Nasirul Alam Porag said the restaurant employs about 50 staff but 20 were present at the time of the attack.
The owner of the Bangladeshi restaurant Holey Artisan Bakery at the centre of the bloody hostage-taking said he wasn't able to communicate with his staff.
Nasirul Alam Porag was in Bangkok on Saturday when news reached him that terrorists took dozens of hostages at the restaurant in Dhaka's Gulshan area, a diplomatic zone. Ten hours later, security forces stormed the restaurant, killing at least six of the terrorists and rescuing 13 people. Twenty foreigners were killed by the gunmen who had held them hostage. Two policemen were killed in an earlier gunbattle and 26 people wounded.
Mr Porag told The Associated Press, "Up until five minutes ago I didn't know anything. There is no one on the ground we can communicate with, not even the staff."
He said the restaurant employs about 50 staff but 20 were present at the time of the attack.
It opened two years ago, and he is one of three owners. They decided to open a new restaurant in Bangkok, which he is managing.