Seattle sandwich shop owner disappears without trace, abandons employees

Seattle — Seattle sandwich shop owner, Evan Bramer disappeared without a trace, leaving employees wondering how they’re going to pay rent.

First reported by The Stranger, the owner of the Honeyhole, Evan Bramer, has not been seen or heard from since Thursday.

KIRO 7 talked with one former employee, who quit three weeks ago. He said he quit after Bramer cut his hours in half to save the company money.

Now his former place of work is dark and shuttered with a 48-hour sign on the door, posted Oct. 31, 2023. It was placed there by property managers who will enter the premises on Nov. 2, to confirm the Bramer has abandoned the space.

“It’s sad because we used to have a line to the door all the time,” said former Honeyhole employee Cody Deasy.

KIRO 7 caught him walking by his now-former place of work. He said his friends and former co-workers are without a job, and some haven’t been paid.

“It’s just awful. some of them can’t pay their rent. It just feels like we were scammed almost,” said Cody.

Current employees told KIRO 7 they haven’t seen or heard from Bramer since Thursday, despite multiple attempts from several people. They said their paper checks bounced, the food order account lapsed, and their website and building fees are unpaid.

They attempted to file a missing person’s report for Bramer, but Seattle Police said the report wasn’t finished so it’s not in their system.

“I wouldn’t put it past him to not pay his bills,” said Deasy.

SPD did confirm, there is another investigation surrounding Bramer, not at the Honeyhole address, but that’s as detailed as they would get.

KIRO 7 also learned that Bramer is a convicted sex offender in Arizona. He was sentenced to five years and served three per Maricopa County court documents. Bramer also reportedly fled to Mexico while on probation after he was released from prison in 2020.

“Now with this new ownership, ever since that kind of happened it just kind of unraveled. We just started seeing a lot of notes on the post notes next door just Honeyhole wasn’t open for like a couple of days,” said Roger Maldonado, who founded Mediums Collective next door to the Honeyhole.

Medium’s Co-Owner, Edgar Soto added, “If they haven’t had their check to cover that and whatever else they need to take care of, that’s a really unfortunate situation and they’re probably stressing out right now how to take care of the financial things they need to take care of.”

Bramer bought the Honeyhole over the summer. Since then the business received two health code violations in the September inspection. The State’s Department of Labor Industries received another complaint about the business on Oct. 23.

Its former, loyal customers say looking at it now, it’s a far cry from the sandwich shop’s heyday as a staple in the community.

“It’s a local legend of a spot,” said Benjamin Jespersen. “I’d get the Yes Eddy.

Melinda, who also is a regular said, “I pass by the HoneyHole all the time. I usually get sandwiches here.”

Her usual order, “the Waverider it’s like a turkey with like avocado and this really good aioli.”

Employees said they want to share their stories but are waiting until the police investigation is wrapped up. The property manager did not respond to requests regarding when payments stopped and how much is owed.

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