WILMINGTON, Del. – Bugaboo Creek Steak House owner Charlie Brown’s, which calls itself New Jersey’s biggest steakhouse chain, filed for bankruptcy protection, citing assets of less than $50,000 and liabilities of between $50 million and $100 million.
The restaurant chain, owned by New York-based private asset management firm Trimaran Capital Partners, filed for Chapter 11 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware.
Charlie Brown’s was started by three businessmen in Warren, New Jersey in 1966 and expanded to New York and Pennsylvania, according to the company’s website.
In 2007, Charlie Brown’s Acquisition Corp., the restaurant chain’s holding company, bought the Bugaboo Creek Steak House chain of restaurants for $24 million from Rare Hospitality International Inc.
The Bugaboo unit is also seeking bankruptcy protection, Bloomberg News said.
An employee at the Bugaboo Creek in Warwick told Providence Business News that it had closed on Wednesday evening and could not disclose how many employees were affected.
A news release on the CB Holding Corp. website says it plans to close 10 Bugaboo Creek Steak Houses and 20 Charlie Brown’s Steakhouse restaurants.
The release lists five Bugaboo Creek locations in Massachusetts that will be closed including: Brockton, Burlington, Dedham, Plymouth and Watertown.
The company did not list the Seekonk or Warwick location on the new release published Nov. 15.
The case is: In re Charlie Brown’s Steakhouse Fishkill Inc. U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.>
The BUG-a-BOO is a neat place!