Iconic Restaurants Le Cirque And Circo File For Bankruptcy

In a sadly all-too-familiar story for New York culinary institutions, Circo and Le Cirque — the two upscale, vaguely circus-themed restaurants opened by iconic restaurateur Sirio Maccioni — have filed for bankruptcy.

Mauro Maccioni, son of the original owner, told the New York Post's Page Six that the family filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to avoid losing their lease. The family intends to keep the restaurants open for business, and they describe the restaurants' main struggle as a "cash-flow" issue.

Le Cirque has been the career starting point for many famous New York City chefs, including Daniel Boulud, David Bouley, and Jacques Torres, who all worked on the line at some point.

"Both restaurants continue to operate as usual and [are] fully staffed," Maccioni told Page Six. "We are in the process of restructuring ourselves and securing some additional outside funding."

The filing says that they owe between $500,000 and $1 million to up to 100 creditors.