It’s curtains for Marrakesh, the Turkish, Moroccan and North African restaurant on Front Street that opened six weeks ago. Carpenters, vendors, cooks and wait staff have been trying to collect payment from owner Sam Rahman, whose father owns a restaurant by the same name in Jacksonville.

On Wednesday morning, the restaurant was trashed with orange cushions and silverware strewn on the floor, a table overturned and the gauzy white curtains that hung in the front windows torn down. The doors were locked, and Rahman was nowhere to be found.

Property owner John Sutton said the tenant at 21 N. Front Street owed rent, but declined to comment on how much.

Disgruntled workers from the former restaurant were eating lunch at I Love New York pizza across the street from Marrakesh, whose doors were closed on Tuesday. A cook said the restaurant closed Tuesday because there was no food to serve.

As of Wednesday, two wage payment claims have been filed so far with state labor officials.

Neal O’Briant, a spokesman with the N.C. Department of Labor, said that when complaints like these are made, an investigator with the agency’s Wage and Hour Bureau tries to contact the employer to see if the workers’ claims can be substantiated. If so, O’Briant said, the investigator will try to work with the employer to get the employees paid the amounts owed to them.

If the employer refuses to pay, the labor officials can take the case to court through the state attorney general’s office, or the employee can sue their former boss directly in small claims court, O’Briant said.

Owner of A&B Valet and Parking Brad Hodges also said he is owed about $3,000 plus his valet podium and equipment from working with Wilmington’s Marrakesh. He said the checks written for his valet services have bounced, and he plans to file a formal complaint.

"In 11 years, nobody has ever walked away like this," he said.

Three subcontractors filed liens against the restaurant’s general contractor and Rahman for non-payment of services, according to the StarNews.

Rahman faces a separate lawsuit from neighbors Donald and Kara Lashley for emitting exhaust from the restaurant’s kitchen vents into their property in violation of an earlier agreement between the two property owners.

The Wilmington restaurant has no affiliation with the Jacksonville Marrakesh, said Rahman’s brother, who answered the phone at the Jackonsville restaurant. The brother said he shared the same last name as Sam but would not give his first name over the phone.

“I’m trying to get into contact with him myself,” he said. “It’s a big disappointment to me and my father.”