Treadsack Group Files Bankruptcy For Additional Restaurant: Update

Updated April 4: It's officially known as Down House Ventures LLC, and it's officially in Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The Heights restaurant Down House, owned by the Treadsack restaurant group, followed in the footsteps of Hunky Dory and Bernadine's, which last week went under Chapter 11 protection.

In Tuesday's filing, assets of $100,001 to $500,000 and estimated liabilities of $1 million to $10 million were listed, according to court records In addition, the filing lists 22 creditors. In addition, motions were filed to permit Down House to use cash as collateral to pay for necessary expenses and to allow the group to pay 54 repetition employees a total of around $24,550.

Updated March 31: A post on the Facebook page belonging to Chris Cusack, a principal at the Treadsack restaurant group, announced that the restaurants belonging to the group were open and will continue to operate:

First thing’s first: Hunky Dory, Bernadine’s, Down House, D&T, and Johnny’s are open and will continue to be OPEN!
We’ve filed Chapter 11 for Hunky Dory and Bernadine’s so we can restructure our debt and continue to operate. This was a very difficult decision, but the chance to save the businesses that all of our employees have worked so hard to build and so many of our guests have supported made it so obvious that this is worth fighting for.

We opened these businesses with the goal of creating great experiences in our neighborhood, the Heights. We want to be great employers and a positive force as small business owners in this community. Since our expansion over the last few years we have hit plenty of stumbling blocks. We've done our best to own up to our mistakes and struggles while balancing our responsibilities to our employees, our guests, our vendors and our investors. Without their support none of this would be possible. Our goal is to continue to service these responsibilities as faithfully as we can.

If you believe, as we do, that having these businesses is a good thing for this neighborhood I would ask you to continue to do what you have always done, and support us by dining in our restaurants and drinking in our bars. In doing so you are supporting the more than 200 people across all companies who rely on these businesses for their livelihood and helping to preserve independent businesses in the Heights. We thank you for the opportunity to serve you over the last year and we look forward to seeing you very soon.

HOUSTON, TX — The restaurant world is full of places that open to acclaim, only to fade away a year or so later — or even earlier — victims of exaggerated love from food writers and critics, chefs' drug habits, sales declines blamed on construction disruptions and unsophisticated palates, or plain bad luck. It can be an unforgiving industry.

Chris Cusack and his Treadsack restaurant group would likely agree with the above now. On Monday, a Houston attorney and investor in Cusack's business ventures, Richard Rothfelder, filed suit in the Harris County District Court against the young restaurateur and his co-owners, alleging that they blocked his access to pertinent financial records and failed to make payments as agreed.

Rothfelder's suit seeks recoupment of his initial $60,000 investment "plus pre- and post-judgment interest." Rothfelder claims that he invested the sum in return for a portion of the net sales of D&T Drive Inn, Hunky Dory, Bernadines, Down House, and the now-closed Foreign Correspondents, all properties in the Treadsack family.

The Houston Press's Craig Malisow reported that Rothfelder had documented ongoing issues in his partnership with Treadsack:

In a June 2016 email obtained by the Houston Press, Rothfelder had sought better communication from the principals, expressing his concern over tardy checks and sales reports. According to his email, Cusack had told Rothfelder the restaurants were doing well, despite the fact that some were hemorrhaging money and had incurred heavy state and federal tax liens. Internal memos showed that employees had for years dealt with bounced paychecks.

Cusack is the officer of Mothership Ventures, LLC, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this week in the Texas Southern District.

Attempts to reach a principal at Treadsack were not immediately successful.

— Image of Chris Cusack: Treadsack