Riko's Pizza Will Not Face Eviction In Stamford After Judge's Ruling

STAMFORD, CT — Riko's Pizza, the popular restaurant known for its hot oil and thin-crust pies, will not be evicted from its Hope Street location after a Connecticut Superior Court judge ruled that claims of unpaid additional rent from the business's landlord were "unsubstantiated."

Riko's entered into a lease with TPW Partners, the owner of the building at 886 Hope St., in 2016 with an expiration date of Jan. 31, 2022.

Last year, TPW filed a lawsuit against Riko's and claimed the business owed $39,926 in additional rent related to water usage, sewer charges and taxes from the beginning of the lease agreement through October 2022.

The lawsuit also claimed Riko's forfeited any right to exercise a five-year lease extension because of the nonpayment, and TPW issued a notice to Riko's to vacate the property by Dec. 1, 2022.

The case went to trial for two days and featured numerous witnesses and over 25 exhibits.

In a memorandum of decision issued last month, Judge John Cirello said Riko's was in "substantial compliance" with the lease agreement and that TPW "did not pursue its claims for additional rent in a timely manner."

Cirello cited the legal defense, doctrine of laches, in his ruling.

"The doctrine of laches basically says if you sleep on your rights, it can prejudice you. You can't wait year after year after year," attorney for Riko's, John A. Cassone, told Patch. "You can't wait six years and say, 'Oh, by the way, you owe me for all this additional rent.'"

The building consists of Riko's on the first floor with apartments above the restaurant.

When the lease was entered into, Cirello said in his memorandum, the water and sewer lines on the premises were not separately metered.

Shortly after entering into the lease in 2016, TPW and Riko's discussed a separate water meter and one was installed, Cirello said, adding that the lease required Riko's to set up separate accounts for utilities.

However, Riko's was unable to do so because of the utility company's policy, Cirello said. The water and sewer companies only sent one bill to TPW for the usage at the property, Cirello pointed out.

"Plaintiff never provided an invoice or specific amount of money due each month for additional rent during the entire six-year term of the original lease," Cirello wrote, saying TPW calculated the amount owed using historic bills for the entire building and then performing "guesswork."

"Plaintiff was able to determine defendant's usage if it bothered to check the meter and could then charge defendant what was owed. Instead, plaintiff failed to undertake that simple task for six years and then 'guestimated' how much was owed and demanded payment," Cirello added.

Patch reached out to the representation for TPW Partners but did not immediately hear back Friday.

In his testimony at trial, Riko's co-owner Luigi Cardillo said you can't get data from the meter unless you go and read it.

"The only data that happens is you go there and you say, okay, it starts at zero, and then in three months I go back and I read it and it says 478, so there's my water usage," Cardillo said, according to court transcripts. "It doesn't spit out a printout. It doesn't spit out a ticket like the New York Stock Exchange. It just rolls, and rolls, and rolls depending on how many gallons of water it goes through. So if it's not read, you're not going to get any data."

TPW principal Prakash Wadhwani testified that, according to his understanding of the lease, "the responsibility resided with the tenant, with Riko's," for metering for utilities, court transcripts said.

In his memorandum, Cirello pointed out that Riko's has always been compliant with base rent payments, even throughout the COVID-19 pandemic when the restaurant was closed for a period of time.

He also wrote that the business spent over $600,000 to build out the space for the pizzeria over six to eight months after it moved in.

Cassone said the judge's ruling "vindicates" Riko's and co-owners Cardillo and Rico Imbrogno.

"Riko's turned a property that had one failed tenant after another into a very successful property and business," Cassone said. "Their business took off and they have been a top-of-the-line tenant."

Riko's has four years remaining on the current lease, and has an option for another five years, which they intend to exercise, according to Cassone.

The brand has expanded steadily over the years after establishing roots in Stamford. There are now franchise locations in Long Island, Massachusetts, Florida and soon-to-be in North Carolina.

Along with two restaurants in Stamford, there are pizzerias in Norwalk, Fairfield and Darien.

Menu items at Riko's include salads, salad pizzas, oven-baked wings, and of course, signature thin-crust pies with various toppings or specialties, including the popular hot oil pizza: homemade hot oil with a batch of stinger peppers on top. Hot oil can be added to any pie.