'Mr. Beef' goes to Washington

Like Gutierez has ANY standing to talk about 'backbone[s]'; this spineless creature facilitates Chicago being a 'sanctuary city' for hundreds of thousands of illegals - vastly Hispanic in their ranks, who are breaking the backs of we ever fewer and fewer taxpayers bearing the burdens of their drain on public health services, public schools, etc, etc.
Mr. Gutierez has no standing whatsoever and should try enforcing federal laws in his home district - instead of grandstanding. Beware, when an Illinois' politican's lips are moving - you can be darned sure he's/she's lying through their teeth.
'Backbone' my b-hind, Gutierez wouldn't know a backbone if he were hit over the head with one.

Mr. Beef should learn to pay hils debts before he goes crying to the media and Congress. Banks making bad loans for many years is what has led us to the point we are at now. Wise up people and stop feeling sorry for the downtrodden small business owner its your money he wants.

SAVE THE BEEF! SAVE THE BEEF! SAVE THE BEEF! SAVE THE BEEF!

The two things in this city that should never happen:

1. Renaming of Wrigley Field
2. Closing Mr. Beef

There is nothing in the article that says Mr. Beef didn't pay their bills on time! Small businesses live on their credit lines - the whole idea behind giving the banks money was to get them to open up credit and start lending. The banks used the money to shore up their balance sheet.s
Gutierez - too busy worrying about the illegals to get much else done

Make me Beef.

" He opened his River North restaurant in 1979, and has built a thriving business."

It is a thirving business that has been open for 29 years, yet it is still carrying debt? The business cant be "thriving." Just another bad business that wants a bailout, no different than GM.

So you want a bailout essentially, don't you Mr. Beef? You don't pay your bills, but the bank is supposed to just throw money at you because they got TARP? You are one of the reasons we are here in the first place, GREED! You overextended yourself and now expect everyone to help you out.

Tom--you don't get it. Small businesses rely upon temporary lines of credit to get through dry times. MY TAX DOLLARS DON'T MIND HELPING POOR PEOPLE BUT THEY REALLY RESENT GOING TO BANKS WHOSE OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES THEN SQUIRREL IT AWAY OFF SHORE.

This is a really good small example of what went wrong in the bigger economy. Here you have Mr. Beef, by all accounts a successful business, and home to the best italian beef sandwich in Chicago. The owners decide to capitalize on their success and open a new, more upscale restaurant, using Mr. Beef as collateral on the loan. The market has a downturn, their new restaurant fails and they don't have enough cash coming in to pay their loan.

If the bank forecloses, they end up liquidating Mr. Beef or selling it to new owners, and they lose most of their loan anyway. The bank can restructure the loan, but that means they will have to extend the terms, so they end up making much less money or losing money on it.

Is it better for the bank to keep Mr. Beef open and keep a smaller stream of repayments coming in?

That's the same question banks all over the country are asking about their home loans. Is it better to foreclose or restructure?

Right off the bat, someone who uses an alias turns the topics of economy and beef sandwiches to his racist crusade against immigrants. I wonder where his heritage began?

Mr. Beef is not having a sales/revenue problem, the problem is costs and him over-extending himself by vesting his business with another new venture - an upper scale restaurant that didn't flourish.

It seems he needs to bail himself out of the other restaurant and focus on what he does best - Mr. Beef.

BO promised the bailout plan to banks will free up credit to businesses and consumers - so Mr. Beef is right - where's the trickle down effect OB and the banks promised?

Good luck to Mr. Beef. They make a great product at a reasonable price.

While I personally don't care for Mr. Gutierrez, I am glad to see someone looking into the business practices of banks. It's time that banks start taking some responsibility for the loans and practices that have created the financial mess in which we all find ourselves. The banks need to bite the bullet and take a hit themselves instead of pushing the cost off on their customers and taxpayers. That is the real issue here and not the immigration status of tax paying citizens. Yes, tax paying citizens because if you live here and are working, you are paying taxes. Whether you claim them or ever get the benefit of those taxes is another story. Stay focused people and don't confuse the issues.

Mr. Beef is cool. Give him a loan.

If BO and the Dems. would enforce immigration laws they could create 5 to 7 million jobs for Americans. 900 Americans applied for the 25 that opened in Washington after an ICE raid. Of course, the new Homeland Security chief was appalled. Gotta secure those Hispanic votes.

How rediculous! Mr. Beef goes delinquent on his loans, and then whines when the bank tries to collect. THe TARP funds are intended to keep the banking system liquid. Mr. Beef borrowewd more than he can pay; the banks can not be expected to carry deadbeats like him!

Learn how to spell first Tom.

Small businesses are the backbone of this country and Obama's budget is going to kill a lot of them. Try leaving the cities and get your conveniences without small businesses in small towns.

This guy took out a loan to open his "upscale" restaurant using Mr. Beef as collateral. He's not doing well at the new place and the bank wants it's money back. What's the problem with that? You don't need a $400,000 loan to operate a beef stand. He's trying to con everyone with his sob story. Here's a idea for the Trib writer, look into the facts first before writing a story.

TELL THE ENTIRE STORY

Based on previous stories in the Tribune about "Mr Beef" - it was revealed that the owner(s) took out a loan on this business to start a new upscale restaurant which has not gone belly up. So, without the restaurant generating revenue, and because the owners did not make payments on not one but two loans on the property...the bank decided not to extend any additional line of credit. The bank wants their money....and they should. Nobody should ever force a bank to lend money...if this business cannot put a business plan together that will show that they can repay the loans (which are in default) and any additional borrowed money, then THEY SHOULDN'T GET ANY ADDITIONAL MONEY FROM THE BANK. It's no different from lending people money on an expensive house that cannot afford it because they are overextended. The owners of Mr. Beef are OVEREXTENDED.

This is poor reporting by the Tribune. Can't someone even look up the previous articles before writing a this??

Mr. Silva - why not report all the facts? Like the fact that the owners of Mr. Beef borrowed against their business to start a new business, which failed. They not don't have enough income to pay their debts. They are asking for MORE debt. If you were a bank, would you loan someone more money who already couldn't pay you back, and probably owes other creditors additional money.

Thank you to those who read the past articles where it was reported that the owner took out a loan using Mr. Beef as collateral and that business venture didn't flourish so now it is time to pay the piper. People are complaining about the banks not giving credit lines, answer this. Would you loan money to someone a second time after they promised to pay you back but now couldn't pay you back? So what if the government gave them money to loan. They didn't give them TARP funds to loan to people who can't pay their bills.

This clown doubled his debt to $600k to open a new restaurant less than a year ago. New restaurants are notoriously risky ventures, particularly during a recession. Yes, congress should intervene and force the banks to refinance this yahoo -- it's this kind of meddling in the mortgage markets that helped get us to this point.

I am a small business owner and ate there once, the place is too expensive and not as a good as Portillos down the road.

Competition killed the store since there was not enough beef in the bread

You people are showing your ignorance. Almost every small business in America carries a line of credit. There would be no small businesses if everyone had to pay for their inventory with cash on hand. You would have Walmart and McDonalds and that's about it. The fact that Banks are not opening the lines of credit is shameful.

Joliet Jay, thanks for the facts.

Bye bye Mr. Beef.

Here's a problem: The bail-out package passed in Feb included 450 million dollars for SBA loans. Not very much for a sector of the economy that employs over half the existing workforce. But worse than the weakness of the commitment to small business that this represents is that to get an SBA loan, small businesses have to go through commercial banks. The prerequisite for an SBA loan is that the lending standards of the sponsoring banks have to be met. So if banks are not lending to small businesses, neither is the SBA.

The effect is that only the healthiest small businesses are cashing in on that SBA money. Those are not manufacturing businesses; they are businesses like the Beltway bandits and other "consultants" who can demonstrate cash flow by virtue of low overhead.

I hope that Mr. Zucchero raises this issue with Congress: Small businesses need to be able to apply directly to the SBA for loans.

"Mr. Beef should learn to pay hils debts before he goes crying to the media and Congress. Banks making bad loans for many years is what has led us to the point we are at now. Wise up people and stop feeling sorry for the downtrodden small business owner its your money he wants."

Mr. Beef isn't deliquent on their loan. The bank just wants Mr. Beef to pay the entire amount reamaining on the loan. Could you do that if someone called the loan on your house?

Mr. Beef took their bank loan and plowed into Natalino's. An Ukranian Village upscale restaurant that doesn't appear to be working out for them. Having worked for years near Mr. Beef I stopped going there as I found the employees rude and the sandwiches too soggy. I know a lot of you like Mr. Beef but I don't care whether they stay or go. They mismanaged their bank loans so why should Midwest keep throwing money at them?

My own local and for many years profitable business that employeed many people is out of business. The last thing I wanted to do is borrow more money from the bank as there are no indicators that the economy will improve any time soon. Mr. Beef should have stayed with what they know best, soggy sandwiches.

I see how many small businesses may need loans from time to time, but really, doesn't this guy have enough money to buy some beef and buns to tide him over for a while ?

Tom and others. You should not comment on this issue unless you know the facts. Clearly, you know nothing about the situation at Mr. Beef. Like thousands of others in this country, personal and business, the debt he has is the result of medical issues. Why do people think they have all the answers (like TOM) when they know nothing, and don't bother to learn the truth? We need to avoid listening to such people who are either not educated or informed, or both.

same Gutierrez that slandered oberwiess a RACIST for running on a platform that included securing our borders. His bleeping constituent marched and protested in front of his families retail businesses. nasty nasty nasty school yard tactics from lying politcian willing to do anything to get his way. Federal law wants illeagal aliens OUT of our system. QUIT parading a mexican child with whooping cough out for the media. PRIDE dicates mexicans should try and make their own country better. Our country will soon joing them. I want out of here if this continues. My grandpa registered my great grandpa registered WHY WON'T THEY? 40 billion a year in health care, jails, money sent out. BURDEN to our system.
China?? they'd do far worse far quicker. But the aclu would faint at a fingernail being lifted!
I have no country left to flippan love.

Mark, you show your ignorance about the small beef stand business. If the place has been open for 29 years, it should have enough cash reserves built up to pay for inventory. Coming from a family of restaurant owners, the number one thing you learn is that you NEVER want to be beholden to a bank if you don't have to.

Maybe Mr. Zucchero should have been building up his savings instead of spending money on a big 765,000 house in Park Ridge in 2006, which is also in foreclosure by the same Midwest Bank according to the county recorder's records.

This case should never have gone this far. And while I applaud Rep. Gutierrez for these hearings, I have to agree with the others who complain about his lack of desire to enforce U.S. immigration laws.

The oath Gutierrez took to become a Congressman requires that he uphold and enforce the laws of this country - not just the laws he agrees with.

Hey Jim:

Do a little research. From an article on Crains Business

"The Melrose Park-based bank alleges that Mr. Beef’s co-owners, Joseph Zucchero and Michael Genevese, failed to pay off two loans, totaling $330,000, when they came due in October, and missed monthly payments on a third loan, according to a complaint filed Dec. 19 in Cook Court Circuit Court. "

So, yes, they missed some payments and when the loan comes due you repay it.

Oh, and Gary, the debt he has isn't due to a medical condition of his own, he says it has to do with a medical condition of a business partner's child. That is what one of the other articles said. Again, not to be insensitive, but LOTS of people have medical issues and have trouble paying debts, should they just be let go then?

I've always found Mr. Beef to be highly overrated and their staff extremely rude. Even though I live a block away, I haven't been in there for 9 years since I witnessed the dressing down of a customer who had the audacity to question the amount of change he received.

Al's Beef down the street on Ontario is not only a suitable replacement once this dump goes under, but better value and better service.

We too share the exact story because we supply to the auto industry & are now considered "toxic". Our Congressman Bill Foster has been speaking on our behalf but will it make a difference in time?

im surprise that place is still open with all those huge rats they had in there recently

To those knocking Mr Beef, nowhere does it say he is delinquent in his loans. What the article does say my illiterate friends is that when his line of credit was expiring, the banks reduced it instead of renewing it. Like most businesses, we rely on our credit lines for funding during certain critical times to cover payroll, utilities, etc. until the revenues come to repay the credit line and improve our bottom line. With banks reducing or restricting credit lines that have been in place for long periods of time and holding on to TARP money to improve their bottom lines, it is indeed a large portion of the bank's fault for not using the money as it was intended to help out consumers and businesses. Bush and his gang should have never done the first disbursement from the TARP with no strings attached and Obama and his group had best make sure our money is being used as it was intended. What do you think would happen if you took a loan out for a car or to pay down bills and then used the money for something else? Think the banks would be so understanding with you as the government has been with them? C'mon get real!

Hey! Where's the Beef?

Et tu, Mr. Beef. I'll see you in Hades.

during the month.

Restaurants are different in one major respect. Their major "one-shot" outlays are generally just rent/mortgage and utilities.

Your main costs (inventory and HR) are paid closely in line with your revenue. Inventory is paid on a daily basis on delivery (or you have a credit with your supplier and make a payment at the end of the month AFTER you've received the goods and have cash.) Employee costs are weekly or biweekly depending on the owner. In all, your major expenses generally track your revenue quite closely. Now, a restaurant that is 30 years old should not have a mortgage anymore so that even lessens the need for a line of credit to tide you over the month.

Also, a restaurant that is 30 years old should have at least a 10-15 K cash buffer to cover the utilities and other incidentals. All of your other expenses get paid after your revenue (including sales taxes and estimated quarterly income taxes).

Look, I don't know Mr. Zucchero. He may be the second-generation owner, which would explain a lot (it is unlikely someone who actually built the business would pull what he pulled). The fact is that his mismanagement of funds got him in this mess by leveraging himself even a little bit on a line of credit. Did he take a gamble? Yes. But when I bust in Blackjack, I don't get to play another hand just because I ran out of chips.

Hey expert bloggers... Mr. Beef's new upscale restaurant is actually VERY successful. It is called Natalino's located at 1523 West Chicago Avenue. It is always packed. I personally eat there once a week. I just spoke to one of the guys that works there and he confirmed they are doing great. The issue is with Mr. Beef's line of credit from the bank, nothing to do with the success of his restaurant's. He went before congress to discuss how a SUCCESSFUL small business owner, that always makes his payments on time, is now being punished by his bank for being a great customer. Please do some research before you spread false statements.

Mr. Beef, what really hurts is that your money was taken to bail out the bank and so now you can't even bail yourself out with your own money

You stuck your neck out too far and got your head chopped off. Too bad, move on. Your sandwich was overrated anyway.

Boo hoo. Mr Beef has gotten some much free advertising and still can't pay his bills. Oh well. Be a better businessman and stop crying.

I can see the weasel Gutierrez and Mr. Beef have allot in common; they don't pay their bills. HA! HA! HA! Maybe if the owner Joe plays a little basketball Obama will get him some help?

So, I am posting this with little true knowledge of this guy and his business. In general, banks and the government do not do ANYTHING for small buesinesses. D or R they both sug gas for small businesses. The pugs just like to lie and say how much they do.

If I am gonna get a beef I am going to BUONA or NOVIS.
Mr. Beef is too expensive and the staff was rude ate there only once and never again. Glad it left BERWYN!!! Long live BUONA & NOVIS!!!!!!!

Mr. Beef I am a business owner from Michigan! I believe times are not going to get better any time soon! These people writing are a better business man? They have no clue what it cost to run a business and what it cost to employ one employee! People think they are entitled today they should be happy to be employed! Good luck in congress you are right to fight for your success! You took a risk and believed in the banks and this country! It’s more than what others have done with their lives! God Bless, You are in my prayers!! Lisa