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Restaurant giant Landry’s Inc., owned by Texas mega-billionaire Tilman Fertitta, is buying bankrupt Fireman Hospitality Group for $22 million — a deal that’s poised rescue the company’s three most iconic venues from recent business woes.
The purchase, expected to close this week, will give Fertitta control of Manhattan’s high-volume Trattoria Dell’ Arte, Fiorello’s and Bond 45. The first two are across the street from Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, respectively, while Bond 45 is on a West 46th Street block with three Broadway theaters.
The fate of a half-dozen other Fireman properties remains up in the air, sources said. The ones in limbo are Paris Bar in the Le Meridien Central Park Hotel at 120 W. 57th St., along with its rooftop venue Le Jardin, plus Brooklyn Delicatessen, two Manhattan branches of Brooklyn Diner, and Fiorella Kitchen in the National Harbor in Maryland.
An insider speculated that the half-dozen other places would either be closed by Landry’s or see their leases put up for sale.
“Fertitta only wanted Fireman’s top three places with great locations, which was why Landry’s original bid for the company was only $9 million,” a source told The Post. “But the bankruptcy judge wouldn’t allow an offer for only part of the Fireman company,” the source said.
So Fertitta more than tripled his bid, in part because there were other contenders for the prize.
Among those vying for the company was former Fireman Hospitality CEO Ben Grossman, our source said. Grossman didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Fireman filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August.
Several Fireman venues faltered after the Covid pandemic. The death at 93 of visionary company founder Shelly Fireman last October accelerated the downward spiral, which included nearly $10 million in secured claims.
Thirty-year-old RedEye Grill, the “home of the famous dancing shrimp,” served its last meal in July.
Fertitta, owner of the Golden Nugget casino in Las Vegas and the NBA’s Houston Rockets, is rapidly growing his hospitality business even as he tends to his duties as US ambassador to Italy.
Landry’s owns popular restaurant brands such as steakhouses Morton’s, Mastro’s, Del Frisco’s, and Strip House; Mexican cafe chain Dos Caminos; and sushi/seafood brand Blue Fin. All have large footprints in Manhattan.
Fertitta also owns half of New York’s Catch Group, which includes the high-profile Corner Store, The 86 and Do’resh, along historic Keen’s Steakhouse, which he bought as an individual investment.
The Post has sought comment from Landry’s.