Marmalade Cafe, a Southern California brunch chain once favoured by the Kardashians, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after 36 years in business, citing rent disputes and mounting debts to suppliers. The Encino-based company owes more than $1 million to creditors including Gilmore Farmers Market, US Foods and Sysco Ventura, and has shrunk from over 200 employees to about 50, reflecting the wider financial pressures squeezing America's restaurant industry.

The chain, founded in Santa Monica in 1990, listed total assets of $12.7 million but reported a net loss of $680,314, and now operates just four locations in El Segundo, Malibu, Sherman Oaks and Westlake Village after closing four others, including sites hit by construction disruption in Calabasas, the Palisades Fire in Santa Monica, and weak post-pandemic trade at the Original Farmers Market. Industry experts point to simultaneous rises in rent, wages, insurance and utilities as the underlying cause, noting Marmalade joins a growing list of recent restaurant casualties including Red Lobster, Carl's Jr., Fatburger owner FAT Brands and Salad and Go.