https://www.abc.ca.gov/licensing/license-lookup/single-license/?RPTTYPE=12&LICENSE=674553
The allegations arrive amid a significant transition at Timestead, which continues to publicly operate under the Modern Times identity even though operational and financial responsibility for the downtown restaurant and bar passed to a new majority owner earlier this summer.
A former Timestead employee contacted SanDiegoVille after quitting the downtown establishment on Friday, August 28. The worker alleges a paycheck dated that day could not be cashed and says it was the third recent payroll period in which Timestead employees experienced problems obtaining their wages.
SanDiegoVille reviewed a photograph of the former employee's August 28 paycheck, which identifies HP Modern Local LLC as the company issuing the payment. The employee says an attempt to cash the check was unsuccessful and intends to obtain additional documentation from the bank concerning the attempted transaction.
The employee also provided SanDiegoVille with documentation confirming that the California Labor Commissioner's Office received a wage claim against "Timestead by Modern Times" on August 29 and assigned the matter to its San Diego Wage Claim Adjudication office. Filing a wage claim does not establish that the underlying allegations are true, and SanDiegoVille has not seen any determination by the Labor Commissioner's Office regarding the claim.
The source additionally provided SanDiegoVille with screenshots of conversations discussing alleged payroll problems affecting multiple Timestead workers across different pay periods. The communications describe multiple instances in which employees allegedly experienced problems cashing or receiving payment for their payroll checks.
"Every week someone's check bounces," one participant wrote in a conversation reviewed by SanDiegoVille.
SanDiegoVille is withholding identifying details about the people participating in those conversations because some remain employed at Timestead and have expressed concern about potential workplace repercussions. SanDiegoVille has not independently verified every payroll incident discussed in the messages, but the communications indicate that concerns about payroll extended beyond the former employee's August 28 paycheck.
According to the former employee, the problems stretch back several pay periods and emerged around the time Timestead underwent a significant ownership transition. The source says they were originally hired by Modern Times while the downtown location was still operating under The Local's identity, before Timestead by Modern Times officially debuted in late 2025. The employee says workers were later informed that another investor had acquired part of the business and initially understood that Timestead would have two owners.
The former employee alleges that during an earlier payroll period, checks issued to numerous staff members could not initially be cashed, including checks belonging to back-of-house employees. The source says their own paycheck successfully cleared during that episode and alleges additional funds were subsequently provided to address payroll issues.
During another pay period, the employee alleges workers received checks dated for their regular Friday payday but were told not to cash them until the following Monday. Several subsequent pay periods passed without apparent problems before another alleged issue arose Friday.
After quitting, the former employee says they attempted to cash their August 28 paycheck but were told it could not be cashed at that time. The employee says they intend to return to the bank and obtain documentation concerning the unsuccessful attempt.
The former employee further alleges that after returning to Timestead and demanding a solution to the payroll dispute, management called San Diego Police when the worker refused to leave. Communications reviewed by SanDiegoVille indicate that other people associated with Timestead were aware of the confrontation, although SanDiegoVille has not independently verified the circumstances surrounding the police response.
The former employee also claims to be the fifth worker to leave Timestead during August, although SanDiegoVille has not independently confirmed the number of recent departures or the circumstances surrounding them.
The allegations come amid a remarkably complicated restructuring of Modern Times that makes a seemingly simple question surprisingly difficult to answer: What exactly does Timestead have to do with Modern Times anymore?
Modern Times was once a unified San Diego company encompassing beer production, coffee and an expanding collection of tasting rooms and restaurants. Following years of rapid expansion and financial difficulties, the company entered receivership and was acquired by Maui Brewing Company's parent company, Craft 'Ohana, for approximately $15.3 million in 2022.
Craft 'Ohana subsequently divested from the business, and Modern Times was effectively divided into separate operations involving beer, coffee and hospitality venues.
Wings & Arrow now owns the Modern Times beer business and intellectual property. Separately operated hospitality and coffee businesses have continued using the Modern Times identity through various arrangements even as the company that owns Modern Times Beer has become increasingly removed from their day-to-day operations.
The separation became particularly apparent earlier this summer when Modern Times' Far West Lounge abruptly closed in Encinitas. Wes Van De Vort, CEO of Wings & Arrow and owner of the Modern Times beer business, told SanDiegoVille in June that the hospitality group licensing the Modern Times name had elected to walk away from both Far West and North Park's Flavordome. Wings & Arrow decided to take over the North Park location but could not reach an agreement to assume Far West.
Van De Vort stressed at the time that Wings & Arrow had little operational involvement with those hospitality businesses despite their use of the Modern Times name.
"Essentially we had very little to do with the existing tasting rooms besides supplying them with beer," Van De Vort told SanDiegoVille.
When SanDiegoVille specifically asked about Timestead, Van De Vort said the downtown operation existed under a separate arrangement.
"That's on a separate license," Van De Vort said. "You would need to reach out to Duncan for his plans with Timestead."
Timestead, however, had already begun undergoing another significant transition.
San Diego Beer News reported July 8 that restaurant-industry veteran and aspiring brewer Rhett Terrebonne had become majority owner of the 12,400-square-foot Timestead after initially approaching hospitality executive Duncan Ward about using the former Resident Brewing production facility inside the property to launch an independent beer brand.
The report stated that what began as a discussion about brewing expanded into Terrebonne taking a majority interest in Timestead and preparing to become the venue's general manager. Ward would maintain a stake in Timestead, according to the July report, while the venue would continue using its existing identity, branding and menu.
Ward has now provided SanDiegoVille with additional information indicating that Terrebonne assumed substantially broader responsibility for the business even before that ownership change was publicly reported.
"In early June, operational and financial responsibility for Timestead passed to Rhett, with the understanding he would put in substantial capital to pay down outstanding debts and reopen the brewery," Ward told SanDiegoVille in response to questions about the current ownership structure and payroll allegations.
Ward said he has not participated in Timestead's operations since that transition.
"I've had no involvement in the day-to-day running of the business since then, and have no access to its accounts," Ward said.
Ward declined to address the specific payroll allegations or the wage claim, saying he did not have sufficient information to do so.
"I can't speak to the specifics of payroll or the wage claim you've mentioned - I'd only be speculating, and given it's an active matter, I don't think that would be fair to anyone involved," Ward said. "Rhett would be best placed to answer questions about how the business has been run since June."
Ward's account is particularly relevant because the former employee alleges that payroll difficulties emerged during approximately the same period that operational and financial responsibility for Timestead was changing hands.
It also provides new context for allegations that additional money had to be contributed to keep payroll moving. Ward independently confirmed that Terrebonne's assumption of responsibility came with an understanding that he would contribute "substantial capital" to pay down outstanding debts and reopen the brewery. Ward did not say that the capital was specifically intended for payroll, and SanDiegoVille has not independently established whether any of Terrebonne's investment was used to cover employee wages.
Terrebonne's plans for the property extend beyond Timestead itself. He has been developing an independent beer operation called Makali'i Brewing using the dormant production facility previously occupied by Resident Brewing.
"In layman's terms, Makali'i means 'new beginning,'" Terrebonne told San Diego Beer News in July. "It will not be Modern Times or Niuhi."
The planned independent brewery further complicates Timestead's current relationship with Modern Times. The venue continues using the "Timestead by Modern Times" identity and serving Modern Times products, while the person Ward identifies as financially and operationally responsible for the business is simultaneously preparing to launch a separate brewery inside the property that he has expressly said will not be Modern Times.
The corporate structure underneath Timestead provides another important piece of the puzzle. California business records for HP Modern Local LLC, an active company formed in May 2025 for "Bars & Restaurants," list Ward as manager and chief executive officer. The records reviewed by SanDiegoVille were updated in March, months before Terrebonne assumed operational and financial responsibility, and therefore may not reflect the company's current ownership or management structure.
The August 28 paycheck reviewed by SanDiegoVille, however, was issued by HP Modern Local LLC, indicating that the company continued to serve as the payroll entity for at least the former employee nearly three months after Ward says responsibility for Timestead passed to Terrebonne.
Ward's response therefore clarifies the operational picture while leaving a narrower corporate question unresolved: how Terrebonne's acquisition and assumption of financial responsibility were structured within HP Modern Local LLC, and whether Ward continues to hold any formal ownership or management position in the entity despite having no involvement in Timestead's operations or access to its accounts.
The former employee alleges that the payroll problems began around the same period that Timestead's ownership and operational control were changing and says additional money had to be put toward payroll during an earlier shortfall. The source further alleges employees were told that significant financial obligations existed as the ownership structure changed.
Ward's statement confirms that outstanding debts existed when responsibility passed to Terrebonne and that Terrebonne was expected to contribute substantial capital to pay them down. It does not establish the amount or nature of those debts, whether they included unpaid payroll obligations, or whether they contributed to any of the paycheck problems alleged by employees.
Terrebonne acknowledged challenges facing the downtown business when speaking with San Diego Beer News in July, although he did not discuss payroll. He said shutting down the venue to renovate and redecorate following The Local's departure hurt its ability to retain some regular customers and said his immediate priority was familiarizing himself with Timestead's day-to-day operations and maximizing the business' potential.
Less than three months after Ward says operational and financial responsibility passed to Terrebonne, a former employee has now filed a state wage claim alleging payroll problems, while employee communications reviewed by SanDiegoVille contain additional allegations that multiple workers experienced problems with their paychecks across multiple pay periods.
The ownership clarification also changes the picture surrounding Modern Times Pubs. Earlier reporting had described Timestead as remaining within the Modern Times Pubs structure following Terrebonne's acquisition. Ward now tells SanDiegoVille that Modern Times Pubs is a separate operation in which he is no longer involved.
"On Modern Times Pubs - that's a separate operation, now entirely Wes's, and I have no involvement there either," Ward said.
That statement further illustrates how rapidly the businesses carrying the Modern Times name have changed hands and separated from one another.
Modern Times Coffee has likewise continued operating under the Modern Times name and recently opened its Cathedral of Caffeination at 3052 El Cajon Boulevard in North Park, a coffee roastery and taproom inside the Brewery Igniter complex.
The result is an unusually fragmented Modern Times brand in San Diego. Modern Times Beer, Modern Times Coffee, Modern Times Pubs and Timestead may share elements of a familiar identity or products while operating under different ownership, licensing and management structures.
SanDiegoVille contacted Terrebonne seeking comment on the payroll allegations and asking whether Timestead employees have recently received payroll checks that bounced or otherwise could not be negotiated, how many workers and pay periods were affected, whether all affected employees have since been paid and whether additional funds had to be contributed to address an earlier payroll shortfall.
Terrebonne was also asked to clarify his current ownership interest in Timestead and HP Modern Local LLC and how his assumption of operational and financial responsibility for the business was structured.
Wings & Arrow CEO Van De Vort was separately asked to clarify what relationship, if any, the independently owned Modern Times beer business continues to have with Timestead, including whether Wings & Arrow has any ownership, management, financial or operational involvement in the venue and whether its connection is essentially limited to licensing the Modern Times name and supplying products.
SanDiegoVille also asked whether Terrebonne's acquisition and his planned launch of an entirely separate brewery inside Timestead have altered the venue's relationship with the Modern Times brand.
As of publication, Terrebonne and Van De Vort had not responded to SanDiegoVille's latest requests for comment.
Those distinctions are particularly relevant because Modern Times remains highly visible to San Diego consumers even as the businesses operating under its name have become increasingly separated.
Modern Times Beer remains on the market, Modern Times Coffee has opened its new North Park roastery and café, and Timestead continues operating downtown under the "Timestead by Modern Times" identity. Yet the underlying businesses are now divided among separate ownership, licensing and operating arrangements.
At its height, Modern Times operated breweries, coffee operations, tasting rooms and restaurants throughout the West Coast. Its original Point Loma brewery closed in 2024, beer production shifted to AleSmith under a contract arrangement, Craft 'Ohana stepped away and Wings & Arrow acquired the beer business and intellectual property. Meanwhile, separately operated businesses continued using the Modern Times name.
This summer brought another round of upheaval, with Far West closing in Encinitas, Wings & Arrow taking control of Modern Times Pubs, and operational and financial responsibility for Timestead passing to Terrebonne. At the same time, Modern Times Coffee has moved in the opposite direction, opening its new Cathedral of Caffeination in North Park.
For customers, the Modern Times connection remains readily apparent. Behind that familiar name, however, the businesses operating under the Modern Times banner are now part of a complicated web of separate ownership, licensing and operating arrangements involving several different parties.
Whether any of that upheaval contributed to the payroll problems alleged by the former employee remains unclear. Ward says he has had no involvement in Timestead's day-to-day operations or access to its accounts since early June and directed questions concerning the business' operations since then to Terrebonne.
SanDiegoVille will update this story as additional documentation becomes available or Terrebonne and Wings & Arrow respond.
Timestead is located at 1065 Fourth Avenue in downtown San Diego.
Originally published on September 1, 2026.
