More than a year after moving on from his eponymous business Rubinstein Bagels, Andrew Rubinstein says that his former partner Ethan Stowell Restaurants still owes him money. According to a Seattle Times story, the bagel maker filed a lawsuit last week seeking $100,000 from the prolific restaurant group, alleging that he was due to receive that money as part of the arrangement the parties agreed to when they split up but has not gotten it.
Rubinstein started out selling bagels at pop-ups several years ago and established a residency at the Stowell-owned Cortina Cafe in 2019. He quickly became known as one of the area’s top bagel makers and launched Rubinstein Bagels as a brick-and-mortar in 2020 in a partnership with ESR. The second location of Rubinstein Bagels opened on Capitol Hill in 2021, with expansion on the horizon.
But last year, Rubinstein announced that he was selling his stake in the business to ESR. Part of the reason for this, he told Eater Seattle, was that he wanted to focus on making bagels rather than managing several stores; he also wanted to focus more on his family. He started a new brand, Hey Bagel, and thought he would eventually open a store on the Eastside, closer to where he lives, before deciding to come back to Seattle — his highly anticipated new shop will open in University Village later this year.
Meanwhile, Rubinstein Bagels has continued to grow without its namesake founder, opening locations in Redmond and Eastlake in the last two years.
When asked about the lawsuit by email, Rubinstein said, “I wish [Stowell] no ill will and I expect we’ll resolve it quickly.” A representative for Ethan Stowell Restaurants did not immediately return a request for comment.