Lender sues California restaurant group over unpaid loan after chain closes

Vine Hospitality, which owned the Left Bank restaurants, announced on June 22 that it would close all seven Bay Area venues, including two steak houses, four brasseries and Meso, resulting in the loss of 300 positions. Employees were informed of the closure shortly before the public announcement and a day before their final shift. Earlier in March, the company secured a financing arrangement with Samson MCA, receiving an upfront payment in exchange for a share of future sales receipts.

While the agreement initially saw partial repayments, payments stopped while the restaurants remained open. Nine days after the shutdown, Samson filed a lawsuit in the Eerie County Supreme Court seeking the unpaid loan balance and associated legal fees, totaling roughly $2.4 million. Vine Hospitality’s CEO Alistair Levine told KRON-TV that the operation was not successful enough to keep running and there are no plans to reopen elsewhere in the Bay Area.