A family feud has erupted in court over ownership of Mr. Beef, the iconic Chicago restaurant that inspired the hit FX television series, The Bear.
On Feb. 7, Dominic Zucchero filed suit in Cook County Circuit Court against his nephew and niece, Christopher Zucchero and Lauren Zucchero, and his sister-in-law Camille Zucchero, among others, accusing them of allegedly diluting his ownership stake in the restaurant in actions that followed the death of Mr. Beef's longtime proprietor, Joseph Zucchero, last year.
In response, Lauren Zucchero issued a statement, saying the lawsuit was "sad and unjust," as she said the actions they took which lay at the heart of the lawsuit were done to ensure the restaurant's financial survival.
Lauren further said the claims in the suit against her, her brother and their mother were "utterly without merit."
Dominic Zucchero's lawsuit seeks a court order directing his younger family members to open the restaurant's books and pay him unspecified damages for their alleged breaches of duty to him and the restaurant business.
According to the complaint, Dominic and his late brother, Joseph, founded the original Mr. Beef on Orleans in Chicago's River North neighborhood in 1979.
Through the ensuing decades, Mr. Beef's business and fame grew, cementing the food stand's name in any conversation about the best Italian beef restaurants in Chicago.
The restaurant's fame, however, skyrocketed in recent years, as Joseph Zucchero and the story of Mr. Beef inspired the creation of the hit TV series, The Bear.
Joseph Zucchero died in March 2023 at the age of 69, after two decades of battling non-Hodgkins lymphoma.
Following his death, the lawsuit asserts his surviving children took steps to claim greater control of the family business.
According to the complaint, the business is operated through two corporate entities, Mr. Beef LLC and another known as JJD Inc.
As recently as the 1980s, Dominic and Joseph each allegedly held 50% ownership of Mr. Beef LLC, according to the complaint. However, at some point, Dominic said his ownership share was reduced to 33.3%, though Dominic said he was not told it had happened, nor does he know precisely when or how.
According to the complaint, Dominic and Joseph together held 80% of the ownership shares in JJD.
However, according to the complaint, Dominic asserts his brother refused his requests to inspect the books for the two businesses, and allegedly used JJD "as a personal 'piggy bank'" and allegedly he and his estate have "taken and used the funds of JJD not for business purposes but for his own personal benefit."
From 2012 to 2023, Mr. Beef became the subject of lawsuits over ownership of the property. According to the complaint, Dominic and Joseph allegedly settled in 2018 to end a foreclosure action, by agreeing to transfer ownership to another company, known as 666 North Orleans Investors LLC, after that group paid $3.5 million to the mortgage holder.
However, in 2019, the ownership dispute returned to court, where Joseph Zucchero allegedly argued he never intended to transfer ownership to 666, according to the complaint.
According to the complaint, Dominic did not know that JJD was back in court and he was being represented until February 2023.
Following Joseph's death, Dominic allegedly settled on his own behalf with 666 in August 2023, and then a month later, testified that the transfer had taken place, allegedly contradicting the case being argued by the estate of Joseph Zucchero, through Joseph's daughter, Lauren.
In October 2023, the complaint alleges that Lauren and Christopher Zucchero then moved to transfer all Mr. Beef intellectual property, including trademarks and recipes, to a new Mr. Beef company, allegedly for less than fair market value.
The complaint asserts that move "effectively gutted Mr. Beef leaving it with significantly diminished value."
Further, Lauren and Christopher then allegedly amended the company's articles of incorporation to increase the number of shares from 100 to 100,000, which allegedly "severely diluted" Dominic's interest.
The lawsuit asserts the actions were allegedly taken "in retaliation for the recent testimony given by Dominic in the 666 Lawsuit."
The lawsuit accuses the younger Zuccheros of breach of fiduciary duty, conversion and conspiracy, among other counts.
Dominic Zucchero is represented in the action by attorney Craig E. Donnelly, of the firm of Donnelly Law LLC, of Oak Brook.
In a statement provided to The Cook County Record, Lauren Zucchero said:
"The filing of this lawsuit by my father's brother, who hasn't been involved in the business for more than 20 years is both sad and unjust.
"The conclusory allegations against my father raised for the very first time in this lawsuit and only after his death now that he's no longer personally able to refute them are disappointing.
"Allegations against myself, my brother and my mother are also utterly without merit. Given Mr. Beef (sic) inability to obtain conventional financing, the sale of its intellectual property was the only means of raising needed funds for the business. By reason of a license agreement following the sale of its intellectual property Mr. Beef was able to remain in operation. Throughout that process there was timely and full disclosure of the transaction and involvement of the parties, to my father's brother. There were no breaches of fiduciary duties by anyone and the actions taken were to insure that business sought only to continue to survive after having weathered the Covid-19 pandemic.
"Apparently my father's brother would have preferred that Mr. Beef not obtained the necessary funding and closed instead. We chose to preserve this family restaurant which is beloved by so many in Chicagoland and beyond. We look forward to successfully defending this matter in Court."