The company that owns the Warren Perkins restaurant filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The bankruptcy filing comes on the heels of a temporary restraining order from a federal judge in Tennessee. Photo by Josh Cotton

WARREN, Pa. — Last week, the Perkins in Warren was told by a federal judge not to be Perkins anymore.

On Monday, the company that owns the Warren restaurant filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

As of Tuesday, the restaurant was still open — and still operating as Perkins.

The bankruptcy filing was made by 5171 Campbells Land Co. Inc., which owns Perkins restaurants throughout the region and is based in Meadville, Pa.

The 115 Ludlow St. location on Warren’s west end is owned by Store Capital Acquisitions LLC in care of 5171 Campbells Land Co. Inc., according to county assessment records.

The filing indicates that the company has more than 200 creditors, between $1 million and $10 million in assets and between $10 million and $50 million in liabilities. The form requires a list of creditors “who have the 20 largest unsecured claims.” That list includes the IRS ($350,000), Pa. Department of Revenue ($1.325,489), Perkins ($1,500,000) and the NY Department of Taxation and Finance ($835,786).

The filing then includes a list of each of the company’s creditors, which includes two city of Warren entities — “Warren City Tax Office” and “Warren City Tax Office — Earned Income.”

How much was owed to the city wasn’t immediately available.

The bankruptcy filing comes on the heels of a temporary restraining order from a federal judge in Tennessee that prohibited 5171 Campbells Land Co. Inc. from continuing to operate its restaurant as Perkins.

The court ruled July 2 that the company had “breached” its license agreements with Perkins & Marie Callender’s LLC (PMC) and was “restrained from continuing to directly or indirectly identify the restaurants as current or former Perkins restaurants” and was further limited from “continuing to use any trademark owned by PMC.”

The order detailed a host of other items that could no longer be utilized by the restaurants such as, for example, the oversized American flag, the bakery case, signs, menu, fixtures, furniture, equipment, advertising, stationery and uniforms.

The temporary restraining order also called on the company to “change the telephone number of the restaurants and direct the telephone company to provide a recorded message advising callers that the prior number is no longer in service.”

That court further ruled Monday that the temporary restraining order would remain in effect until a hearing is held.

The order states that PMC has stated that 5171 Campbell’s Land Co., Inc., “has yet to comply with the Court’s Temporary Restraining Order.”

As of Tuesday, the Warren Perkins remained open with all of its usual Perkins exterior signage. Calls to the restaurant further resulted in the greeting of “Thank you for calling Warren Perkins.” The bakery case remained in place though the flag was not flying.

Perkins & Marie Callender’s LLC said in a lawsuit on June 27 that 5171 Campbells Land Co. Inc. owed nearly $2.2 million in fees, and has been in default since 2018. PMC claims CLC did not pay its royalty fees, marketing contributions and did not complete construction on multiple projects.