Downtown's icon Grill files for bankruptcy, will be sold
"The fact is that my wife and I can't survive any more disasters," Gary Dethlefs said. "It's one disaster after another."
On Wednesday, Dethlefs filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy with the restaurant facing more than $1 million in debt to 47 creditors. The restaurant, on Fifth Avenue across from the Westin Hotel, will be bought by Apple-Bay East of Pleasanton, Calif. The company owns 10 Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar franchises in California. In buying the icon Grill, Apple-Bay East assumes an unspecified portion of the restaurant's debt.
The icon Grill name, menu and staff of about 85 would stay the same, said Apple-Bay Vice President Randy Tei. But he said he is interested in opening restaurants similar to the icon Grill elsewhere in the Northwest and maybe California.
Tei, a Tacoma native, said he was attracted to the icon Grill's distinct character and kept it in mind as a possible purchase since the first time he ate there two years ago.
"There really isn't anything like it down here," he said.
Opened in August 1998, the icon Grill became known for its interior décor of blown-glass art and a theater-like marquee outside whose messages included, "I think, therefore icon," and on its first birthday, "One year old and still kicking glass." In April, the restaurant's flashy interior was transformed into a set for the upcoming film, "Life or Something Like It."
The restaurant touted its food as "aroused Americana" with a menu of spiffed-up American classics like macaroni and cheese and fried chicken. Entrees starting at $15 were aimed at a broad customer base.
But Dethlefs said the restaurant suffered as people stayed away from downtown. During the WTO protests, the icon and numerous other downtown restaurants were temporarily closed. The Downtown Seattle Association said businesses lost $9.5 million. Afterward the icon's marquee read, "Thanks WTO. It's been a riot."
People also stayed away from downtown after the earthquake, Dethlefs said, but he called the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks the "bale of hay that broke the camel's back" because of the effect it had on the hospitality industry nationwide.
During the lunch hour yesterday, restaurant manager Douglass Logan said business has started to return following the steep drop after the terrorist attacks. Logan said the icon drew many customers from tourists visiting downtown, but Seattleites seem to be frequenting the restaurant now.
"People getting together with friends," he said. "That's why we see more locals."
Frank Vinluan can be reached at 206-464-2291 or fvinluan@seattletimes.com.