Lawsuit says the man who wanted to save the Gusto Lounge took the money and ran

The building at 504 Westport Road, one of the oldest structures in the midtown entertainment district, is home to a decade’s worth of shaky and short-lived business plans.

Since the former Stanford & Sons Comedy Club became Johnny Dare’s, in 2004, the two-story brick building along Westport’s main strip has been a revolving door of ill-conceived bar ideas. Johnny Dare’s failed to live up to its hype and closed; then the address became Karma, which exuded a certain charm and lasted a few years before it, too, shuttered. Hell Bar, a seeming attempt to revive the Johnny Dare’s biker-bar motif, closed so quickly that few remember it was ever there.

Then Gusto Lounge arrived, having pulled up stakes from its repellent former digs at 38th Street and Broadway. The place continues to operate on Westport Road, but a lawsuit filed in February indicates that it has been a troubled business since its 2011 opening.

Early last month, the partnership that owns Gusto Lounge – it includes lawyer Don Saxton and his brother, David Saxton – sued Philipp Vitti, the man they hired to run the Gusto operation. The Saxtons and their partners allege that Vitti took their money and absconded to Florida to open a nightclub in Orlando.

Also named in the lawsuit is Bobby Sippio, who briefly played for the Kansas City Chiefs in 2007, but got cut to make room for quarterback Tyler Thigpen and then became a journeyman Arena Football League player. The Gusto Lounge lawsuit is the least of Sippio’s legal problems; he was arrested in Florida for the kidnapping and attempted murder of his girlfriend’s brother in 2012.

Gusto Lounge’s troubles started not long after Don and David Saxton bought a 75 percent stake in 504 Tavern LLC, the business entity for Gusto Lounge, from Shawn Nelson in October 2011. After the Saxtons had control of 504 Tavern, Sergio Acosta came along and suggested that they reopen Gusto Lounge in Westport, according to the lawsuit that was filed in federal court in Kansas City.

Acosta had another idea: He would run the new Gusto Lounge, along with his deputy business manager, Vitti. It was Vitti who had tried to revive Gusto Lounge when it was still on Broadway.

The 504 Tavern partnership struck a management agreement with Acosta to run the business operations in return for a cut of the profits. It soon became apparent, however, that Vitti was the only one doing any work. So in early November 2011, when Gusto Lounge prepared to make its opening splash in Westport, Vitti himself became the business manager, running the bar and paying its bills.

Those duties gave Vitti access to a debit card tied to 504 Tavern’s bank account.

Six weeks after Vitti took Gusto Lounge’s reins, the bar states they were behind on utility bills, insurance premiums, payroll taxes and an assortment of other business expenses. Those details didn’t prevent 504 Tavern’s partners from keeping Vitti on the job. The partnership met with Vitti for three hours in December 2011 and told him to get his act together. About two months later, Vitti allegedly disappeared altogether without telling any of Gusto’s owners.

The partners, according to the lawsuit, said they figured out that Vitti was gone when they started getting calls from employees, asking how to run the business. (Don Saxton would not comment about the lawsuit, telling The Pitch he doesn’t litigate in the press.)

Even after that, 504 Tavern’s ownership waited another month before deciding to fire Vitti – an action taken without cutting off his access to Gusto’s bank account. Vitti, according to the lawsuit, withdrew “several thousands of dollars” within 24 hours after he got canned.

By that time, Missouri Gas Energy had shut off service to the bar, Kansas City Power & Light was within a day of cutting the electricity, and sales taxes hadn’t been paid.

Gusto’s owners figured out that Vitti had allegedly teamed up with Sippio to open a nightclub called Liquid, in Orlando, Florida. To do that, the lawsuit charges, the men had pilfered Gusto Lounge money to buy plane tickets to Florida and set up the new business.

Tracking down Vitti is tricky matter. The Pitch could not locate him for comment, and lawyers have not yet been able to serve him with the lawsuit.

Update: Saxton’s statements were later found defamatory in a 2015 ruling.