Grill Concepts — the parent company of restaurants The Daily Grill, Public School, and some The Grill on the Alley locations (not including the industry-favored Beverly Hills restaurant) — has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Per court documents, the company filed April 29, at a time when many restaurants and hospitality companies were still struggling to recover from the devastating COVID-19 pandemic. Chapter 11 allows businesses to reorganize debt while continuing to operate. Grill Concepts Restaurant Collection owns a number of locations in and around the Los Angeles area including Daily Grills in Burbank (open), Century City (open), Irvine (permanently closed), Palm Desert (open), Santa Monica (temporarily closed) and Studio City (temporarily closed), along with Public School locations in Los Angeles (open), Sherman Oaks (open) and Culver City (open).
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According to the Grill Concept’s website, it owns four The Grill on the Alley locations including restaurants in San Jose, Chicago, Dallas and Aventura, Florida, however, all of those locations remained closed except for San Jose, which is currently open and operating.
The industry-favored The Grill on the Alley, located at 9560 Dayton Way in Beverly Hills, was acquired in 2019 along with the Westlake Village location, at 120 Promenade Way, by a Canadian company known as BH White Corp. Those locations remain open and insiders tell The Hollywood Reporter that business is booming even at the current 50 percent occupancy, and they expect it to increase once restrictions are fully lifted June 15.
Another popular location for Hollywood professionals has always been the Santa Monica outpost of the Daily Grill thanks to its proximity to HBO, Hulu, Universal Music Publishing Group, Yahoo and other top companies. However, that location remains temporarily closed as many of the surrounding offices are not yet filled with workers. Many industry companies are allowing employees to work from home through early to late summer.
The Grill Concept’s rep and bankruptcy attorney did not respond to THR’s requests for comment as of press time. However, in a statement given to the Bethesda Beat, spokesperson Hannah Falkosky said the pandemic was “extreme” and “unprecedented” and ultimately led to the filing. “This was a difficult decision, but it is the right path forward for Grill Concepts Inc. A US Chapter 11 filing is designed to serve as the means to a new beginning and preserve the jobs of our team members and that is exactly our intent.”
