The owner of Gene’s Bistro, an offshoot of iconic Chicago steakhouse Gene & Georgetti, is suing Midway concessionaire SSP America for breach of contract, alleging the airport restaurant is being unlawfully squeezed out to make room for a Bally’s sports bar.
Surprisingly, the restaurant remains open at the airport seven months after SSP America formally terminated a 20-year licensing agreement in October, giving Gene & Georgetti a 90-day notice of closure.
The lawsuit, filed Monday in Cook County Circuit Court, is seeking more than $50,000 in damages and a different kind of closure: ending the continued use of the family-owned restaurant’s trademarked brand and recipes in what has been an underperforming venue panned on social media.
“This is really about the fact that large concession operators leverage local restaurants like ours to secure public contracts and later marginalize those independent brands,” said Michelle Durpetti, whose grandfather started family-owned Gene & Georgetti 85 years ago.
Durpetti said the breach of contract lawsuit is also about financial transparency, straying from the family’s core menu and terminating the agreement while continuing to operate the airport restaurant under the name Gene’s Bistro.
An SSP spokesperson issued a statement Tuesday discounting the claims in the lawsuit.
“SSP America is aware of the lawsuit filed by Gene & Georgetti regarding its Midway Airport location,” SSP America spokesperson Lana Cramer said in the statement. “While we believe the claims are without merit, our focus remains on making the right long-term business decisions for the airport, its passengers, and our partners.”
Virginia-based SSP America, which operates at about 60 airports in North America, has run the restaurants at Midway since 2017 as part of a $75 million joint venture overhaul that nearly doubled concession space. Since then, SSP has expanded Midway’s offerings to 24 restaurants including Chicago favorites such as Billy Goat Tavern, Nuts on Clark, Home Run Inn, Harry Caray’s and most recently, Mr. Beef, which opened in March.
In December 2019, SSP America struck a 20-year licensing deal with Gene & Georgetti to launch a spinoff concept at Midway. The agreement called for SSP to pay a $50,000 upfront fee and 5% of monthly revenues to Gene & Georgetti, according to the lawsuit.
Gene’s Bistro launched in 2020 amid the pandemic, with SSP America renegotiating the terms before opening, temporarily reducing the upfront fee by half and abating the 5% licensing fee for more than a year. Gene & Georgetti agreed to the upfront reduction under the premise it would be compensated down the road.
While the monthly payments resumed in January 2022, Gene & Georgetti has yet to receive the balance of the reduced upfront fee, something the lawsuit is seeking to rectify.
At the same time, SSP continues to pay 5% of monthly revenue for Gene’s Bistro as a licensing fee post-termination, which Durpetti said remains a “good income” stream, despite an ongoing lack of financial transparency.
Beyond the financial issues, SSP America “deviated significantly” from the agreed-upon core menu at Gene’s Bistro, which was meant to reflect the culinary lineage of the storied parent restaurant, according to the lawsuit. When Gene & Georgetti raised concerns about the menu, it was met with “resistance, and even threats of terminating the partnership,” the lawsuit stated.
The lawsuit cites a spate of negative reviews for Gene’s Bistro on social media that Durpetti said continues to damage the brand.
“They’re definitely hurting it by serving food that is not what we would serve,” Durpetti said. “Let’s just say this: the menu and the operation standards do not meet our brand standards.”
In addition, the lawsuit also points to an alleged ulterior motive in terminating the agreement with Gene’s Bistro: moving the restaurant out to make room for a Bally’s Chicago sports bar and video gaming location.
Bally’s Chicago, which is opening its permanent $1.7 billion casino and entertainment complex in River West next year, has authorization under state law to install some of its slot machine allotment at the two airports, pending city and Gaming Board approval.
On Tuesday, both Bally’s and SSP were playing their cards for the 5,000-square-foot Midway location close to the vest.
“We have valued our relationship with Gene & Georgetti and appreciate the role they have played at Midway,” SSP’s Cramer said in the statement. “Any decisions related to this space are part of a broader evaluation process, and no final tenant has been determined.”
A Bally’s spokesperson declined to comment Tuesday.
The 11-count lawsuit, which covers claims of everything from trademark violations to fraud, is seeking in excess of $50,000 in damages.
For Durpetti, suing to get her family’s name off of the Midway restaurant was the option of last resort in a once-promising business relationship with SSP America.
“Gene & Georgetti does not believe that this is a beneficial relationship, because we’ve tried in earnest multiple times to get them to come to the table and have a productive conversation that was solutions-oriented, and they refuse to do that,” Durpetti said.
rchannick@chicagotribune.com
