Is the Bistro at Cherry Hill closed for good? Its owner says no, despite bankruptcy.

The Bistro at Cherry Hill is typically bustling, with people milling about the 1,200-square-foot kiosk in the middle of the mall. Even before it opened each day, customers would buzz into the area, hoping to snag a seat for lunch.

But on a recent day, as the clock struck noon, the Bistro’s signature wraparound counter sat empty. Chairs were stacked on tables, pushed up against the counter. Bright yellow tape cordoned off the space.

The 27-year-old South Jersey mainstay closed abruptly July 10 amid bankruptcy proceedings, according to court documents and the restaurant’s president, Andy Cosenza. He said the closure should be only temporary as he sorts out what he calls a communication “breakdown” over the status of the Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition, which he voluntarily filed in May. It was his second such filing since 2017.

The sudden closure has left loyal customers bereft and shocked passersby who always noticed the packed restaurant on outings to Cherry Hill Mall, as evidenced by numerous comments on South Jersey Facebook pages.

“Every restaurant dreams of bridging into communities,” Cosenza said. “It’s very rare that you’re able to achieve that and we have. ... We’re part of people’s lives.”

Opened in 1998, the Bistro is seen by some as a last vestige of a simpler time before online shopping usurped in-person retail.

“When I think of the Cherry Hill Mall, I think of the Bistro,” said Maura Aguilar, a 35-year-old retail manager living in Sicklerville. “It’s just a staple.”

She started going there for lunch about a decade ago, when she worked at the Nordstrom in the mall. In the years since, Aguilar said, she has found every excuse to return, be it during a Sephora run or before seeing a movie at the nearby AMC.

It was the people and the food, she said, that kept the Bistro on her mind.

In fact, “I was just craving it for lunch,” before hearing it was closed, she said. “They have a combo with a loaded baked potato and Caesar salad that is chef’s kiss.”

Cosenza said the Bistro’s closure came as a surprise even to him.

His brother went to open the restaurant one day, Cosenza said, only to find that they had been locked out. Unbeknownst to Cosenza, who said he has been incapacitated by medical issues, the Bistro’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition had been converted to a Chapter 7, which involves the liquidation of assets, as of July 10.

“This is not a case of mismanagement or inability to meet financial obligations,” Cosenza said, noting that he had a plan in place to pay off the business’ debts. That’s about $350,000, according to court documents, owed to creditors including PREIT, owner of the Cherry Hill Mall.

In the documents, an attorney for PREIT wrote that Cosenza had failed to “pay rent timely and in full” and owed more than $300,000 as of May. The Bistro’s rent was more than $35,000 a month, plus utilities and other fees, according to court documents.

Cosenza declined to elaborate on his financial situation but said the money owed dates to the coronavirus pandemic, during which the mall was largely shuttered for months.

The Bistro brings in millions of dollars each year, Cosenza said, and has been publicly lauded as a linchpin to the mall’s longevity. In a 2023 post on the local news site, 70and73.com, the mall’s senior marketing director Lisa Wolstromer said she believed the Bistro was among the property’s longest-running locally owned businesses.

In a statement, PREIT declined to comment on the ongoing legal matter: “That said, we recognize the role the Bistro has played in Cherry Hill Mall’s history and appreciate the staff that helped shape that experience.”

The latest updates in the bankruptcy case come 10 months after PREIT filed a lawsuit against the Bistro and Cosenza seeking $535,000 in unpaid rent and related fees, as well as more than $1.5 million in rent payments for the remainder of the restaurant’s lease through 2027, according to court documents.

Cosenza said he “granted them a default judgment” and insisted they take a mortgage on one of his homes — a house in Margate — as collateral, as documents indicate.

Cosenza said he was actively making progress payments to PREIT until he suddenly fell ill.

“This wasn’t a case of neglect,” Cosenza said. “I never got to have my day. There was a clear plan. God darn it, if I didn’t get sick, I wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

PREIT has had its own share of challenges, having emerged from bankruptcy twice in the past five years.

Michael Rebbecchi, of Blackwood, has been going to the Bistro for about 15 years.

Rebbecchi, 55, has eaten there countless times with his wife, enjoying the Caesar salad with grilled shrimp and the tomato basil soup. They love the latter so much that he said he picked up three gallons of it every Christmas Eve to share with relatives.

“The service is always great,” said Rebbecchi, who owns a veterinary urgent care. But the family keeps going back for the food. “I don’t know how they produce that kind of food coming out of the tiny little kitchen. And it’s packed there all the time.”

Cosenza hopes the Bistro has not served its last customers, not only for the sake of its loyal fans but also for the staff. About 30% of his two dozen full-time employees have worked there since the day it opened, he said.

In the days after the closure, the Bistro advertised catering services on social media, but Cosenza said he isn’t involved in that effort, declining to elaborate. He said the Bistro’s kitchen has not been used since the Chapter 7 conversion.

A judge will consider Cosenza’s motion to dismiss the Chapter 7 bankruptcy case at a hearing scheduled for Aug. 12.

If Cosenza has his way, the Bistro will reopen and remain at the mall for another three decades. He said he set aside hundreds of thousands of dollars in his will for PREIT to keep the Bistro going.

“We mean something to people,” he said. “People come as customers and leave as friends. Friends come to eat and leave as family. I feel that and I believe that.”