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Can Alan hold a sign with a bucket and a bell to ring in front the restaurant saying, "I sold my family tradition and I want it back. Please donate what you can."

I'll give a dollar. Let's all give what we can and help him during his time of need. Just make sure he doesn't park his Corvette or convertible Mercedes in front. That might not look good to donors.

Jim Face you are the most inhuman man I have ever met. You stole Alan's family heritage & you are trying to steal his good name. I worked in the new c/r & I have never seen a more hard working man & honest, too. You tried to make changes from the very start that would would take away from what the c/f stands for.A new business never makes money the first few weeks so you had to invest in a business for other reasons. You have told the employees that you were using this investmet for a tax deduction with no regards for the feeling of a decent man. I'm hoping you will rethink what you are doing & show some common sense & decency. The employees are willing to work for Alan but none of the 2 investors. Shame on both of you!!!!

Looks like a bunch of Alan's friends trying to defend him. He made his bed and now must lie in it. If you take money from investors they expect a return. It's business. Obviously Alan can't run a restaurant and the investors removed him for good reason.

Why doesn't Alan buy them out so we can eat pizza again? Sounds simple to me. It said in Style that he is expanding into the space next door. Is that a lie?

We miss you Alan and the pizza that only you can make. Your two silent parteners were never very silent so they have tried to ruin your name and wonderful business. I hope they do a better job in the money loaning investment business. I would never trust them for a loan or anything else. I have been a small business owner for many years and I am thankful I never had to borrow money from these crooks. I hope you will find a way to get rid of these rats and undesirable mortgage men. If I want a pizza from C/R I want it to made by a Serafim and if I want a home mortgage I will also trust a Serafim loan...Advantage Home Mortgage...owned and operated by Alan's son, Chris Serafim. When you can reopen on your own please let us know so we will can support you.

I went to the original Celebrity Room numerous times, and they actually sponsored our softball team. It was always a great place to go and the food was always delicious. We went to the new place and also loved it. It was like going back in time. When we went back after the management changeover, the pizza, service and attitude was terrible. I don't know Alan, but it is obvious that he IS the Celebrity Room. The comments written by Jim Face are soy that it makes me want to comfort a man that I don't even know...Alan Serafim. I have owned a sucessful restaurant and when I sold it after 8 plus years, the new owner ran it right into the ground. When I run into my old customers, they all say that it was never the same when I left. Needless to say, it sounds like the same scenario. Running a successful restaurant requires more than the same reciptes, it requires friendliness, personality, dedication and tucking your tail between your legs when you need to. Jim Face, seems like you need to save face and bring Alan back. Take it from someone who knows...the restaurant business is something in your blood...not in your ingredients.

ALAN CAN'T BANKRUPT THE RESTARUANT AND DOESN'T WANT TO. JIM FACE IS THE OWNER AND IS DOING EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO RUN IT IN THE GROUND. YOU SHOULD'T WRITE THINGS YOU NO NOTHING ABOUT.

It's a mystery why Alan keeps bankrupting restaurants.

When the CR first opened again after many years we were overjoyed. I believe it opened on a Tuesday and we found out on Friday and went right there. Pizza was the same as always and we ate it and took one home. Lots of people there reminising. Between then and when it closed the 1st time, we probably had at least 10 pizzas from there, and salad, and we live in Mechanicsville. The the shock that it had closed again. A few weeks ago we read in the paper about the reopening and got excited, with a little wondering about Alan not being there. We didn't even have a chance to get there because we had been calling to no avail for takeout. How on earth can someone with a great product that loads of people want, not be able to make it in the restaurant business? Now we just found out today about the permanent closing. I almost wish we had not been reintroduced to that wonderful tasting pizza. This whole fiazco has been very unbusiness like and it's a shame. Why can't Alan just run a takeout service like he did the short time he was at the store at Qioccasin? By the way, the staff was always great to us everytime we went.

What a bunch of jack's to run this place into the ground like this. Well hopefully someone can rekindle the celebrity room pizza again so I can try it.

Editor's Note: On Aug. 14, the following email was received from Jim Face, owner of the Celebrity Room: "The Celebrity Room Restaurant closed on August 12th with no current plans to re-open."

The employees said Alan's attorney made him turn over the payroll money to the investors and the investors made sure everyone was paid. The employees said Alan would run out the back door every time someone he owed money would come in the restaurant. So sad the employees had to go through that.

Maybe there's more to it than 'remodeling'? Here's a post from a website that appeared after a search on Celebrity Room.."Monday July 7, 2008, 9:14 pm
myself along with 18 other co workers were cheated out of our pay on july 2 2008 the owners jim face and jonathon atkinson are claiming the other partner alan serafim stole $5000 that was to go towards payroll . the employees do not believe this to be true . we just feel that the first two mentioned are solely responsible and we'd like to know what is the quickest way to get our money because there is another pay on july 9 and we will not be recieving those monies either .we have bills to pay and children to feed . the two above mentioned are very wealthy and work at CAPFIRST MORTGAGE

I don't know the investors, but I bet they wished they had a clue about Alan's curse before they gave him money.

How many divorces does Alan have? Maybe everytime his restaurant goes under, he gets divorced?

Step up and own the fact the other partners had no clue.

If you are any friend at all, you will explain to him he can't blame all of his business demise on others and he can't blame all of his divorces on his ex-wives.

Sounds like the only lesson Alan hopefully learned is what investors to choose. CR was great while he was there. And you simply can't argue that fact no matter what pathetice excuses you come up with.

The first one went BK and it was daddy’s fault. The second one went under and it was the investor’s fault. The third one closed and it was the investor’s fault. Seems to be a pattern here. Three strikes and Alan is out. I hope he has learned his lesson and stay out of the restaurant business except getting a job as a bus boy.

I went by tonight and the restaurant is closed. I wonder what absurd excuse "million dollar business" partner will come up with now..."the humidity did not allow the dough to rise..." It is painfully obvious you have no clue to what you are doing. Bring back the right person that knows what they are doing and how to run a resturant. Stay with your other multi-million dollar businesses because everything goes well in your "fantasy" world. Scary to think you can't run a small business like this maybe someone should look into your other businesses to make sure those are run correctly.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know what's going on by visiting the Celebrity Room since Alan has been absent. The place has been mismanaged. The so called co owner only owns multi million dollar businesses when he puts his head down at night and dreams about them.

You are just jealous and should get a life.

I too was there for the opening week and waited outside for awhile with many other customers. After 15 minutes, we were seated and waited on quickly. The service was great and the food arrived promptly. After the first bite, the Celebrity Room memories came back and I believe they call this a pizza. Did I mention Alan was in the kitchen? We paid our $40 bill and thanked Alan for a great meal. In the interim, we continued to call for take-out but could not get through not knowing they had closed. We returned just two weeks ago to find a totally different restaurant. Upon entering, we were bombarded with "SPECIAL" signs and entered into a 100 degree dining experience with a new limited menu. Never mind the wait staff it is about the food. We did not see Alan and noticed a change in the pics on the walls. This is not a Celebrity Room pizza that you are creating. Where I come from this is called cheese bread. This is NOT Serafim's food regardless if it is the same ingredients or not. There is NO taste or flavor to this so called pizza. Didn't even take the leftovers home, because it was sooooo bad!!! While we were there the owner came in and began socializing with a huge group, which we know were family because of the way he announced it. They were very loud and obnoxious and were waited on first hand by the owner. The kids were yelling and running around and I don't consider that a pleasant dining experience in close quarters. The owner kept referring to his pics on the wall, which we knew than that something was up. He also kept talking about getting into other investments and if this is any sign, than he should stay away from small businesses that he obviously knows nothing about and stick to running multi-million dollar ones. He also kept going back behind the counter to get drinks and food for the group, which was very unprofessional!! Upon checking out, we also received a double punch for our pizza with a little incentive to come back again. We will NOT be returning and we will NOT be using the punch card because it is in the trash where your pizzas and your new customer opinions should be if they think that this is a true Celebrity Room pizza. They apparently don't remember the 70's very well. It seems to me that Alan had a premonition. He decided to keep family secrets a secret. Kudos Alan for playing that hand close to your heart. Don't believe anything these owners are saying. We have known Alan for a long time. He is a very truthful, honest and hard-working person who loves his business and looks out for his employees. When he opened up his short-lived take-out service a couple of years ago while also doing his catering, we got take-out frequently and never had a bad pizza. He decided to do the take-out pizza service, because all of his true followers really wanted to relive the Celebrity Room pizza experience. If you haven't tried the new Celebrity Room, I would not bother because it is not the real thing. Alan when you attempt it again we will be there for you.

It's so sad that something I have such fond memories of is being treated like this. In business school they warned us about partnerships and how volatile they can be. I guess this is a "real life" example of that. Was there really no way to work this out among you without dragging the public and your employees into it? You are all grown men and should be better than this. Your greed and/or ego have gotten the best of all of you. Either work it out and make it what it should be (as a team) or close it up. The memory of Celebrity Room should remain a positive one in people's minds.

Being attacked both personally and professionally comes with the territory of being a strong leader and running Multi-Million Dollar businesses. Creating a successful business requires many sacrifices and difficult decisions. The owners have certainly made enormous sacrifices in time, money, and hard work in order to bring back the Celebrity Room to the Richmond area. Our mission has always been to deliver superior products to our customers; offer our employees a quality work experience; treat our vendors as if they were our partners; and give back to the community in which we do business.
We apply the “Golden Rule” in every aspect of our lives. I am proud of what the management and employees have been able to accomplish through some difficult circumstances of a start-up business. The Celebrity Room employees are dedicated to serving our customers in a professional manner and have worked tirelessly to insure the success of the business. As I said, I don’t mind being attacked with innuendos and hearsay, however it pains me when employees are undeservedly attacked. Finally, I want to thank the many folks who have helped make Celebrity Room a reality and thank the staff for their hard work and dedication. More importantly, I want to thank all the patrons for their continuing support of the Celebrity Room and all the nice things they say about the food and service. In my many years of experience in business management, I have found it takes many dedicated and loyal people to make a business successful, but only a few to cause it to fail.

Kudos to David, Sunshine and Mike. The prior email from Mike states Jim and Jonathan both work at CapFirst Mortagage. Sunshine states the so called co-owner is "arrogant. Mike states how to run a real kitchen. It seems if Mr. Co-owner is only interested in a $1.00 and no compassion for humanity what so ever. I wonder how many bad loans they put through to make themselves $$.

Look,

This is going on long enough. I came in the first couple of weeks and worked with Alan to get that same great pizza out for the patrons. We did it. It is not just the ingrediants it is how you cook it, how long you let the pizza rize, how long you let the cheese melt, how much cheese. In other words it is alot to it. Or everyone one have been doing it. Just because you call the place the Celebrity Room does not make it the Celebrity room. What made us, was the staff. We all loved it, we all live it and most of all, we all believed in it. you guys are up there airing all of you Dirty laundry. The customer does not want to hear that, it has nothing to do with them. They want that Celebrity Room Experiance. The statement of saying " we are workign the same staff we started with on May 20th" is just incorrect. Who is not there, a Allen. You two guys are there and don't know a thing about running a Celebrity Room, you have pastry Chef ( no offense ) running the entire place. She has never run a Celebrity Room. So either Close the place like you told all the employees you wanted to for a Tax Right off, or just just up and Call it Jim's . It is not the Celbrity Room will never be the Celebrity Room. And about coming in, in the middle of the night. I just remembering you there coming in after all was said and done, after we had a line out the door, just to count the money. Never to help, never to say thank you for the Two people Allen brought in to help your staff, because they didn't get it. But all you did is say what other people have done to damage your business. What have you done to grow your business or even learn it.

You people on here sound like a bunch of 5 year olds that really need to find some toys to play with. Can I get a free pizza so if I cna see if this place is any good.

Thanks

The pizza is GREAT! Same as always.

If the ingredients are the same then it must be the people cooking the food. I was there the other the day and the staff is still rude and slow. There is one guy walking around saying he owns the place. Seems pretty arrogant? Where is the real chef and the person that knows what they are doing?

I will be happy to show the ingredients, which are the same we have used from the day we opened. I am sorry you do not like Celebrity Room pizza. Thousands of folks who have come in say it the same and delicious as ever. It’s the old saying, “you can’t please everyone.”

The ingredients AREN'T the same because the pizza taste completely different. We Richmonders, after 30 years, know how the Celebrity Room Pizza taste, About the pizza cooker, not chef, he has 1 month of training because its barely been open. Seems like your blaming Alan for the pizza cooks lack of experience. We need Alan back to supervise your staff since you have obviously no experience. As for the pictures, you go Alan, I would take my pictures of my family down as well. Mom and Dad wouldn't like the nonsense going on in those four walls.

The chef tonight was the same chef Alan hired and trained. The ingredients are the same, the dough is the same, and the recipe is the same. All of employees are the same since we first opened on May 20th. The only thing different is the pictures are gone and you won't see a Serafim picture on the wall anymore. Alan came in the restaurant sometime in the middle of night and took all the pictures. If the pictures make the pizza taste better for you, I will see if I can get the pictures back. Perhaps we can get copies of Gus’s picture for you and put one in the take-out box.

Wow. I grew up (literally) on C.R. pizza. It is the smell and taste of my childhood and all my teen's & 20's. I got some pizza tonight, and was greatly disappointed. I can understand - to a point - that it's going to be more expensive b/c they always had amazing cheese and ingredients, but this was very subpar in portion and taste. If the owner does listen to the customers, I hope he'll do something b/c $20 for a 4 item pizza ain't gonna cut it in today's economy. For that $20, it better blow me away so that I'll HAVE to come back. As it stands right now, neither me or my wife want any more pizza from my all time favorite place for the 'za. (sigh)

I WENT TO CELEBRITY ROOM AS WELL, FIRST IT'S OPENED THEN IT'S CLOSED AND THEN OPEN AGAIN. THE FOOD WAS GREAT, THEN IT STOPPED AND NOW IT SUCKS....IT TASTE SO BAD THEY WILL PUNCH YOUR PIZZA CARD TWO TIMES SO YOU WILL COME BACK. I WILL HOLD MY PIZZA CARD UNTIL I SEE A SERAFIM FACE BACK ON THE WALL AND KNOW I CAN GET A REAL "CELEBRITY ROOM" PIZZA.

First of all, I know Alan Serafim personally and he didn't and wouldn't steal any money. He is the one that brought back Celebrity Room, the other co-owners were NOT the original people who started the Original Celebrity Room and Alan was. The reason why your expierence is so bad, is because Alan is not there anymore. I usually get great service and great pizza until they reopened, and then I paid more money for less pizza. The only thing I might do is to go give the people at Celebrity Room to pass on to the other owners a piece of my mind. They have made a HUGE mistake by getting rid of Alan.

I would like to try this place again. I think I ate there back in the late 70's when they were on Brook Road. From the sounds of it there are either angry employees leaving negative post or general public who didn't care for it so not sure what to believe so I guess I will take a wait and see approach. I know Joe's out has great pizza.

I am an investor in the Celebrity Room and for the most part, have been a silent investor. I enjoyed the pizza in the 1970's and decided to invest in bringing the Celebrity Room back to Richmond with all it's memories, experiences, and great food. When I found out there was an issue with the restaurant, I acted quickly and resolved the issue. The ingredients and recipes are the same as they were 40 years ago. The Celebrity Room will survive if we have the support of our loyal customers, we maintain very high food quality standards, and we deliver the best service possible to each and every customer. I have hired a very capable staff that are dedicated to delivering the best food and service. Feel free to e-mail me with comments both good and bad and I will address them immediately and contact you directly. The website is www.celebrityroom.net. There is a comment section on the website.

This may be the worst dining experience in my 33 years... if you are considering going... DONT!!!! I payed $24 for a pizaa that came out undercooked with NOOOO FLAVOR! The restaurant was about 90 degrees and the all of the utensils were dirty. The "waitress" didn't even bring drinks to the table... No to rant, but I truly was disappointed with this place and urge anyone who thinks it will be like the "old one" to reconsider and stay far away... Just hoping I don't get sick tonight based on my pizza. Also hope they didn't keep the same ingredients for the last 2 weeks while they were closed.. will let everyone know in the morning!

According to Raliegh, it sounds like she doesn't care to wait on her guests as she is sending them to a another place. This doesn't sound like the Celebrity Room I grew up with. So I went by to check it out and I see what the attitude was all about. Alan was not working and I was told that he would NOT be available for awhile. The "family atmosphere" was no where to be found. In fact every picture of the Serafim family was gone. Gus would not be happy. My appetite went away quickly. Starting a business is hard enough, starting up a tradition must be harder. Alan I wish you the best in this endeavor, I'll be praying for you and your family.....a Faithful patron

Maybe there's more to it than 'remodeling'? Here's a post from a website that appeared after a search on Celebrity Room/Serafim..."Monday July 7, 2008, 9:14 pm
myself along with 18 other co workers were cheated out of our pay on july 2 2008 the owners jim face and jonathon atkinson are claiming the other partner alan serafim stole $5000 that was to go towards payroll . the employees do not believe this to be true . we just feel that the first two mentioned are solely responsible and we'd like to know what is the quickest way to get our money because there is another pay on july 9 and we will not be recieving those monies either .we have bills to pay and children to feed . the two above mentioned are very wealthy and work at capfirst mortage" Source: http://www.care2.com/c2c/share/detail/765036

After having enjoyed the place at its original location, I was happy to hear that it re-opened. Went by only to find it closed. After reading the arrogant post by the 'member of the staff', I won't try visiting again. Not only do you people not know how to run a business, it's also obvious that you have no concept of what a customer is. My guess is that you'll be closed again before long.

As a member of the staff at the new Celebrity Room, I'd like to thank all the people who have such nice things to say about the place. Celebrity Room was closed for a few weeks due to issues with management that I won't get into. I would like to straighten a few things out: Yes, the restaurant is small, and yes it gets hot, we have tried to fix it several times to no avail. Unfortunately I don't know how long it will take to fix this issue. Another thing is I personally try to give the best service possible, but 70% of our customer base believe that they are the only ones in the restaurant. I have had people tell me I need to hurry people to finish eating so they can be seated, and then they themselves sit and take their sweet time. They are so inconsiderate of their waitress and the other guests. It gets busy. People forget things, servers are not perfect. Also, there are a few sadistic customers who, despite their "awful" experience, continue to come back to eat pizza, or just to bully the staff. Most of you have never worked in a restaurant and have no idea how hard it is to deal with rude, hungry people. However people continue to come and enjoy the pizza, and I applaud those of you who are so patient and understanding. With that said, Celebrity Room will re-open its doors once again at it's usual time on Friday, July 25. We will be serving pizza, salads and appetizers, so don't worry about our "mediocre" entrees, they won't be on the menu. I look forward to seeing those familiar Celebrity Roomers and I promise to offer the most amazing service I can provide. Finally, I recommend those impatient snobs order a Dominos pizza, because they are guaranteed there in 30 minutes, even though you will have just paid more money for a frozen pizza than one made from scratch :) Thank You.

I'm thrilled that he is back. Come on Richmond, ease up. Have you ever run a restaurant? The pizza is great and the place fun!!

my mom was married to the owner - she passed away almost 3 years go now(rip). i was thrilled to hear it's reopened! this place holds a dear place in my heart and though people think it's cheesy it's a great kid friendly place to hang out! i look forward to the yummy cheesy gooey delicious pizza and can't wait to bring my kids and wife there!!

I think the place should have been a carry out with a couple of tables. It is not ready to be a full service resturant.

The place is small & cheesey, the food is pathetic and the staff is obnoxious. Do not waste your time or money.

Went buy here 7/12/08 and they have closed. The sign on the door said temporarily closed for remodeling which doesn't make since, the just open just over a month ago. I guess they didn't make it and have closed the doors already

Not sure how you consider the original location out on Brook Road way out towards Ashland the 'West End'.....

pathetic

This article fails to mention that the staff is rude and the dining room is about 100 degrees in the summer. Definitely not worth it. The pizza tastes like a 99 cent Tostino's and it takes about 45 minutes to get to the table. Don't waste your time.