Wall Street Journal Reports Hawk ‘n’ Dove Files for Bankruptcy
by Larry Janezich
The Wall Street Journal reported tonight about 7:30pm, that Barrack’s Row Entertainment filed for Chapter 11 protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court. The action also apparently protects Boxcar Tavern, The Chesapeake Room, Lola’s Barracks Bar & Grill, Molly Malone’s, Pacifico, Senart’s Oyster & Chop House, Park Tavern in Canal Park, and the soon to open Willie’s Brew and Que, on the Southeast Waterfront. According to the WSJ, Manager Richard Cervera signed the bankruptcy petition.
Capitol Hill Corner reached original co-owner Xavier Cervera, who sold the restaurants to Boston Equity Firm in 2013 (Richard is Xavier’s brother, and part of the group which purchased the restaurants.) Xavier Cervera said, “Not really sure what’s going on. My business partner and I sold the company in December of 2012. We did finance a large part of the sale so I guess our attorneys will be very busy next week trying to establish what difficulties they are having .” (Update: CHC erroneously reported Xavier has a contract with the new owners to manage the day to day operations of the nine restaurants. He has no such contract. Xavier does not and has not since the sale managed the restaurants. He has a contract to work as a consultant. CHC regrets the error.)
See the WSJ Story here: http://on.wsj.com/1pljTNL
For CHC posting on the sale of the restaurant group to Boston Equity Firm in April of 2013, see here: http://bit.ly/1dVMFgU
CAPITOL HILL CORNER 
This is business as usual. They leveraged a ton of debt, squirreled away the revenue, and are trying to get out of paying back their loans. Barracks Row was just a playground for these folks looking to bloat their bank accounts. That the chain of restaurants had some positive effects on the neighborhood was just a byproduct. I’m not a fortune teller, but I’ll guess that any news that follows isn’t going to be better. Yes, businesses fail, but when you operate on the scale of Xavier’s chain with dubious motives in a dense geographical, economically-vulnerable area, then you end up with 8th St. returning to its state of shuttered storefronts. Xavier not knowing what’s going on? Please — the person he sold the business to is his brother. Xavier can play naive, but let’s not be stupid enough to gullible. All those Xavier fans — I hope they consider eating their words along with mediocre food they marveled over.
Actually, in a way, Xavier need not be entirely vilified. He is a businessperson seeking profit and he made the attendant choices with great savvy. The problem is, he couched his enterprise in the rhetoric of community building, which many Hill officials and residents gobbled up. So maybe we should reflect on the folks who directly and indirectly enabled him.