A Texas-based Tex-Mex restaurant chain of more than four decades is in the process of being liquidated. The physical assets for On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina, owned by Pappas Restaurants, are being sold off on an online auction website.
Liquidator TAGeX Brands alerted Chron on Monday to several ongoing auction efforts related to On The Border restaurant locations in Michigan, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas. The sales started roughly in early August and are set to end around the end of the month. Some of the items listed include various containers, cooking equipment and furniture. Auctions are running at the following locations:
- Tulsa, Okla. (through Aug. 24)
- Fort Worth, Texas (through Aug. 25)
- Oklahoma City, Okla. (through Aug. 26)
- Weatherford, Texas (through Aug. 27)
- Longview, Texas (through Aug. 27)
- Corpus Christi, Texas (through Aug. 28)
- Fayetteville, N.C. (through Aug. 28)
- Kentwood, Mich. (through Aug. 29)
- Memphis, Tenn. (through Aug. 31)
- Cedar Hill, Texas (through Aug. 31)
- Wichita Falls, Texas (through Sept. 1)
The liquidation follows Houston-based Pappas Restaurants’ decision to shut down all 50 corporate-owned On The Border locations in early June as well as OTB Hospitality’s June 19 filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. In a statement, owner Chris Pappas said the decision was “incredibly difficult.”
“Our teams worked hard over the past year to stabilize the business, but it became clear that OTB would require substantial ongoing investment that would pull focus and resources away from the core operations that define who we are,” Pappas said.
According to court documents, the trustee of On The Border’s bankruptcy proceedings asked the court to let Pappas acquire the chain’s intellectual property, including its trademarks, domain names and related contracts. OTB franchisees objected to the sale and questioned, among other things, the timing of Pappas’ lien, which was perfected less than a month before the bankruptcy; the rejection of a $1 million offer for the IP and assumption of a portion of the chain’s leases from an unidentified third-party; and operational issues stemming from the June closures and the dissolution of OTB’s supporting corporate infrastructure…