Miguel’z Mexican Grill & Cantina of Hawaii Kai has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, citing assets of between $100,000 and $500,000 and debts of between $500,000 and $1 million, owed to between 50 and 99 creditors.
The voluntary bankruptcy petition did not specify whether unsecured creditors were likely to see any money returned.
The petition lists sister restaurant Miguel’z Mexican Grill & Cantina of Pearl City as a creditor, citing a loan of $115,000.
Neither owner Michael Zezulak nor his attorney, P. Adam Davis, returned calls or emails seeking information.
The filing follows a legal battle earlier this year between Zezulak and Just Tacos Inc. owner Jesus Santoyo. The Pearl City and Hawaii Kai Miguel’z locations previously were run by Zezulak under the Just Tacos name, but Santoyo filed suit claiming violations of the franchising agreement between them.
The two restaurants belonging to Zezulak were renamed as part of a ruling in Santoyo’s favor.
Santoyo is presently out of the country, according to an employee, and another company official declined comment.
The Hawaii Kai restaurant was open for business Tuesday and was featured a week ago on the "Cheap Eats" segment of Hawaii News Now newscasts.
Online reviews on various sites range from raves to outright pans, but with very little, if any, commentary in the middle ground.
The Facebook pages for both Miguel’z locations attribute the unique spelling of the restaurants’ name as being in honor of the owner’s son, Michael Z., who has autism.
Mexico? Maui?
Maui is the No. 1 U.S. island for the 19th consecutive year and also is the top island in the world, according to readers of Conde Nast Traveler magazine. The announcement came Tuesday, the same day Mexico declared that it remains the No. 1 travel destination for the U.S. market, according to the Mexico Ministry of Tourism and the Mexico Tourism Board.
More on that in a moment.
The 25th annual survey of Conde Nast Traveler readers ranks the world’s best cities, islands, hotels, resorts, airlines and cruise lines.
For the U.S., not only is Maui No. 1 with a score of 92.1, Kauai is No. 2 (89.3), Oahu is No. 4 (87.0) and Hawaii island and Lanai are tied at No. 6 (85.1).
Honolulu is No. 6 among the top 10 U.S. cities at 80.4, compared with No. 1, Charleston, S.C. (86.7).
The top Mexican city is San Miguel de Allende at 90.1, and though Conde Nast Traveler lists other top Mexican cities, it doesn’t list readers’ scores for them, and their qualities, including ambience, friendliness, lodging, restaurants, culture and sites and shopping, pale in comparison with Honolulu’s.
That said, many Mexican resorts and hotels scored higher than many of Hawaii’s pricey accommodations, especially those in Baja, Cancun and the Yucatan.
The only three Hawaii resort or hotel properties included in the magazine’s Top 100 in the world are Four Seasons Resorts. Four Seasons Resort Lanai, The Lodge at Koele, is in a four-way tie for 32nd with a score of 96.2. In a four-way tie for 58th is the Four Seasons Resort Hualalai (95.2), and in a seven-way tie for No. 79, Four Seasons Resort Lanai at Manele Bay (94.7).
The No. 1 property on the list, with a perfect score of 100, is Qualia, Hamilton Island, Great Barrier Reef.
The Lodge at Koele is the only Hawaii property among the Top 10 U.S. hotels and resorts.
The magazine also ranks Hawaii’s top 25 resorts, only three of which are on Oahu, though its list of top five hotels in Hawaii contains three in Waikiki.
Hawaiian Airlines is the No. 3 U.S. airline with a score of 60 points, compared with No. 1 Virgin America (79.6) and JetBlue Airways (68.8).
Meanwhile, the Fairmont Kea Lani on Maui was named among the Orbitz.com top 10 Best In Stay Award winners in the U.S. for 2012. The finding is based on the numeric score of nearly 200,000 reviews submitted by users of the online travel site.
Dine out for future chefs
Plan now for Restaurant Week Hawaii from Nov. 12 to 18. Dozens of eateries participate in the event, which includes special menu items, promotions and discounts, all to support the Culinary Institute of the Pacific at Diamond Head.
A list of participating restaurants and more information can be found online.
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On the Net:
» www.restaurantweekhawaii.com
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Reach Erika Engle at 529-4303, erika@staradvertiser.com or on Twitter as @erikaengle.
