Staff from a bankrupt Christchurch restaurant are upset they won't be getting their pay.

The Villas in Montreal St closed at the end of July with the loss of an estimated 27 jobs.

Owners Ben Dunkin and Dave McLoughlin went into voluntary liquidation, citing the challenging environment of post-earthquake Christchurch.

Chef Hollie Allot says staff are owed about $67,000 in wages and holiday pay.

"For me, it was two weeks of holiday pay and one week's wages, because we worked the week and didn't get paid for that week."

Allot says Ben Dunkin has another business, a cafe called The Kitchen, and it's not fair he can carry on running it when they are struggling.

"It's quite a shame to see he's got his other business and he doesn't seem to have any repercussions of what happened, and he handled the whole situation quite awfully."

Dunkin had no comment when approached by Newstalk ZB.