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Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story reported that the owners of Z Town Asian Gastro Bar & Restaurant owed more than $53,000 in unpaid rent based on a three-day notice posted at the business. The landlord’s attorney later confirmed the rent had been paid July 7 and that the notice was errantly issued after the payment was not reflected in the property’s accounting records. The business does not have an outstanding rent balance.
Owners of an Elk Grove nightclub where two men were killed in a shooting last year do not owe back rent after all, according to the attorney who issued a notice this week demanding more than $53,000 in unpaid rent.
A three-day notice to pay rent or quit was posted Monday outside the Z Town Asian Gastro Bar & Restaurant at 8409 Elk Grove Florin Road. But after the nightclub’s owners contacted the landlord’s attorney, he confirmed Tuesday that the account had been paid in full and no balance is owed.
The notice had been signed by Gerry Schmelter, a Carlsbad-based attorney representing the property’s landlord. The notice stated that Z Town owed $53,828.69 in unpaid rent and related charges, plus $1,012.50 in attorney’s fees and costs, and directed the business to pay $54,841.19 within three days or risk forfeiting its lease.
In an email Tuesday, Schmelter confirmed that “as of today there is no current balance owed on this account,” citing the property’s payment ledger.
The nightclub’s owners said they had paid the rent July 7, nearly two weeks before the notice was posted, and notified the landlord’s attorney that the payment had not been reflected in the accounting records.
Schmelter, a Carlsbad-based lawyer, declined to comment Wednesday on the tenant’s lease or the circumstances surrounding the notice, saying he and his client “cannot comment on tenant relationships and leases, or operational issues” as a matter of policy.
The business owners did not respond to The Sacramento Bee’s requests for comment before publication Tuesday. Shortly before 11:30 p.m., they provided documentation showing the rent had been paid July 7 and that the landlord’s attorney acknowledged the payment had not been reflected in the account records before the notice was issued. The owners declined to comment further about the matter or the status of the business.
Z Town is co-owned and run by eight friends all in their 20s: Erik Tran, Alex Tran, Thao Nguyen, Tony Le, Vince Tran, Nghia Nguyen, and two more silent partners, according to a Bee story published in January 2024.
The nightclub was opened at a location previously occupied by a Chinese restaurant, Uncle’s Chinese Cuisine. The Z Town group owners agreed on a buyout deal and took over the lease, completely rebranded and opened their gathering spot on Halloween 2022.
The Nov. 2 shooting just before closing at the popular Elk Grove nightclub reportedly stemmed from an argument inside the business, Elk Grove police detectives said at the time. Gunfire erupted about 1:30 a.m. when the nightclub was crowded.
Phuc Minh Vo, 34, of San Jose and Kim Kha Huynh, 18, of Chino Hills, about 35 miles east of Los Angeles, were killed in last year’s shooting inside the nightclub. Police said two other men wounded in the shooting were later released from the hospital.
Investigators identified Roderick Bernard Randall, 44, as the shooting suspect. Randall had been on the run and considered armed and dangerous until January, when Texas authorities notified Elk Grove police of his arrest in that state on suspicion of providing false information to federal agents.
Randall will be extradited to Sacramento County once his federal case in Texas concludes, the Elk Grove Police Department has said. Randall will then be booked into Sacramento County Main Jail on two counts of homicide, assault with a deadly weapon and being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.
As of Tuesday, Randall remained listed in the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, though the location where he’s being held was not listed.
In March, Randall was awaiting federal sentencing at an ICE detention facility in Texas after admitting he was caught crossing the U.S.-Mexico border using a false identity.
