For 40 years, Los Angeles-based restaurant chain Roscoe’s House of Chicken and Waffles has been a brand synonymous with soul food. But financial troubles may mean they’ll take their last order to go.
The chain’s parent company, East Coast Foods Inc., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, CBS Los Angeles reported Monday. Despite the filing, it does not necessarily mean Roscoe’s is frying it’s last bird. The bankruptcy is buying enough time to restructure debts that it owes. It is unclear how the bankruptcy will affect the day-to-day operation of the restaurants.
One of the major debts is from the loss of a lawsuit by a former employee, Daniel Beasley, a Compton, Calif., man who sued Roscoe’s for racial discrimination and wrongful termination. The company was ordered to pay $1.6 million in damages. A lawyer for Beasley told the Orange County Register the lawsuit could have been settled for less. In court filings, Beasley was listed as one of the company’s largest creditors, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Roscoe’s operates seven restaurants in Southern California. It was opened in 1975 by Harlem native Herb Hudson.
