CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Chef Andarrio Johnson says May 17, 2023, is a day he won’t soon forget. It’s the day he woke up and saw his business, Cuzzo’s Cuisine, in flames.
The Charlotte Fire Department says someone driving by the restaurant early that morning saw the flames and called 911. Investigators ruled the fire accidental due to an electrical problem, causing at least $125,000 in damage.
Cheffing it up since he was 14, Johnson joined forces with his cousin — thus the name “Cuzzo’s” — and poured his heart, soul and South Carolina roots into a food truck in 2014. And in 2016 they opened their first brick and mortar on Tuckaseegee Road.
“You come in this door, we want you to feel the love,” he said. “Feel like you’re at home. We treat you like family.”
They fed kids who walked through their doors for free Tuesday-Friday like they were his own children with the help of donations. But now that’s at a standstill since this was the only location that offered the service.
In the meantime, he wants to continue to help his employees.
“They’re family, and I want to make sure they’re taken care of, because unemployment is not enough to — nowadays — not enough to live off of,” he said.
He says he started a gofundme page to pay his employees. Considering the circumstances, they will qualify for unemployment, but he says the $350 a week maximum that North Carolina offers will still leave his team with unpaid bills.
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