Mr. Beef Facing Desperate Times

Things are tough all over, and not even frequent visits from #1 fan Jay Leno seem to be helping the owners of Mr. Beef. Crain's reports that Midwest Bank has filed a foreclosure lawsuit to collect on $650K in outstanding loans to owners Joseph Zucchero and Michael Genevese. Midwest Bank is alleging that Zucchero and Genevese failed to make an October deadline on two loans totaling $330K, and also went delinquent on a third. The lawsuit comes in spite of attempts by Zucchero and Genevese to put up more than $6 million in properties as collateral to refinance the loans.

Zucchero told Crain's that he and Genevese are working on trying to secure refinancing with another bank to pay off Midwest, "then we'll be square." [Crain's Chicago Business]