The Metromedia Restaurant Group was an American

casual dining Restaurants fall into several industry classifications, based upon menu style, preparation methods and pricing, as well as the means by which the food is served to the customer. This article mainly describes the situation in the USA, while categ ...

company that operated and franchised more than 800 restaurants under the names

Steak and Ale Steak and Ale was an American chain of casual dining restaurants that went bankrupt in 2008. However the brand, recipes and other intellectual property associated with the former chain is currently owned by Legendary Restaurant Brands, LLC, ...

Bennigan's Bennigan's is an Irish pub-themed American casual dining restaurant chain founded in 1976 in Atlanta by restaurateur Norman E. Brinker as one of America's original casual dining concepts. The chain operated under the restaurant division of Pi ...

, Bonanza, Ponderosa, The Plano Tavern, The Southlake Tavern and the 29 Degree Tavern. The company was headquartered in Plano,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. It was part of the Metromedia Company, which was privately owned by businessman

John Kluge John Werner Kluge (; September 21, 1914September 7, 2010) was a German-American entrepreneur who became a television industry mogul in the United States. At one time he was the richest person in the U.S. Early life and education Kluge was bo ...

until his death and is related in lineage to the former entertainment company of the same name.

Bankruptcy of S&A Restaurant Group

Metromedia Restaurant Group formerly operated certain

and

restaurants under the S&A Restaurant Group division. This division was forced into an involuntary

Chapter 7 liquidation Chapter 7 of Title 11 of the United States Code (Bankruptcy Code) governs the process of liquidation under the bankruptcy laws of the United States, in contrast to Chapters 11 and 13, which govern the process of ''reorganization'' of a debtor ...

by its lender,

GE Capital GE Capital is the financial services division of General Electric. The company currently only runs one division, GE Energy Financial Services. It had provided additional services in the past; however, those units were sold between 2013 and 201 ...

, in August 2008, and closed over 300 company-owned Bennigan's and Steak & Ale restaurants. The franchise-owned Bennigan's locations were not named as debtors in the bankruptcy and continued to operate, nor were the Bonanza and Ponderosa Steakhouse chains, operated by a different subsidiary, Metromedia Steakhouses Co. LP, affected by the filing.Lynn Cook
"Company-owned Bennigan's, Steak & Ales close"
''Houston Chronicle'', July 30, 2008 Atalaya Capital Management bought the Bennigan's and Steak and Ale brands and their franchisor later that year.

References

{{Reflist Food and drink companies of the United States Companies based in Plano, Texas Metromedia Companies that have filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy