IRVINE CALIF. —After years in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the once-trend-setting Spectrum Restaurant Group is in the process of selling off the last of its core group of dining concepts, including MacArthur Park, Prego, Guaymas, and Harry’s Bar & American Grill.
In a return to its roots, MacArthur Park in Palo Alto, Calif., for example, was bought by industry veteran and early Spectrum executive Chuck Frank and the 27-year-old restaurant’s original chef, Faz Poursohi. Housed in a vintage building designed by Hearst Castle architect Julia Morgan, the restaurant fetched $500,000 in a deal that closed last month, according to court documents detailing the sale to Poursohi and Frank, whose 17-year tenure with Spectrum began in 1972. —After years in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the once-trend-setting Spectrum Restaurant Group is in the process of selling off the last of its core group of dining concepts, including MacArthur Park, Prego, Guaymas, and Harry’s Bar & American Grill.
Also last month, Specialty Restaurants Corp., the Anaheim, Calif.-based parent of landmark theme dinnerhouses on waterfronts, hillsides and overlooking airports, agreed to purchase the Mexican regional restaurant Guaymas in the town of Tiburon, on San Francisco Bay. That deal was valued at $2.2 million, according to court records. —After years in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the once-trend-setting Spectrum Restaurant Group is in the process of selling off the last of its core group of dining concepts, including MacArthur Park, Prego, Guaymas, and Harry’s Bar & American Grill.
Separately, the general manager of Harry’s Bar in La Jolla, Calif., is teaming with two investors to buy that last remaining branch of a Northern Italian concept cloned from the Cipriani-launched original in Italy. The buyers, who have taken over the La Jolla operation in the interim, plan to pay $650,000 for the business. —After years in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the once-trend-setting Spectrum Restaurant Group is in the process of selling off the last of its core group of dining concepts, including MacArthur Park, Prego, Guaymas, and Harry’s Bar & American Grill.
In addition, the sale of a Prego Ristorante in Irvine was in escrow for $1.2 million, according to court documents. Attorneys and restaurant officials would not reveal the buyer, but two other Prego locations in the Los Angeles area were bought by a group of investors earlier this year. A manager at the Beverly Hills branch said the same unnamed group was in the process of acquiring the Irvine Prego. —After years in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the once-trend-setting Spectrum Restaurant Group is in the process of selling off the last of its core group of dining concepts, including MacArthur Park, Prego, Guaymas, and Harry’s Bar & American Grill.
Three National Sports Grill locations, previously owned by Spectrum, were also sold to various investors at varying prices. The Anaheim location was acquired for $1.1 million by Fielders Choice LLC, while a location in Buena Park, Calif., sold for $72,500 to Robert Tower and two associates. —After years in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the once-trend-setting Spectrum Restaurant Group is in the process of selling off the last of its core group of dining concepts, including MacArthur Park, Prego, Guaymas, and Harry’s Bar & American Grill.
The status of at least two Spoons Grill & Bar locations remained unclear. Company officials were negotiating a lease termination for a Spoons in Cerritos, Calif., according to court documents, and they were working on the sale of another location in Sunnyvale, Calif., for the tentative price of $110,000. —After years in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the once-trend-setting Spectrum Restaurant Group is in the process of selling off the last of its core group of dining concepts, including MacArthur Park, Prego, Guaymas, and Harry’s Bar & American Grill.
By press time, Ken Mucha, Spectrum’s chief executive, had not returned repeated calls seeking comment. —After years in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the once-trend-setting Spectrum Restaurant Group is in the process of selling off the last of its core group of dining concepts, including MacArthur Park, Prego, Guaymas, and Harry’s Bar & American Grill.
More than 20 years ago, Irvine-based Spectrum, then headquartered in San Francisco and headed by co-founder Larry Mindel, held a reputation for developing trendy and popular upscale and casual concepts in Northern and Southern California. A noted aficionado of Italian gastronomy, Mindel later launched the Il Fornaio chain and now owns the restaurant Poggio in Sausalito, Calif. —After years in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the once-trend-setting Spectrum Restaurant Group is in the process of selling off the last of its core group of dining concepts, including MacArthur Park, Prego, Guaymas, and Harry’s Bar & American Grill.
Over the years, Spectrum morphed under subsequent corporate owners into a multiunit operator of nine brands controlled by Anwar Soliman, who resigned as chief executive before filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for a second time in three years in 2006. —After years in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the once-trend-setting Spectrum Restaurant Group is in the process of selling off the last of its core group of dining concepts, including MacArthur Park, Prego, Guaymas, and Harry’s Bar & American Grill.
In 2007 the company sold the then-72-unit Grandy’s chain to Souper Salad Inc., based in San Antonio. —After years in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the once-trend-setting Spectrum Restaurant Group is in the process of selling off the last of its core group of dining concepts, including MacArthur Park, Prego, Guaymas, and Harry’s Bar & American Grill.
Spectrum had two locations of the Crabby Bob’s seafood restaurants as of 2006, but both are believed to have closed, as have two locations of the Italian seafood concept Tutto Mare. —After years in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the once-trend-setting Spectrum Restaurant Group is in the process of selling off the last of its core group of dining concepts, including MacArthur Park, Prego, Guaymas, and Harry’s Bar & American Grill.
According to court documents, the company in recent years has had trouble keeping up with debt repayments under its bankruptcy reorganization plan, including payments to BET Associates, which had furnished Spectrum with $15 million to buy back Prego and Tutto Mare and acquire Grandy’s, Spoons and National Sports Grill from American Restaurant Group Inc. in 2000. The Spectrum group later added the Crabby Bob’s brand to its portfolio. —After years in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the once-trend-setting Spectrum Restaurant Group is in the process of selling off the last of its core group of dining concepts, including MacArthur Park, Prego, Guaymas, and Harry’s Bar & American Grill.
At the time, Soliman was American Restaurant Group’s chief executive. After the sale, ARG was left to struggle with then-102-unit Stuart Anderson’s Black Angus steakhouse chain, which later sought bankruptcy protection and changed its name to Black Angus Steakhouse. Earlier this year, Versa Capital Management of Philadelphia bought the chain. —After years in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the once-trend-setting Spectrum Restaurant Group is in the process of selling off the last of its core group of dining concepts, including MacArthur Park, Prego, Guaymas, and Harry’s Bar & American Grill.
Spectrum Restaurant Group, however, was born in the 1970s as Spectrum Foods, which once had as many as 16 restaurant concepts, including MacArthur Park, Chianti/Cucina, Ciao, Spiedini and Prego. With original partner Jerry Magnin, Mindel launched the company with the historic Chianti restaurant on Los Angeles’ Melrose Avenue as its foundation. Then from its Bay Area base Spectrum made the MacArthur Parks in San Francisco and Palo Alto leading examples of American cuisine restaurants. The company’s original Prego in San Francisco was among the first mainstream Italian concepts to showcase hearth-baked contemporary pizzas and authentic regional dishes. —After years in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the once-trend-setting Spectrum Restaurant Group is in the process of selling off the last of its core group of dining concepts, including MacArthur Park, Prego, Guaymas, and Harry’s Bar & American Grill.
The late chef Ed LaDou, considered the father of the designer-pizza trend for his work with California Pizza Kitchen and before that at the original Spago in West Hollywood, was discovered by Wolfgang Puck while LaDou was cooking at the first Prego, which is now closed. —After years in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the once-trend-setting Spectrum Restaurant Group is in the process of selling off the last of its core group of dining concepts, including MacArthur Park, Prego, Guaymas, and Harry’s Bar & American Grill.
Frank, who worked for Spectrum Foods until 1989 and is now a consultant, said he and Mindel opened the first MacArthur Park, named for the Jimmy Webb song, in 1972. Early on, it was known as a classic 1970s “fern bar,” but Frank, Mindel and Poursohi elevated the cooking while featuring Poursohi’s wood-smoked baby back ribs. —After years in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the once-trend-setting Spectrum Restaurant Group is in the process of selling off the last of its core group of dining concepts, including MacArthur Park, Prego, Guaymas, and Harry’s Bar & American Grill.
Poursohi, who now also owns three restaurants called Faz offering Mediterranean fare, agreed to return to MacArthur Park as a partner before the deal closed last month. —After years in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the once-trend-setting Spectrum Restaurant Group is in the process of selling off the last of its core group of dining concepts, including MacArthur Park, Prego, Guaymas, and Harry’s Bar & American Grill.
“The restaurant needed a lot of TLC,” Frank said. “We will evolve the concept. We’re bringing it physically up to code and bringing the quality back up on the menu.” —After years in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the once-trend-setting Spectrum Restaurant Group is in the process of selling off the last of its core group of dining concepts, including MacArthur Park, Prego, Guaymas, and Harry’s Bar & American Grill.
Frank said he might be interested in reviving another, unidentified restaurant from the original Spectrum group, though “I’m not sure if it’s available and I’m not chasing after it.” —After years in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the once-trend-setting Spectrum Restaurant Group is in the process of selling off the last of its core group of dining concepts, including MacArthur Park, Prego, Guaymas, and Harry’s Bar & American Grill.
For similarly long-established Specialty Restaurants Corp., the acquisition of Guaymas is fitting, given the Anaheim company’s specialization in destination locations on waterfronts, hilltops or in aviation-oriented venues. Specialty’s 26 restaurants include brands such as The Reef, Castaway, Shanghai Red’s, Baby Doe’s Matchless Mine and 94th Aero Squadron. —After years in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the once-trend-setting Spectrum Restaurant Group is in the process of selling off the last of its core group of dining concepts, including MacArthur Park, Prego, Guaymas, and Harry’s Bar & American Grill.
Featuring regional Mexican cuisine, Guaymas boasts panoramic views of San Francisco and the Golden Gate and Bay bridges from the Tiburon waterfront. —After years in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the once-trend-setting Spectrum Restaurant Group is in the process of selling off the last of its core group of dining concepts, including MacArthur Park, Prego, Guaymas, and Harry’s Bar & American Grill.
The buyer group that has proposed the acquisition of Harry’s Bar & American Grill includes the La Jolla operation’s general manager, Adam Quick, and investors Daniel Miller and Byron Frisch, who’ve formed Harry’s Bar Holdings LLC. —After years in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the once-trend-setting Spectrum Restaurant Group is in the process of selling off the last of its core group of dining concepts, including MacArthur Park, Prego, Guaymas, and Harry’s Bar & American Grill.
Under Spectrum, the first Harry’s Bar, in Los Angeles’ Century City, was a replica of the restaurant of the same name in Florence, Italy, which itself was spawned by the Cipriani original in Venice. —After years in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the once-trend-setting Spectrum Restaurant Group is in the process of selling off the last of its core group of dining concepts, including MacArthur Park, Prego, Guaymas, and Harry’s Bar & American Grill.
