Carmen’s Café Nicole, a popular breakfast-and-lunch restaurant on Water Street, has been seized by the Massachusetts Department of Revenue for failure to pay taxes.
According to the department’s website, the owner, Aria Capone, owes the state more than $228,000.
Capone said in an email Thursday that she has been working with an attorney and a certified public accountant to get the restaurant back and reopened after it was shut down more than a week ago by the state.
She said the situation was “very hard for myself and my family right now.”
Capone said the restaurant has been a staple in Plymouth since 1999. She bought it nine-and-a-half years ago.
She said Thursday that it was “not the best time” for an interview but has not responded to subsequent requests for comment.
A spokesperson for the Department of Revenue said it could not comment on the case but explained that people or businesses are placed on the department’s delinquent taxpayer list when they owe personal income tax or are responsible for unpaid meals taxes, sales taxes, or withholding taxes. Those on the list owe more than $25,000 for at least six months from the date that the taxes were assessed, the spokesperson said.
Employees of the café have started a GoFundMe page to help settle the debt. It had raised $3,500 as of late Friday.
“Plymouth has lost a piece of its heart,” the page says. “Carmen’s Café, a beloved local gem owned by Aria Capone, was seized without warning – despite her paying her meal taxes the last 3 months with the difficulty of inflation.”
“For years, Aria has poured her heart and soul into this café, serving our community with warmth, kindness, and incredible food,” it continues. “Now, she’s facing an unfair legal battle to save the business she built from the ground up.”
Like other businesses on Water Street, the restaurant faced challenges in recent years because of roadwork related to the rerouting of a major sewer line from under the harbor that caused extended street closures and detours.
Fred Thys can be reached at fred@plymouthindependent.org.