Hi Felicia in Oakland owes more than $100,000 to former workers, says city

Hi Felicia violated Oakland's minimum-wage laws and must pay $105,555 to more than a dozen former workers, according to the city.

The owner of Oakland’s once-buzzy Hi Felicia has gone from Michelin aspirations last year to shutting down the restaurant in May and now, as of this week, having the business owe more than $100,000 to former employees.

Hi Felicia violated Oakland’s minimum-wage laws and must pay $105,555 to more than a dozen former workers, according to a notice the city sent on Wednesday to owner Imana (who is known by just one name) that was first reported by the San Francisco Chronicle.

That amount in restitution checks is due in just over 40 days.

The city asserts that Hi Felicia’s service-charge policy did not “comport with the requirements of Measure FF,” an Oakland-specific directive that states that hospitality employers who collect service charges from customers must pay that money in full to the workers who performed the services.

Hi Felicia instead gave 10 percent of service charges to employees and used the rest to supplement higher hourly wages for its employees, the city found.

Imana took to Instagram this week to defend the restaurant, saying that her business model was to “have a service charge to supplement a fair-living wage to all employees.”

“Regardless of the fact that every dollar of service charge was distributed to the employees both tangibly on their check as a ‘service fee’ pay out and higher hourly wages,” she wrote, “the city of Oakland has determined that the only correct way to distribute service fees in Alameda county is 100 percent to an employee on their check.”

Imana said she plans to appeal the city’s determination.

In its brief run, Hi Felica was one of Oakland’s hottest restaurants. The Michelin Guide listed it in 2022, writing: “With an emphasis on equity, diversity, and of course, incredibly delicious dishes, the mononymous owner-chef Imana has created a fine dining experience unlike anything the world has seen before, as bold and brash as the building’s exterior.”

The brick-and-mortar followed an underground debut that drew the attention of celebrity chefs and such culinary luminaries as Alice Waters with its seven-course menus and semi-secret supper club vibe.

Hi Felicia’s sister wine bar in San Francisco, Sluts, remains open.