Lake Forest Millionaire Sues Highland Park Restaurant

Marcus Lemonis agreed to buy In the Raw, the downtown Highland Park vegan restaurant, last December. After he says he spent over $100,000 paying its past-due bills, the owners told him he didn't own anything. Now, he's suing them.

For the past six years, Marcus Lemonis' relationship with small businesses has been fairly simple. He spots one he likes and, just when it seems to be on the verge of shuttering, he buys it. Now, he finds himself in a less typical, more frustrating situation with one Highland Park business: a lawsuit. Lemonis, the Lake Forest millionaire who has breathed new life into about 50 businesses in the past six years, is suing In the Raw, a vegan restaurant in downtown Highland Park. He says that after he invested more than $100,000 in the restaurant, its owners reneged on their deal. Lemonis shared with Patch legal documents as well as email correspondence between himself and the restaurant's owners and their lawyer about the failed partnership. …

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