Lolo’s Kusina leaves Novo Asian Food Hall

Novo Asian Food Hall was built to be a showcase for Pittsburgh’s Asian-owned restaurants. While visitors to The Terminal might still see a showcase of locally owned eateries amid national chains in the Strip District property, cracks behind the scenes, developing for more than a year, are beginning to show.

In June, Max and Zoey Blume, owners of Lolo’s Kusina, pulled their Filipino eatery from the food hall.

At the heart of their departure is a dispute over transparency regarding profits from the food hall’s bar program. According to the “Novo Asian Food Hall Business Plan” from March 2023 obtained by the Post-Gazette and confirmed as accurate by several of the business owners, each of the seven stall operations were promised an equal split of bar revenue, with an eighth share going back to Novo to cover operating costs.

Instead, owners of five of the seven stalls allege founder Alex Tang and his company, Asian 168, have claimed the bar is losing money, yet refused to share any operating or accounting information following what parties describe as a high-tension meeting in July 2024.

As the Post-Gazette first reported in February, owners of four stalls — Sumi’s Cakery, Teachana, Kung Fu Chicken and Mola 2 — are pursuing separate and ongoing legal action. According to Christina Chen, co-owner of Teachana, that lawsuit is now in mediation with Asian 168. (Tang is the majority owner of Mola 2 and part-owner of Kung Fu Chicken.)

Tang, citing advice from his lawyers, declined comment for this story as well as the February article.

The Blumes decided to pursue a separate course.

“Zoe and I didn’t want to be stuck in a lawsuit since we are having our first kid. We just wanted to leave without a fuss and put all of our energy into Lola’s,” Max Blume said, referring to their Lawrenceville establishment, Lola’s Eatery.

Blume said he was excited when he heard there was going to be a prominently located food hall highlighting the city’s Asian restaurant community. He’d hoped to launch a Filipino concept there to showcase his culinary heritage, but the slots were already filled. When one of the original concepts dropped out, Tang reached out to see if he was still interested.

“We felt so lucky to have that position. He did a lot to make me feel like I could trust him,” Blume said. “But like your parents say, don’t make a deal when you’re happy.”

According to Blume, Tang overloaded him with information early on.

Rather than owning the stall outright like most of the other businesses, the Blumes and Lolo’s agreed to sublease from Tang.

Tang also owns the Tan Lac Vien stall. The other restaurant operators allege in their lawsuit that Tang aims to push the rest of them out eventually.

Tang agreed to sign a loan note for Lolo’s to cover the approximate $250,000 ownership buy-in fee, with the Blumes repaying the debt monthly to Asian 168, per Blume.

They sent Tang a $5,000 check toward the loan note, but he never deposited it, claiming he wanted final build-out costs determined before repayment started.

“If we got a part of the bar profit, we could pay our loan every month,” Blume said.

Blume alleges, as do the plaintiffs in the ongoing lawsuit, that Tang refused to provide proof the bar wasn’t profitable, and that Tang imposed additional fees and conditions, including a $60 weekly cash payment for dining room maintenance staff. Blume said Tang continually refused to deposit checks, insisting the Blumes owed more than they previously agreed upon.

“Part of learning is you rely on the expertise of people. But you also rely on their goodwill, and that’s where you can get burnt,” Blume said.

They told Tang in September 2024 they wanted to depart Novo by that December. Leaving took much longer than anticipated.

Blume said Tang didn’t agree to the proposal and offered to change the base rent instead. It took several more months of meetings with lawyers, and the threat of a lawsuit, for the Blumes to make their exit.

Lolo’s Kusina closed on June 8.

“We went into Novo to push Filipino food. I wish we could fight more for what we were promised, but this will help us move on,” Blume said.

Some of the food hall stall’s staff have moved to Lola’s, which the couple opened in Lawrenceville in 2019. That establishment is now open seven days a week, and Blume plans to add more Filipino food to the menu. A replacement for the now-vacant stall at Novo has not been named.

“It took us a while to feel at peace with Lolo’s not being there anymore. But now I feel happy that we are out and can focus on what we have in our lives,” Blume said.