Marathon Grill Declares Bankruptcy


The Marathon Grill restaurant located at 1818 Market Street in Philadelphia filed bankruptcy this week in federal court, posting outstanding debts close to a half million dollars. (See update below for new numbers).

The bankruptcy case does not currently affect the two other Marathon restaurants at 19th and Spruce and 16th and Sansom streets, because while those restaurants are operated by the same family, they are technically owned and operated by different business entities.

The partnership that owns 1818 Market has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, which is the “good type” of bankruptcy, in that it is intended to give a business the chance to reorganize and continue on, while Chapter 7 bankruptcy is meant to liquidate a business to pay off as many outstanding debts as possible. (Of course, Union Trust also originally filed for Chapter 11.)

According to court documents, the company filed for bankruptcy protection immediately after learning that its landlord at 1818 Market Street intended to take possession of the restaurant space due to an ongoing dispute over back rent and fees.

Marathon Grill began in 1984 as a 10-seat burger restaurant in Northeast Philadelphia. The company has experienced some shakeups in recent years, including a partnership dispute, an investigation over ticket fixing at the Parking Authority, and a run-in with the Department of Labor.

Some of the company’s outstanding debts, as filed in bankruptcy court:

Singer Equipment$301,308.41
Performance Food Group$114,341.90
City of Philadelphia, Tax Unit$18,751.80
Killian's Harvest Green$10,324.11
A. Esposito$9,984.87
Allied Waste$9,222,18
Sandy Ridge Farm$5,407.50
LeBus Bakery$5,045.11
Chestnut Hill Coffee$2,552,99
Banner Smoked Fish$2,076.00
PGW$1,309.08
Waste Management$1,264.90
Manhattan Bagel$1,174.24
Cypress Communication$1,122.68
Multiflow Industries$928.50
Arway Linen$835.90
Ed's Pest & Wildlife Control$475.20
Faraco Knife & Slicer$439.05
Comcast$349.88
M.A.R. Enterprises$138.50

UPDATE: Lo and behold, there is a second bankruptcy case, not in the name of the family partnership but in the name of 1818 Market Street Marathon Grill, Inc., the corporation. Legal stuff. That case lists mostly the same creditors but also lists the landlord at 1818 Market Street. Marathon says the debt to the landlord is approximately $540,000 (noting that the amount is disputed), which brings the total amount of listed debt in question to over $1 million.