Restaurant owner and former San Jose Sharks prospect Alex Hult is fighting back after he was sued by his landlord for back rent on his Mountain View location, which has been closed since March.
The owner of Flights restaurants, with four Bay Area locations, has planned a demonstration he's dubbed Save Small Biz and invited other small business owners to "stand up against unfair landlords," Hult said in a Facebook post.
The rally is planned for 2 p.m. Friday in Palo Alto.
Hult told the Mercury News his wife was served with a lawsuit last Saturday at the couple's home in Los Gatos. The landlord was suing Hult for back rent on the Mountain View Flights, which has been closed since the start of the coronavirus shelter in place in March.
The Flights Los Gatos location has been open for months, initially serving customers not only takeout meals from the restaurant but also boxes of groceries and other household necessities, with Hult working in the distribution line himself. Most recently, he opened the Los Gatos location for outdoor dining.
The Campbell and Burlingame locations also have been open for takeout, and the landlords for those other three Bay Area restaurants have given Hult breaks on the rent, he told the Mercury News.
Hult, a native of Sweden, was drafted by the Sharks in 2003 but never saw NHL action. He was an active player for multiple clubs overseas until 2013.
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After his playing days ended, Hult opened his Los Gatos fine dining restaurant in 2013 as Hult's.
