Scottsdale restaurant owners fire back in dispute over Liquor Pig

As the staff of an Old Town Scottsdale restaurant works to create a fresh start, its founders continue their battle in Maricopa County Superior Court.

Liquor Pig opened in March 2025 on Fourth Avenue and Winfield Scott Plaza, touted as a long-anticipated project from hospitality veteran Scott Casey and chef Steven “Chops” Smith. It quickly attracted praise for unique cocktails, including a viral sipper served in a Spam tin, and an inventive, eclectic food menu.

Yet, by July, Smith was out of the kitchen. Casey exited in January 2026. Despite the internal shakeup, the restaurant carried on, and its team continued to impress diners. Then, on May 30, Liquor Pig shut down for a week, rebranded and reopened as Wayward. 

While the fresh look, new faces and evolved menu could be the end of the drama inside the four walls of the restaurant, its partners have traded allegations of wrongdoing in legal filings. That started in April, when Casey sued Christina and Christopher Foster, as well as a business that holds the restaurant’s liquor license. 

Casey claims the couple cut him out of a restaurant he co-owns, failed to pay him, prevented him from reviewing business records and continued to use his “tangible and intellectual property” at the restaurant and bar.

Christina Foster has previously told New Times that the case has “no merit” and asserted that she is the “rightful owner” of the Old Town restaurant. Neither Casey nor his attorney has yet responded to New Times’ request for comment on this latest court filing.

The same week Liquor Pig reopened as Wayward, the Fosters’ attorney responded to Casey’s claims. In that legal filing, the Fosters present a starkly different picture of this business relationship gone bad, alleging Casey and Smith “lured” them into taking over the restaurant as part of a scheme to offload their debt.

A handshake agreement or a scheme?

Casey and Smith began planning the restaurant around 2021 and leased the Scottsdale space in 2022, court documents said. Casey, a sommelier and restaurant consultant, and Smith met more than 20 years ago at the luxe Phoenix resort restaurant, A Different Pointe of View. 

The founders hired Christina Foster’s general contracting firm, CNC Contracting, to do work on the yet-to-open Liquor Pig in 2022. The parties disagree on how the Fosters got involved in the restaurant.

Casey claims he and Smith paid the Fosters “a large sum” to build the restaurant, but that they “subsequently ceased work and contact for over a year.” 

By early 2024, the Fosters returned with an offer, Casey’s suit said: For a stake in the restaurant, they’d complete the work. Casey and Smith made a handshake agreement with the couple.

As the restaurant progressed, Casey and his wife took out an $865,000 business loan. He also “brought $300,000 of investment, expensive essential equipment, his restaurant expertise and his labor,” the suit said.

In the Fosters’ legal filing, they share a different story. Casey and Smith, through their business Knife & Spirit, initially paid $120,000 for construction work. By 2023, Knife & Spirit couldn’t come up with the money needed to finish construction, the court document said, and owed CNC Contracting an additional estimated $350,000. 

The Liquor Pig founders then allegedly “lured” the Fosters “into being the next victims of their investment schemes,” court documents said. The couple was convinced to invest in and take over the yet-to-open restaurant, its equipment and the restaurant lease, they said, based on “great profit” projections and the founders’ experience in the restaurant industry.

When they took ownership of Liquor Pig in 2024, the Fosters and their businesses assumed about $2 million in debt, the court filing said, including money owed to CNC Contracting, the $865,000 business loan and other debt owed by Knife & Spirit. Christina Foster’s other company, MJR Investments, assumed the business loan, the filing said, but all parties guaranteed it. 

“For that debt-for-equity swap, Casey and Smith received only the opportunity to work for the Restaurant as employees,” the legal filing said, “and only if the restaurant retired $2 million of debt — a feat they assured (the Fosters) that would be easily accomplished — Casey and Smith then would become partners in the Restaurant.”

Casey claimed that he and Smith co-owned the restaurant with the Fosters as a partnership. Although Christopher Foster is a party in the lawsuit, business records identify Christina Foster as the sole owner of CNC Contracting and MJR Investments, which holds the restaurant’s liquor license.

In May 2024, Christina Foster, Casey and Smith formed a business entity together, Knife and Spirit 2, LLC. Foster controlled a 70% membership stake, with Casey and Smith splitting the other 30%, the Fosters’ court fling said. By October, that business entity was terminated.

That fall, the Fosters claim that Casey and Smith notified their Knife & Spirit investors that they were winding down the business they had formed to launch Liquor Pig and sold their equipment to CNC Contracting. 

Knife & Spirit is still active with the state. Kelly Tiernan, a former investor, sued the company last year, claiming the owners wound down the business without investors’ consent. In September 2025, a judge awarded Tiernan repayment of a $100,000 investment, plus interest and fees.

Questions circle over firings, intellectual property

When Liquor Pig opened in March 2025, Casey assumed the role of general manager, with Smith working as head chef, Casey’s suit said. He alleges they received weekly disbursements as part of the partnership. Casey said he is still owed $16,150. The Fosters deny this, claiming they paid Casey and Smith weekly consulting fees. 

Despite the disagreement over the founders’ roles and pay, what is clear is that the honeymoon period at Liquor Pig was brief.

Smith left the restaurant in July after “disputes” with the couple, Casey’s suit said. The Fosters instead say that Casey recommended the chef’s termination.

Although he was not originally a part of the lawsuit, the Fosters have added Smith to this legal drama. When reached last week, the chef said he was unaware of this development. He echoed Casey’s sentiment that the Fosters pushed them out of the restaurant but declined to comment further on the case.

Casey was fired in January. He also received a letter asserting he had no ownership and warning him against trespassing at the restaurant.

The former founder has also asked the court to block the Fosters from using Liquor Pig’s intellectual property. Casey claims it is a brand and business he’s consulted under since 2014.

The Fosters, meanwhile, allege that MJR Investment paid for the restaurant’s logo and claim they own the name and its mark. Now, they’re asking the judge in the case to prevent Casey from using the name for a restaurant or bar to avoid “mislead(ing) consumers into believing Casey is still associated with the Restaurant.”

For now, no restaurant or bar in the Valley bears the Liquor Pig name. 

The case has been assigned to the county’s Commercial Court, a specialized court for resolving business disputes. While Wayward tries to start fresh, Liquor Pig’s legacy and its founders’ dispute haunt the Old Town Scottsdale restaurant.