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Just as American steakhouses are recovering from the first wave of COVID shutdowns, the Delta variant threatens to diminish the appetite for a sector seen as a barometer for full U.S. economic recovery, Reuters reported. While many top steak restaurants found new customers by reinventing themselves during the crisis, the comeback of the $5 billion U.S. premium steakhouse sector depends on expense-account-wielding executives resuming fancy business events and affluent tourists flocking to Broadway theaters and other attractions. But travel and group events are again at risk as Delta infections and deaths mount. Several companies pushed back target dates for employees to return to offices. Some big in-person events, including the New York auto show, were canceled. High-end steakhouses are especially vulnerable to the spread of the virus because their traditions — such as lengthy, indoor, three-course dinners — may scare off apprehensive customers. At the same time, the price of beef is soaring, with wholesale prices 40% higher on average in July than a year ago, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That threatens steakhouses' profit margins. Several chains say they are better prepared amid the pandemic this year since adding outdoor dining and home delivery, should the latest surge or new government restrictions scare some diners away again.

The creators of “South Park” have made a deal to save Casa Bonita, a Mexican restaurant and family entertainment center outside Denver that was featured in the plot of an episode of the popular cartoon show and filed bankruptcy earlier this year, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the show’s creators, announced they would purchase the restaurant, pending bankruptcy-court approval, during a conversation with Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, broadcast on the politician’s official Facebook account on Friday. The duo made the announcement about a week after ViacomCBS said it struck a six-year deal with Messrs. Parker and Stone for six new seasons of the TV show on Comedy Central and more than a dozen movies for Paramount+ that will reportedly earn the duo $900 million. The Mexican resort-themed restaurant is known for its 30-foot high waterfall, which cliff-divers, at times wearing gorilla-suits, regularly jump off to entertain guests. In one South Park episode, Eric Cartman, one of the show’s main characters, goes to extreme lengths to crash his on-again-off-again friend and rival Kyle’s birthday at Casa Bonita; Cartman is arrested at the end of the episode after he jumps off the waterfall. Despite the exposure Casa Bonita gained from the episode, the company behind the restaurant filed for bankruptcy protection in April, citing impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic throughout the dining industry. “We’ve come to an agreement with the owner and we bought it,” Mr. Stone said during Friday’s live conversation. 

Investment firms that took control of Winn-Dixie’s parent during its 2018 bankruptcy are poised to reap an $87 million payout after sticking with the supermarket operator through a multiyear turnaround and the COVID-19 pandemic, Bloomberg News reported. Southeastern Grocers Inc. will pay a $2 per share special dividend to its owners, which include Fidelity Investments, AllianceBernstein Holding and Osterweis Capital Management. The move follows a decision to shelve an initial public offering earlier this year. Unlike some privately held firms that take on new crippling debt loads to enrich owners, Southeastern’s payout on Aug. 9 will be funded with existing cash. The payment caps off the revival of Jacksonville, Florida-based Southeastern, which owns the Winn-Dixie, Harveys Supermarket and Fresco y Más chains. Grocers were in tough shape before the pandemic, with several including Southeastern driven into bankruptcy by price wars, razor-thin margins and encroachment by discount giants like Amazon.com, Walmart and Target that used food as loss leaders. Some grocers wound up liquidating.

Lenders to ABC Carpet & Home, the more than century-old New York luxury home goods retailer, are mulling a distressed takeover of the company after financial hits from COVID-19 and real estate problems left it unable to pay its bills, Bloomberg News reported. An offer last year from private-equity firm MHR Fund Management fell through this April after reaching advanced stages. An investor group with experience in home and carpet retailing may take over the company through a bankruptcy filing or an out-of-court restructuring. New York-based ABC Carpet & Home, which is working with advisers from B. Riley Financial Inc. and Greenberg Traurig, has been seeking new financing or a buyer for over a year since the planned private-equity sale fell through. The company’s popular restaurant business, including ABC Kitchen, wouldn’t be affected by a restructuring.

New York City will require proof of vaccination for workers and customers at indoor restaurants, gyms and entertainment venues, Mayor Bill de Blasio said, Bloomberg News reported. De Blasio announced the “Key to NYC Pass,” what he said is a first-in-the-U.S. requirement for employees and indoor venue-goers. The policy, enacted via mayoral executive order and a health department order, will be launched Aug. 16 and phased in, with enforcement beginning Sept. 13. “Not everyone’s going to agree with this, I understand this,” de Blasio said Monday at a virus briefing. “But for so many people, this is going to be a lifesaving act.” De Blasio said he hoped his requirement would be a model for the nation. He was joined virtually at his briefing by national health experts, including former White House COVID-19 adviser Andy Slavitt. The move by de Blasio is the latest step to encourage New Yorkers to get vaccinated. The mayor is requiring city workers to get COVID-19 shots or be tested weekly, while all new hires by the city must be inoculated.

A bankruptcy judge moved to delay a trial over Washington Prime Group Inc.’s restructuring plan, a win for shareholders who say the mall operator might be worth more than the plan implies, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. At a court hearing yesterday, lawyers for Washington Prime and attorneys representing its official committee of shareholders said they agreed to postpone the trial by 2½ weeks, until late August. At the trial, the two sides will present the bankruptcy judge with competing views of the company’s value. Washington Prime filed for bankruptcy last month with a plan to hand ownership to lenders and bondholders led by investment firm Strategic Value Partners in exchange for debt forgiveness. The mall operator said other interested bidders would need to offer a minimum of $2.3 billion. Shareholders say that Washington Prime is rushing the restructuring and that with the COVID-19 pandemic abating and customers returning to in-person shopping, the business might be worth enough to satisfy all its debt obligations and provide a bigger return to its shareholders. The proposed restructuring gives shareholders the choice of dividing among themselves $40 million in cash or as much as 6.1% of shares in the restructured company, as long as they vote in favor of the plan. That is a better outcome for equity than in most bankruptcy cases, which typically leave nothing for shareholders.

The North American division of Global Brands Group Holding Ltd. filed for chapter 11 protection, putting its apparel and footwear brands up for sale with help from a $16 million bankruptcy loan, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. GBG USA Inc. sells footwear and apparel wholesale to Macy’s Inc., Nordstrom Inc. and other U.S. department stores as well as warehouses, off-price retailers and Amazon.com Inc., according to court papers filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York. GBG USA sought chapter 11 protection Thursday while planning to sell off its Ely & Walker, Airband, MagnaReady, Yarrow, b New York and Juniperunltd assets to pay down $238.4 million in bank debt. In a court filing, Chief Financial Officer Mark Caldwell said the business enters bankruptcy “running on fumes,” with no choice but to file for chapter 11 after “the catastrophic effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic, industry-specific headwinds and other liquidity constraints.” Gross sales for the 2020 fiscal year fell by 44%, he said, as consumer demand fell across the fashion industry and key customers closed stores and dialed back orders. GBG USA said it has tapped WH AQ Holdings LLC and Hilco Brands LLC as the lead bidders to acquire the company’s Aquatalia brand and business, setting a floor price of $17.3 million. Other bidders would have the chance to best that offer, which requires court approval. Global Brands Group’s brand-management and European wholesale businesses aren’t part of the chapter 11 filing and continue to maintain their usual operations. Before filing for bankruptcy, GBG USA sold off its Spyder retail operation in South Korea and the inventory and related assets of the Spyder and Frye brands, the company said.

As the Delta variant of the coronavirus has become the most predominant variant in the United States and medical experts issue confusing advice, restaurateurs find themselves once again making difficult decisions on health mandates. Many, where laws allow it, have taken that to a new level this week, requiring their patrons to bring proof of vaccination before dining, the New York Times reported. “For us, it’s really just a preventive measure to make our employees and our diners feel safer,” said Patricia Howard, the owner of Dame, a seafood restaurant in Greenwich Village. Her restaurant’s new vaccination policy, which applies to diners outdoors as well as indoors, was announced to customers on Wednesday on social media. Many restaurant owners said that as infection rates have risen recently, they began to consider setting their own safety rules. But the announcement on Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that vaccinated people should resume wearing masks indoors added new urgency, prompting some owners to make drastic decisions to respond to a much more contagious variant. In states including California and New York, some restaurant owners are mandating vaccines for customers and employees, and reinstating older health protocols like requiring that both groups wear masks. But in states like Florida and Arkansas, which have had huge spikes in coronavirus cases, laws are more stringent. Businesses are not allowed to ask customers for proof of vaccines, and local governments cannot issue mask mandates.