Meadville restaurant goes from expansion mode to filing for bankruptcy

A Meadville restaurant that once was so popular it expanded to Erie County and other locales in northwestern Pennsylvania has filed for bankruptcy, listing as debts hundreds of thousands of dollars in overdue payments to a food supplier.

Cannon's Chophouse, at 994 Market St. in Meadville, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Wednesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Erie.

Cannon's Chophouse is still in business

Cannon's Chophouse remains open.

Chapter 11 bankruptcy allows a debtor to stay in business as it reorganizes and develops a plan to pay its creditors over time. Cannon's Chophouse filed under the subchapter of the Bankruptcy Code that applies to the reorganization of a debtor that is a small business.

How much does Cannon's Chophouse owe its creditors?

The bankruptcy petition states that the restaurant's owner, T.G. Holdings, has assets of no more than $50,000 and liabilities of $500,001 to $1 million.

The restaurant's largest creditor is Curtze Food Service, of Erie. Curtze is owed a total of about $403,000, according to the petition. Other creditors include the IRS and the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue.

Cannon's Chophouse once had other locations

Cannon's Chophouse is known for its steaks, seafood and ribs. It now has the one location, on Market Street in Meadville. The business opened in 2009 as Montana's Rib and Chophouse. It was on Highline Drive, off Route 19 in Vernon Township near Meadville in Crawford County.

The restaurant changed its name to Cannon's Chophouse in 2017. It opened in October 2021 at its current spot in Meadville, the site of the former 1776 Bar & Grill.

Cannon's Chophouse opened a restaurant in the Erie area in 2018. It closed in 2019. That restaurant was located at 7165 Peach St. in Summit Township, the site of the former Famous Dave's restaurant. A Dunkin' now operates at that spot.

Cannon's Chophouse also had restaurants in Hermitage and Grove City in Mercer County, south of Crawford County, as well as in Canonsburg in Washington County in southwestern Pennsylvania. Those restaurants are all closed.

What led Cannon's Chophouse to file for bankruptcy?

The restaurant's' bankruptcy lawyer, Michael Kruszewski, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The restaurant's owner, Charlie Bish, could not be reached for comment.

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Many restaurants suffered during the pandemic. Bish has indicated that Cannon's Chophouse was no exception. He told the Meadville Tribune in March 2021 that the restaurant's troubles were related to the COVID-19 outbreak, and that it had lost $1.5 million in sales in a year. Cannon's Chophouse was closed from March 2020 to September 2020.

The reasons behind the bankruptcy could be disclosed in court filings to come. The initial bankruptcy petition included only the basic information that creditor must disclose in the earliest stage of a bankruptcy case.

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What happens next in the bankruptcy case of Cannon's Chophouse?

The restaurant's bankruptcy lawyer will start working with the judge and creditors to develop a reorganization plan, which the judge ultimately must approve. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Carlota Bohm, based in Pittsburgh, is assigned the case.

Bohm gave Cannon's Chophouse until Feb. 22 to file an updated bankruptcy petition, according to an order filed on Thursday. The order states that Bohm will hold a status conference on April 4 "to further the expeditious and economic resolution" of the case.

The case typically would have been assigned to a bankruptcy judge in Erie because Cannon's Chophouse is in Crawford County. It is one of the 10 counties in northwestern Pennsylvania in the jurisdiction of U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Erie, part of the Pittsburgh-based U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

Erie's bankruptcy judge, Thomas P. Agresti, retired on Friday. The three remaining bankruptcy judges in the Western District of Pennsylvania are hearing Erie cases until the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals appoints a new bankruptcy judge for Erie.

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Contact Ed Palattella at epalattella@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNpalattella.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Meadville restaurant files for bankruptcy years after trying to expand