Sunset Grill will reorganize
Files Chapter 11 papers
The owner of a longtime Allston watering hole and restaurant known for its extensive beer menu, including 113 craft beers on tap, has filed for bankruptcy protection.
Sunset Partners Inc. — parent company of Sunset Grill & Tap and Sunset Cantina — filed Chapter 11 papers in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Boston this week, listing $5.67 million in debt and $1.06 million in assets.
Owners Marc Berkowitz and Ara Balikian bought the restaurants from founder Marc Kadish in 2014. Sunset Grill opened in 1988, and Sunset Cantina debuted in 2001.
“(Sunset Partners) had incurred a lot of debt and sort of adopted a lot of debt in connection with purchasing the business a few years ago and trying to revive (it),” said David Madoff, the company’s attorney. “It’s a great old business, but needed some infusion of cash and some repairs, and that got a little ahead of them.”
Madoff said the owners hope to “fix the problem.”
“The restaurants are all busy and do well,” he said. “We expect them to stay open.”
Fears that the state Department of Revenue would seize the restaurants for failure to pay taxes prompted Sunset Partners’ bankruptcy filing, Madoff said.
Court documents show the DOR is owed $500,000.
Allston real estate firm Hamilton Realty, Sunset Partners’ landlord and a lender, is the largest creditor. Hamilton is owed $4.2 million, according to court documents.
Madoff said, “We’re working with (Hamilton owner) Harold Brown and hope to work together toward a successful reorganization.”