Several of New York’s most recognizable restaurants have received a financial reprieve, although their long-term survival remains uncertain.
Landry’s Inc. has agreed to pay more than $22 million for assets belonging to the financially troubled Fireman Hospitality Group, which operates a number of longtime New York dining landmarks.
The agreement could give the historic restaurants a fresh start after decades of serving diners. However, it does not guarantee that every location will remain open.
The brands involved include Café Fiorello, Trattoria dell’Arte, Bond 45, Brooklyn Diner and USA Brooklyn Delicatessen.
A bankruptcy court approved the sale on October 22. The winning offer came from FHG Acquisition LLC, an affiliate of Landry’s parent company, Fertitta Entertainment.
The transaction includes assets tied to nine restaurant locations, among them two Brooklyn Diner sites and two Café Fiorello restaurants in New York and Washington, DC.
Still, the purchase does not secure the future of every venue. Lease talks remain underway, and the buyer has yet to determine which properties it will ultimately keep.
Jeff Crivello, chief executive of Ciao Hospitality Group, which participated in the bidding, told Nation’s Restaurant News that there were no plans to replace the restaurants with completely new concepts.
Landry’s Inc. will spend more than $22 million to acquire assets from struggling Fireman Hospitality Group, including several long-established New York restaurant brands.
The closures add to the recent losses for diners who associate Fireman Hospitality with established Italian restaurants and busy dining destinations.
The offer consists of more than $22 million in cash, plus additional expenses and assumed liabilities. It followed a competitive auction in which the initial $9.5 million stalking-horse bid more than doubled.
Although the deal has fueled optimism around some of the group’s restaurants, other locations have already closed permanently.
Café Fiorello’s Washington, DC, restaurant shut down on October 28. Fiorella Italian Kitchen at National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland, closed the next day.
Those shutdowns represent another setback for customers who have long linked the Fireman Hospitality name with Italian dining and high-profile restaurant destinations.
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The group had previously closed Redeye Grill and one USA Brooklyn Delicatessen location in July as its financial difficulties deepened.
Landry’s has extensive experience acquiring restaurant brands and attempting to revive struggling hospitality operations.
The Houston-based operator owns a broad portfolio of restaurants and entertainment venues, including Rainforest Cafe, Bubba Gump Shrimp Co., Mastro’s Steakhouse, Morton’s The Steakhouse and Del Frisco’s.
The company is controlled by billionaire Tilman Fertitta, whose business interests also include the Golden Nugget hotel and casino group and the NBA’s Houston Rockets.
Bond 45 opened in 2005 as an Italian restaurant and bar in New York’s Times Square theater district.
Café Fiorello has operated since 1974 at 1900 Broadway in New York City’s Lincoln Square, across from Lincoln Center.
Fireman Hospitality Group, which operated through SMF Group Inc. and affiliated companies, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on August 9 in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.
At the time of the filing, the company ran nine restaurants and employed more than 800 people across its venues and corporate offices.
The group’s financial troubles had been mounting for years. It entered the Covid-19 pandemic already burdened by construction cost overruns and losses linked to a restaurant fire.
The suspension of indoor dining caused further damage, particularly because many of the company’s restaurants depended on tourists, theater audiences and office workers in some of Manhattan’s busiest areas.
With sales slow to rebound, Fireman Hospitality increasingly relied on merchant cash advances to fund day-to-day operations.
By March 2026, the company had taken out more than 30 advances from 11 lenders and owed at least $5.5 million in outstanding obligations.
The situation worsened after lenders instructed payment processors to redirect restaurant revenue toward the unpaid claims. By the time the bankruptcy case began, at least $5.96 million in credit card receipts had reportedly been withheld.
The company said the move left it with less than $100,000 in cash, putting its ability to pay employees, landlords, vendors and tax authorities at risk.
