a Joe Piscapo quote from an old 80's flick (Johnny Dangerously):

“Don't eat at Papa Keno's, Johnny. I ate at Papa Keno's once……….ONCE!”

Went one time, five of us in the family, and every one of our orders were wrong, except for one. And that was the order they just completely failed to make at all. Crappy toppings too, really NOT fresh. They lost my business immediatly, and this is only part of the story!

razetheworld (Anonymous) says…

I worked at the Westport Location. We had the best customer service, we only messed up a few orders, and when we messed them up, we made free slices and really made it up to the customer.

The only reason it closed was because Gregory Keenan refused to pay his employees. He demoted everyone's paycheck at least 2 dollars an hour. He withheld the managers' paychecks for months, or they bounced.

The pizza at our restaurant was great because the employees worked as a team and cared about the clientele. We (I can't say as much for the other stores) really sought out the customer's satisfaction, because we were being f–ed by the owner, Greg.

Every time he implemented a “new” business practice, or got his hands on our store, things happened that made our job harder, like the wrong ingredients or not enough ingredients were ordered, not on our end, but he would take the orders and shave off items from them to “save money.” We once ran out of cheese and dough for god's sake.

How do you tell a customer, “oh, we ran out of cheese.”

The westport store was a store I believed in.

It was relaxed, and we got our stuff done and I learned so much about pizza making and customer service. To have that all screwed up by a criminal, Greg really ruined a good thing.

:(

I miss free pizza.

TopJayhawk (Anonymous) says…

I have never eaten there, but tell me, does this guy own any other businesses that I should avoid? I do eat in Lawrence about once a month or so.

marktrail (Anonymous) says…

Does this mean no Papa Keno's kickball team? Hallelujah to that at least.

I saw rats in the Westport store, and they messed up orders, too. But I had decent pizza there most of the time, for sure. The most bizarre visit I had to the place was when absolutely nobody was behind the counter for 5 minutes. Guess there must have been some pressing business backstage.

Finally, I think Pizza 51 is still open. They have the same recipes and menu, pretty much, but the consistency there puts Keno's to shame.

http://www.pizza51.com/