Marmalade Cafe, a Southern California restaurant chain known for its brunch offerings, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Sept. 2, becoming the latest casualty in a challenging environment for California restaurant operators.
The Encino-based chain’s chief executive, Juan Salcedo, listed estimated assets and liabilities between $1 million and $10 million in the filing. The company owes more than $1 million to creditors including Gilmore Farmers Market, US Foods, and the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, among others.
At the time of the filing, Marmalade Cafe was operating four locations in El Segundo, Malibu, Sherman Oaks and Westlake Village.
Lindsay Arnold, the chain’s director of operations, told the Los Angeles Times that losses at its Calabasas location was the primary reason for the filing.
Construction at the Commons at Calabasas, which began earlier this year, cut monthly sales by $50,000. The location carried rent of just under $80,000 per month.
As the construction expanded, it eliminated parking — a critical resource for a breakfast and lunch business that relies on quick customer turnover.
“By about May and June, we were like, ‘This is going to sink our whole company. We can’t do this,’” Arnold said to the Los Angeles Times.
The cafe announced the closure of its Calabasas location in July, citing its landlord’s refusal to provide rent relief during the construction period.
“Unfortunately, the ongoing construction throughout the shopping center has resulted in a devastating decline in business,” the restaurant wrote in a statement. “Despite our best efforts to weather these challenges, and after seeking rent relief from our landlord during this extended construction period, the landlord declined to help. With construction expected to continue for an extended period, we simply cannot sustain the financial losses any longer.”
Losses from last year’s Palisades fire also contributed to the chain’s financial strain, forcing the closure of its Santa Monica location in July. Its Original Farmers Market location had closed earlier in the year after struggling to recover post-pandemic momentum.
Founded in 1990, Marmalade Cafe opened its first location in Santa Monica as a 1,400-square-foot grab-and-go cafe before expanding into full-service dining.
Over the decades, the chain grew to offer private dining rooms and catering services for companies including Boeing, Mattel, CBS and Warner Bros. Studios.
Marmalade Cafe is the latest in a growing list of California restaurant chains to seek bankruptcy protection in 2026. FAT Brands, the Beverly Hills-based parent of Fatburger and Johnny Rockets, filed for Chapter 11 earlier this year, as did Friendly Franchisees Corp., one of California’s largest Carl’s Jr. franchisees, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Despite the filing, Arnold expressed confidence in the chain’s four remaining locations, describing them as “very healthy and very strong.”
“These are really long-term, established community places, and we really feel strongly that those stores will stay open,” she said.
