Legal Troubles Cause Lakeview's Headquarters Arcade Bar To Change Hands

By Anthony Todd in Food on Nov 2, 2016 2:37PM

There's been some serious legal drama centered around the Lakeview location of popular arcade bar Headquarters Beercade. The bad news? It won't be Headquarters anymore. The good news? The location will stay open and keep serving up beer and games.

Eater Chicago reports that a lawsuit alleging that one of the partners in Headquarters stole money has just been settled.

The lawsuit, filed in 2015, alleged that Mark Kwiatkowski took $2 million from his former partners, Brian Galati and Chireal Jordan. According to the Cook County Record, the complaint alleged the following:

“Kwiatkowski used the corporate coffers of Cue Club and CBG as his own personal piggy bank for years” through routine and repeated “unauthorized distributions to himself, his wife and to his other business ventures” outside his relationship with Galati and Jordan. In attempts to mask his conduct, the plaintiffs asserted, Kwiatkowski denied Galati access to Cue Club’s bank accounts, even though Galati was listed as treasurer of Cue Club Inc.

Eater also reported at the time that the complaint contained allegations that after stealing money from his partners in Headquarters, Kwiatkowski then used their idea for an arcade bar to help Replay (the other big arcade bar chain in town) open their locations. Replay has locations in Lakeview and Andersonville. But remember, the allegations are just that—allegations—and we won't ever have a final finding of fact, thanks to the settlement.

The settlement leaves Kwiatkowski in charge of the Lakeview location of Headquarters, which will be rebranding as a third location of Replay on Nov. 19. Headquarters River North won't be affected by the change.