Bennigan's Restaurants Abruptly Closed Today

Tribune reporters Jeremy Gorner and Melissa Patterson contributed to this story.

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Many Bennigan's restaurants in Chicago and across the country abruptly closed Tuesday after the company that owns the chain filed for bankruptcy.

S & A Restaurant Corp and some of its affiliates, which are popularly known as Bennigan's, Steak & Ale and Tavern restaurants, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, said a statement from Plano, Texas-based Metromedia Restaurant Group, which ultimately owns all three restaurant chains.

The statement didn't disclose the number of restaurants that are closing. Sheryl Randolph, a spokeswoman for Metromedia Restaurant Group, said the closure doesn't effect franchisee-owned outlets.

According to Bennigan's Web site, it has 21 locations in Illinois and another three in Northwest Indiana. But it is unclear how many are company-owned and how many are owned by franchisees.

Managers of Bennigan's restaurants across the country were awoken last night by midnight phone calls telling them to shutter their restaurants immediately, according to interviews with several restaurant managers.

Alfonso Prince, the general manager at the Bennigan's in Calumet City, said he received a call from his supervisor about 12:10 a.m. that all the company-owned restaurants were closing nationwide.

"They had been shutting down stores here and there. I never thought all stores," Prince, 33, of Gary, Ind., said in a telephone interview.

Two Bennigans locations along Michigan avenue were locked and empty at 10 a.m. Tuesday morning, though both normally open by 8 a.m. for breakfast. Both restaurants posted signs on plain printer paper near their entrances announcing that they were closed.

Lights were on and a couple of employees could be seen milling around the restaurants at 225 N. Michigan Ave. and 150 S. Michigan, but no one answered knocks at their entrance doors-not even for coworkers. A woman who identified herself as a Bennigan's employee knocked in frustration at one location before giving up and walking away.

Caleb Kosek, 24, showed up for his first day of work as a Bennigan's server to find the 225 North Michigan location locked. He circled the building for a few minutes before passersby informed him that they had heard the restaurant chain was closed as of that morning.

"Wow," he said wide-eyed as he peeked into the empty restaurant.

Gerald and Elizabeth O'Boyle, who were visiting the city from Hamilton, Ontario, passed by the 225 North Michigan restaurant Monday evening to find it packed, they said. They figured its popularity was a good sign, and decided to return Tuesday morning for breakfast.

"This is highly unusual," Gerald O'Boyle said as he stood outside the closed restaurant. "I just can't fathom it."

Chapter 7 bankruptcy implies liquidation, not reorganization of a financially troubled company. That means the shuttered stores are not likely to reopen.